Homelessness advice & housing options
Early intervention is the key to successfully prevent homelessness.
If you are threatened with homelessness and have children or vulnerable members in your household, seek specialist advice and assistance from the homelessness advice service.
If you want to know how The Homelessness Reduction Act may impact you please see: The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
If you are a professional, you can advise us of your Duty to Refer a homeless household under the Homelessness Reduction Act.
How to ask for advice
If you are homeless or currently threatened with homelessness, you can ask for advice in several ways. Filling out our form is a quick and easy way to get in touch with us:
Before you fill in this form
You won't be able to save this form to complete later, so please allow yourself five minutes to fill in the form.
We aim to contact you within seven working days.
Other ways of asking for advice
If you are unable to complete the online form, you can contact us by:
Email: homelessness.advice@southampton.gov.uk
Telephone: 023 8083 2327 (during office hours)
You can also book an appointment with the Homelessness Unit.
Homelessness Unit office hours
- Monday 8:30am to 4:30pm
- Tuesday 8:30am to 4:30pm
- Wednesdays 10am to 4:30pm
- Thursdays 8:30am to 4:30pm
- Fridays 8:30am to 4pm
For emergency cases, you can be directly referred by visiting us at Gateway.
If you are homeless because of an emergency outside of these hours, you can contact the council’s out of hours service on 023 8023 3344.
What can happen next
In most cases, we can help to keep you in your existing home. If this is not possible, we will offer you decent affordable housing solutions with a minimum use of emergency accommodation where possible.
A housing advisor will guide you through all the options available to you so that you can make an informed choice like:
- Advice/assistance on reducing your rent arrears when that is the cause of your being threatened with homelessness
- Mediation and support to ensure a young person or young family can remain at home safely and responsibly
- Submission of an application for Social Housing
- Looking at alternative accommodation in a planned and productive way
- Referral to the Homeseeker Lettings Service who may be able to assist you with privately rented accommodation or help you access various deposit schemes
We can also:
- Help you access welfare rights and money advice
- Mediate with your landlord on your behalf in order to prevent or delay homelessness
- If your home is at risk of being repossessed by a mortgage company, we can refer you to a specialist money advice team and negotiate on your behalf with the company or the courts
