Housing

Housing is the largest expense of any household Housing is the largest expense of any household, and with the current credit crunch, keeping up repayments on a mortgage, secured loan, or rent can be difficult. Keeping your home is your priority over all other debts, so ensuring that you get advice as soon as possible if you are having difficulties is very important.

You should contact your lender or landlord as soon as a problem occurs, as they are more likely to be able to assist you if you speak with them directly rather than leaving things. You can approach local agencies such as the council’s housing services on 01983 823040, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau on 0845 120 2959 or Law Centre on 01983 524715 for advice, or even national agencies such as Shelter on 0808 800 4444 if you urgently need advice.

If you are having problems with budgeting, avoiding eviction, neighbour disputes or any other housing related issues you may be able to get assistance from Supporting People.

If you think you need housing-related support, you should talk to your care manager, social worker, mental health worker, probation officer or housing officer and they will carry out an assessment to see if you can have support. Supporting People can be contacted on 01983 823345 for further information on the programme.

If you are looking for accommodation, you should look in the local newspaper and free ads paper, check with estate agents, look on websites such as http://www.rightmove.co.uk/ and ask family and friends if they are aware of anything.

You can also apply to go on the waiting list for social rented housing through a housing association; this can be done by contacting housing services on 01983 823040 and completing an application form. However, this is not a quick fix and it can take some time to be re-housed through the list, as the number of properties available is far lower than the amount of people that are listed as waiting for accommodation.

Schemes such as shared ownership can assist those that want to purchase a property but do not have the ability to purchase outright on their own. There are certain conditions for the schemes, and details of what schemes are available in the area can be found on the website http://www.homesinhants.co.uk/