Homelessness prevention and advocacy services Are you facing eviction or struggling to manage your tenancy? Homelessness prevention line You can get in touch Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm. Call: 01494 447699 Email: [email protected] Use our contact form by clicking here Through our Homelessness Prevention work and our Housing Legal Clinic we offer for free, independent, specialist advice on housing matters. You may be invited to our Housing Legal Clinic where our panel of experts will help you. The panel includes a housing solicitor, a member of the Wycombe Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme and two of our advocacy workers. We are currently running the clinics online but if you are unable to join us that way we will invite you to our Support Centre. Typical housing related issues that can be addressed at our Housing Legal Clinic includes: Rent arrears Eviction, threatened and illegal Eviction notices – we can look at whether they are legal and what you can do about having been served a notice Court proceedings on housing matters e.g. possession claims, injunctions, warrants of eviction Housing benefit problems Anti-social behaviour Homelessness applications, decisions, reviews and appeals Immigration issues – is your immigration status preventing you getting access to public housing or funds Bedroom tax issues Overcrowded accommodation Unsuitable and unsafe accommodation, disrepair Housing-related family law problems Housing-related domestic violence impact Landlord harassment Unprotected deposits Allocation of social housing Tenancy succession issues Equality Act duties of housing associations and local authorities We do this by providing Free legal advice from a housing solicitor, Free advice on housing-related benefits and how to reduce rent arrears from an experienced practitioner Free case management support services (management, advice and support). Helping you understand your housing rights and assisting you to secure these rights. We also can accompany people to court and help you to prepare their defence for hearings related to your housing crisis and assist you to make appeals against statutory decisions relating to your housing crisis. Here are some important things you need to know if you are a tenant and are at risk of losing your home. Always put your safety first You have rights. If you rent your home (and don't live with your landlord) you cannot be evicted until a court says so If you have to leave your home to keep safe, do so, but read on for more information Illegal evictions and harassment from your landlord are crimes. If you are being illegally evicted or harassed call the police Don't leave your home just because you've been told to. Doing so when you don't have to may affect your rights to help getting somewhere else Try to keep hold of all the paperwork related to your tenancy and deposit Homelessness doesn't just mean living on the streets. If you're facing temporarily staying with friends or relatives you are facing homelessness. That means you can get help from us and we may be able to arrange for other organisations to help you too. If you have 'no recourse to public funds' you still have rights and there may be help available for you and all of our services are available to you. You are not alone. We will walk through this with you. Many people who come to us for help end up being able to stay in their homes.