Advice if you might become homeless

If you are released on licence, your probation officer can help you find accommodation, as long as you have spent a continuous period of at least 12 months in custody.

All prisoners are given a discharge grant paid for by the prison when they leave. This is money to help with your costs until your benefits are sorted. If a prison housing adviser has found you accommodation for your first night, you may be given a higher discharge grant which is paid directly to the accommodation provider.

You may be able to prepare for your release when you are in prison by saving some of your prison wages. You could consider opening a credit union account when you are in prison.

Contact us if you still need help with finding housing. In some circumstances, we might decide that you are in priority need because you have spent time in prison or on remand. 

How we can help

We will consider if you should be regarded as vulnerable because you are homeless. This is not the same as being labelled vulnerable in prison. The fact that you have been in prison does not in itself mean that we have to treat you as being vulnerable.

When considering your homelessness application, we will look at:

• the length of time you spent in prison and since release
• if any third party support is being provided by the Probation Service, youth offending team, or drug and alcohol team
• evidence provided by any third party (including any housing needs assessment)
• how successful you have been in finding and keeping your own accommodation
• any third party support networks such as family, friends or probation officer
• evidence of any other vulnerability (such as mental health problems, drug abuse or alcohol misuse)
• a history of having been in care
• any other factors that might impact on your ability to find accommodation

We will assess the evidence to be satisfied that you will find it difficult to seek and maintain accommodation for yourself, compared to other people who are rendered homeless.

If you do not have a local connection with Woking, we will still try to prevent you from becoming homeless. We can refer your case to a council where you do have a local connection.

As an ex-offender, there may be restrictions placed on where you can live. For example, if an anti-social behaviour order states you cannot go to a particular area, you may need to seek help from a different council.

High risk prisoners managed by a Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) – GOV.UK may be required to live in certain areas. If this applies to you, any housing that you or we assist with will need to be approved by the police.

Intentionally homeless

We may decide that you are intentionally homeless if you were evicted from where you lived before going to prison. This may be because of:

• criminal behaviour
• anti-social behaviour
• rent arrears resulting from your time in prison

If we decide you are intentionally homeless, we can only offer you limited help with finding accommodation.

Emergency accommodation

You may need to use emergency accommodation such as a hostel, night shelter or B&B if you have nowhere to go following release. Some are direct access, which means you do not need a referral from an agency to use them.

The York Road Project provides cheap hot meals, shower/laundry facilities and other practical help for people who need somewhere to go during the day. They may also be able to help you find housing.