Ask us to review a homeless application decision

By law you can ask a local authority to look at a decision that was made on your homeless application. The review can either confirm or overturn the decision made on your homeless application.

What you can ask us to review

You can ask us to review any of the following:

• that you are not homeless  
• that you are not threatened with homelessness  
• that you are not eligible for help because of your immigration status
• that you don’t have a priority need  
• that you became homeless intentionally
• about the steps you are to take in your Personal Housing Plan at the Prevention or Relief Stage
• about whether you are owed the Prevention, Relief or full duty
• to end the Prevention or Relief
• to end the full section 193 duty (discharge of duty)
• to end the duty towards you where you are considered to have deliberately and unreasonably refused to cooperate with the steps taken to prevent or relieve your homelessness
• that your case has been transferred to another Council because you don’t have a local connection with our area, but have a connection with the other council’s area
• the suitability of accommodation offered to you under the Relief or full section 193 duty
• the suitability of accommodation offered to you as a final accommodation offer

The decision letter you receive from us will tell you if you can ask for a review.

Deadline for asking for a review

If you want to ask for a review, you must do it within 21 days of receiving your decision letter.

You'll lose your right to review if you miss this deadline. You can ask us to accept a late review and give your reasons. However, we are not legally obliged to accept a late review request.

Special rules apply if you don’t receive the decision letter. A senior officer who was not involved in the original decision will make the review decision.

If you accept temporary accommodation and you want us to reconsider its suitability, you’ll need to demonstrate that the accommodation has become unsuitable since you accepted it because your circumstances have changed.

How the review process works

Once we’ve received your review request we'll write to you within 14 days and: 

• invite you or your representative to make written or oral representations in connection with the review
• give you a date when we must receive your reasons for requesting a review and any supporting information
• confirm the procedure we’ll follow in connection with the review
• confirm who will carry out the review
• give you the name and details of the reviewing officer you can contact if you have any questions

If the reviewing officer believes there was a deficiency or irregularity in the original decision or in how the decision was made, but is considering making an adverse review decision, special safeguards apply. The reviewing officer would then:

• give you advance notice in writing that they’re considering making an adverse decision, despite the deficiencies or irregularities
• confirm the reasons why
• confirm that you or someone acting on your behalf can make further representations to the reviewing officer

Apply for a review on your homelessness application

You, or someone acting on your behalf, can request a review in person at our offices, by email or by post. Please ensure you clearly request the review and highlight which decisions you want us to reconsider. 

How long you'll wait for a decision

By law, we must notify you of the decision within 8 weeks of your review request, unless an extension has been agreed.

We'll try to make a decision as soon as possible, but the reviewing officer may need time to gather further information. In some cases, they may have to wait for another organisation to provide that information.

We'll send you a written copy of the review decision to the address or email address you’ve given us. If the decision goes against you, the letter will tell you why we made the decision.

You can collect a copy of the decision letter from our office at Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1EA. If you don’t receive the letter, we can treat it as if you did receive it because we have made it available for you to collect.

If your situation changes after you ask for a review

You must tell the reviewing officer if your situation changes. We will take account of any relevant changes in your situation when making a decision on your review. 

You may be committing a criminal offence if:  

• you don’t tell us about a relevant change in your circumstances  
• you withhold information we need to administer your homeless application
• you make a false statement intending to make us believe that you’re homeless or qualify for accommodation or help

While you're waiting for a review decision

You can ask for temporary accommodation, but we’re not under a duty to provide it. The reviewing officer will determine your eligibility. We usually only arrange accommodation when the original decision was flawed, or when there are exceptional circumstances.

Making a complaint

You don't have to wait for a review decision before making a complaint. For example, you can complain if you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your case.

However, you should ask for a review if you want us to overturn a decision we’ve made on your homeless application. 

More information about the complaints procedure (and a complaint form)

Find out how to make a complaint

You can also complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is likely to uphold a complaint if you’ve suffered injustice because we’ve mishandled your case.

However, the Ombudsman may decide they can’t investigate until you’ve exhausted our complaints procedure. Also, the Ombudsman may refuse to look into a complaint if you have a right of review or appeal.

Learn more about making an Ombudsman complaint

If you disagree with the review decision

You can appeal to the County Court if you disagree with the review decision, or if we fail to notify you of a decision within 8 weeks (or within a longer period that has been agreed).

You can only appeal on a point of law. This means you have reasons for claiming that a legal error has been made in how the reviewing officer dealt with your review. You should get independent legal advice. A legal adviser will be able to tell you if you’re entitled to legal aid to pay for an appeal.

Get independent advice

You might be able to get advice and representation from organisations such as Citizens Advice and Shelter.

You can also check if you're eligible for legal aid on the the gov.uk website.

Provide us with a contact address

We strongly advise you to provide a contact address so we can write to you during the review process.

You should also tell us if your address changes, even if it’s a temporary address.

If you’re moving from place to place or sleeping rough we suggest you get an independent adviser to represent you. We can then send your letters to them.

If your only way to keep in contact is via phone or email, ensure you provide a correct telephone number and email address and keep us updated if they change.

We can email the letters we’re sending you or we can phone you to tell you a letter is ready to collect from our office at Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1EA.