Emergency temporary accommodation

You will be offered temporary accommodation on an emergency basis where the Council is satisfied your application meets certain criteria. For information about this criteria you can contact the housing solutions team. 

Where temporary emergency accommodation is provided to you this could be in a hostel managed by the Council or accommodation provided through a specialist housing provider or private landlord. It can also include accommodation outside of Kingston borough.

Any temporary emergency accommodation provided to you will remain available for your use until the such time as the housing solutions team reaches a decision on your application. 

What happens next

All offers of accommodation are generally notified by phone first, but will always be confirmed in writing. The offer letter will explain all relevant information about the letting offered. If you are on a low income or in receipt of benefits you may need to claim housing benefit to help with payment of the charge for the accommodation provided. 

Please note that our policy is to make one suitable offer of accommodation only. Where a homeless applicant refuses a suitable offer of accommodation we may decline to offer further accommodation. 

If a suitable offer of accommodation is made to an applicant already resident in temporary accommodation provided by the Council we may seek recovery of the accommodation provided.

You may remain in temporary accommodation until your homelessness is prevented. This can include a suitable offer of private rented accommodation to resolve your homelessness.

If you breach the terms of the agreement to occupy temporary accommodation provided, for example by not paying the full charge for the accommodation provided, the duty to accommodate you will end and the accommodation provided to you will be withdrawn.

If you want to know the progress of your application contact the housing solutions team. 

Reporting issues and repairs

If you have any concerns about the temporary emergency accommodation provided to you then you can contact the temporary accommodation team on 0208 547 5003 or using the community housing contact form

You should also notify the emergency temporary accommodation provider of any concerns you have in order that they can address these directly.