We help people who are homeless or who might become homeless in the next 28 days. The help we can provide will depend on your and your household’s circumstances. For information on making a homeless application and on homelessness law and your rights, please see our booklet The services provided by the Homeless Person Unit.
We are working to reduce the use of bed and breakfast hotels, but at the present time we must still use this type of accommodation to meet people’s immediate housing needs. The number of council and housing-associated properties that are available in Hounslow is very limited. We do have other forms of temporary accommodation we can offer to homeless households (for example, hostels or private leased properties) but, again, vacancies are limited.
If you are homeless and need somewhere to stay immediately, we will book you into a bed and breakfast hotel to start with and may move you later as other accommodation becomes available.
Frequently Asked Questions
What support will I get while I’m staying in bed and breakfast accommodation?
What if the bed and breakfast is far away from my child’s school?
Do I have to share facilities?
Can I get help with paying for bed and breakfast?
Am I entitled to any extra benefits?
What about electricity and gas?
Do I have to sign the hotel register?
Do I have to follow any hotel rules?
What if I’m not satisfied with the hotel?
How long will I have to stay at the bed and breakfast?
What happens if I receive an offer of alternative temporary accommodation?
Can I refuse an offer of alternative temporary accommodation or permanent housing?
What if my homeless application is not accepted?
Other information available from Housing reception
Where are you located?
We are based at the Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow TW3 4DN and open 8.45am to 4pm Monday to Friday except on Wednesday when we are open from 1pm to 4pm
Do I need an appointment?
Please make an appointment to see someone whenever possible, as this avoids a long wait at reception. If you do not have an appointment, you must wait to be seen on a first-come first-served basis. If you arrive without an appointment and we are very busy, we may have to arrange an appointment for you on another day. Call us on 020 8583 3842 to make an appointment or write to the address above. If you cannot get through when phoning, please keep trying as the line is often very busy.
What support will I get while I’m staying in bed and breakfast accommodation?
Housing Officers and Customer Information Officers visit hotels regularly. If you need advice or help, you can speak to them when they visit or phone us on 020 8583 3842. You can also phone your Housing Officer, who should give you their name and phone number when you make your homeless application. If there are other agencies involved with your or your family’s welfare, you should tell them that you have moved and the address of the hotel as soon as you can. Other agencies might include;
Hounslow Social Services
Hounslow Education Department
Your children’s school
Your doctor
Your health visitor
What if the bed and breakfast is far away from my child’s school?
We always try to make sure that bed and breakfast placements are in the borough, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee this every time. If we cannot provide a local bed and breakfast, you may need to change you child’s school. The Education Department can give you details of the schools in the area where you are staying.
Do I have to share facilities?
Yes. Generally, people staying in bed and breakfast will have to share bathroom and kitchen facilities.
Where can I put my furniture?
Bed and breakfast hotels are already furnished and health and safety regulations mean that you will not be allowed to store your furniture or a lot of personal belongings in your hotel room. You should try to store your furniture and belongings with friends and family. If you cannot make your own arrangements, we can arrange storage for you, but there will be a charge for this.
Can I get help with paying for bed and breakfast?
Bed and breakfast hotels can be very expensive if you work. If you receive benefits or are on a low income, you can claim Housing Benefit to help meet the cost of bed and breakfast. We will help you fill in a Housing Benefit form on the same day that we book your bed and breakfast accommodation. Although the Homeless Persons Unit and the Housing Benefit office are both based at the Civic Centre, they are separate departments and do not share information. You must make sure that you give the Housing Benefit office all the documents they need to support your application and you must check that your claim has been processed. It is also important that you:
Keep a copy of any documents you hand in;
Get a receipt from the Housing Benefit office when you give them documents;
Contact the Housing Benefit office (020 8583 4242) if they have not written to you within two weeks of you making your claim;
Make sure that you contact the Housing Benefit office soon after handing in any extra documents to confirm that your claim has been processed.
If you do not provide the documents the Housing Benefit office asked for, or fail to claim other benefits you may be entitled to (for example, Income Support), Housing Benefit may be delayed or refused. You are responsible for the full cost of bed and breakfast if your Housing Benefit claim is not processed due to a lack of information.
If you are working, you must pay £75 a week for your bed and breakfast until your Housing Benefit claim has been assessed. Please be aware that your contribution to the cost of bed and breakfast may go up or down once your Housing Benefit claim is processed.
IMPORTANT!
Do not wait for the result of a Housing Benefit Claim before paying for your bed and breakfast accommodation. If you owe rent while you are in bed and breakfast, it will affect your prospects of receiving an offer of alternative temporary accommodation and could lead to us cancelling the hotel booking. If you are evicted from temporary accommodation because you owe rent, we may consider you to be intentionally homeless and we will not offer you any more accommodation. Speak to your Housing Officer to find out how you need to pay. If you have any problems paying your rent, you should tell us immediately so that we can give you appropriate advice and help.
