Prison leavers and housing: your rights

Leaving prison with nowhere to live makes rebuilding much harder. But prison leavers hold housing rights, and the council may owe help. Here is what exists, how homelessness applications work on release, and where support sits.

Am I likely to be homeless when I leave prison?

You may be at risk if:

• Your private tenancy ended while you were inside
• Social housing evicted you over the conviction
• The old home is no longer open to you
• No fixed address waits for you

Being released with nowhere settled? Contact the council and housing services as early as you can, from inside if possible.

Can I apply to the council for housing?

Yes. Homeless on release? Apply to the council's housing team, which will assess you. The main housing duty, the strongest, needs you to be:

• Eligible: most people are; some with immigration restrictions are not
• Homeless: no settled home on release probably counts
• In priority need: the hard one without children or a disability. A physical or mental health condition making you vulnerable can still qualify you, as can children living with you

Is vulnerability taken into account?

Yes, but it needs showing. Priority need can rest on serious mental ill health, a physical or learning disability, or anything else making homelessness far harder for you than for most.

Get medical evidence where you can, and ask your offender manager or probation officer for a letter backing the application.

What if the council says I am intentionally homeless?

Lost your last home through the conviction, or the behaviour behind it? The council may call that intentional homelessness, which shrinks the duty owed.

The decision can be challenged. Told you are intentionally homeless? Get legal advice fast: the review window is 21 days.

What about the duty under the Offender Management Act?

Under the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, as amended, probation must weigh housing at release. Under supervision, your probation officer should help plan it before you leave. Not happening? Raise it with them directly.

Organisations that can help

• Shelter: housing advice for people leaving prison
• St Giles Trust: dedicated support for people leaving custody with housing needs
• Citizens Advice: help applying as homeless, and fighting refusals
• Crisis: homelessness charity with services for people leaving custody

Housing disrepair claims

Did your pre-prison home carry disrepair the landlord never fixed? A claim may survive. Watch the clock: it keeps running, and prison does not pause it. Get advice as soon as you can after release.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

We help tenants with housing disrepair claims in England. Disrepair in your current or previous rented home, left unfixed? Call us.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Housing Act 1996, Part 7 (homelessness) (legislation.gov.uk)
• Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• Homelessness application, what happens next
• Free housing legal advice in England, where to get it