Am I entitled to any extra benefits?
If you are entitled to Income Support you should:
Qualify for a higher allowance to cover eating out while you are in the hotel;
Be entitled to help with the cost of school clothing for your children and free school meals.
How do I pay the bill?
If you are not entitled to Housing Benefit, or only receive partial benefit, you will need to pay your hotel bill. We will give you a payment card when we book your accommodation. You can make payments at the cash office at :
The Civic Centre or
At any Post Office
You can pay by cash or cheque and you will need to give the cashier your payment card. Make cheques payable to London Borough of Hounslow if you pay at the Civic Centre, or to Post Office Counters Ltd if you pay at a post office. If you lose or damage your payment card please contact the Housing Income Section on 020 8583 3805. If you have any questions about the payments you have made please contact your Housing Officer.
What about electricity and gas?
These costs are included in the weekly rental charge.
Do I have to sign the hotel register?
Yes, you must sign the register each day by 10am. You must not sign the register in advance, for example, by signing on Monday for all the days that week. We need to keep accurate records of who is staying in a hotel each night and we will check and monitor the register. If you are planning to be away from the hotel for more than one night, you must tell the hotel manager and your Housing Officer. If you fail to do this your booking may be cancelled. You will then have to come to the Homeless Persons Unit and if you cannot give a satisfactory explanation as to why you did not sign the register, we are unlikely to provide any more temporary accommodation for you.
Do I have to follow any hotel rules?
Yes, hotels have house rules and health and safety regulations which you must follow. The following behaviour will not be accepted at any bed and breakfast hotel:
Any form of racist behaviour towards staff, landlords or other residents
Aggressive or abusive behaviour towards staff, landlords or other residents
Using, dealing or possessing drugs
If you ignore these rules and regulations, we may cancel your booking immediately and we may not provide temporary accommodation for you again. We may also consider you to be intentionally homeless under the terms of homelessness legislation which means that we do not have to house you.
What if I’m not satisfied with the hotel?
Staff from the Homeless Person Unit regularly visit bed and breakfast hotels to make sure that standards are maintained. Our Environmental Health Officers also regularly inspect hotels to make sure that they meet relevant legislation. However, if you are not satisfied with the standards at your bed and breakfast, you should speak to the hotel manager. If there is no improvement, you should then speak to your Housing Officer. You can phone them direct or call us on 020 8583 3842. If you would prefer to write to us, hotel managers have pre-paid envelopes addressed to the Housing department that you can use. You should also tell us if:
Any of the facilities at the hotel are withdrawn.
You experience any problems with staff or other residents at the hotel.
You have any suggestions for improvements at a hotel.
How long will I have to stay at the bed and breakfast?
Unfortunately, we can’t tell you exactly how long you will have to stay in bed and breakfast, but we try to move people to more suitable accommodation as soon as possible. If we approve your homeless application, we will look for permanent accommodation for you. However, because many people have to wait a long time for permanent accommodation, we may offer you another type of temporary accommodation (for example, a hostel or private leased property) until we can offer you permanent housing.
What happens if I receive an offer of alternative temporary accommodation?
A Customer Information Officer will contact you at your bed and breakfast and ask you to come to the Civic Centre to collect details of alternative accommodation, which might be a hostel or private leased property for example. It is important that you collect this information. If your homeless application is in joint names, both you and the other person named must attend. If you cannot keep the appointment, you should contact your Housing Officer immediately. If you do not attend and do not contact us, we may cancel your hotel booking.
Can I refuse an offer of alternative temporary accommodation or permanent housing?
If you believe that we have offered you unsuitable accommodation, you have the right to ask for a review. You must have a good reason for refusing an offer.
When I move to alternative temporary accommodation or permanent housing, can I get help with buying furniture?
Bed and Breakfast hotels are always furnished, but other types of temporary accommodation and permanent housing are not. If you receive Income Support, you may be entitled to a Social fund grant or loan to help you buy furniture. Your Housing Officer can give you information on this and can also refer you to the Hounslow Furniture Project which sells furniture at low prices.
What if my homeless application is not accepted?
If we investigate your application and decide that we cannot house you under homelessness law, we will cancel your bed and breakfast booking. If you ask us to review our decision on your application, we may or may not continue to provide bed and breakfast accommodation for you until we make the review decision. This will depend on your household’s circumstances.
Contact Details
Telephone: 020 8583 3842
Fax: 020 8583 3843
Other information available from Housing reception
Housing Advice for the Homeless (information Pack )
The services provided by the Homeless Persons Unit (Booklet)
Extra services for vulnerable homeless people (Booklet)