Homelessness prevention

A person is threatened with homelessness if they: 

• are likely to become homeless in 56 days
• have received a valid notice to quit (S21 notice) 
• have received a notice that landlord requires possession of accommodation (NOSP) which expires within 56 days 

If you're threatened with homelessness and are eligible for help, we will be able to provide housing advice and assistance. 

A person could be homeless if they:

• have no home in the UK or elsewhere that they have a legal right to occupy
• have a movable home such as a boat or caravan and there is nowhere it can be placed lawfully
• you're at risk from harm if you stay in your current home

If you think you may be homeless or threatened with homelessness we may be able to help you to remain in your home or move to another home. The earlier you contact us the more we'll be able to help you.  

If you're homeless we'll look at whether or not you have local connections in the area such as: 

• how long you've lived in the area
• if you're employed in the area
• you've close family in the area

We'll talk to you about your circumstances and complete an assessment of your housing needs and formulate a Personal Housing Plan.

We can provide advice, help and support to anyone who is rough sleeping. If you're sleeping rough or know someone who is sleeping rough you can contact the Housing Options team for help. 

You can contact the homeless team to get help for anyone sleeping rough:

Telephone: 01246 345825, Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4:30pm

Visit the Customer Service Centre: Monday to Friday, 9am to 1:45pm

Out of hours (P3): you can phone 0808 169 2333 outside of office hours

P3 (Derbyshire Outreach Team referral portal) – P3 provide the out of hours service in Derbyshire

Pathways of Chesterfield – support and advice service for people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness

The council do provide emergency accommodation to people sleeping rough during periods of severe weather conditions. This is called a severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP). 

If our documents are not accessible to you, you can request a different format here.

Derbyshire Homelessness And Rough Sleeping Strategy

(PDF 8.52 MB)

Whether you want help to start renting a home, want to know your rights as a tenant or are having problems with your landlord we have advice for private tenants that can help.

Useful pages on our website:

• information for private tenants

Links to other websites:

• Shelter - housing and homelessness advice

• Call b4 you serve - specialist support service for landlords considering seeking possession

• Derbyshire Law Centre - free, confidential help and legal advice 

Contact us as soon as you’re getting into financial difficulty, there is a range of options that we can explore.

Useful pages on our website

• benefits and advice – find out more about which benefits you could be eligible for
• rent arrears – help to manage rent arrears if you are a Chesterfield Borough Council tenant
• Discretionary Housing Payments
• Household Support Fund
• cost of living support – Information on how to access support from the council and other organisations
• tenancy support – for Chesterfield Borough Council tenants

Links to other websites

• National Homelessness Advice Service website - advice and information for homeowners worried about paying their mortgage and struggling with payments
• National Debtline - free, impartial debt advice
• Derbyshire Law Centre - free, confidential help and legal advice 
• Chesterfield Citizens Advice Bureau - confidential advice on a wide range of issues including debt, housing and employment problems 
• MoneyHelper – help with rent arrears and problems paying your rent

Private rented

Private rented homes can offer lots of different types and sizes of homes in Chesterfield. It can be faster to get a home that is rented privately.

You can find a private rented home by looking on the internet and searching for 'private landlords' or 'letting agents in Chesterfield’. You could also visit a local letting agent for more information and homes to rent.

There are also other web sites that may help you to find a home to rent:

• Rightmove
• Zoopla
• Open Rent
• Spare Room

Tenancy bond guarantee - Please call the homelessness team for further information. 01246 345825.

Council housing

We have nearly 9,000 council homes in Chesterfield.

You can find out more about getting a property and register for Home Options, our choice-based lettings scheme using the links below or by contacting the Home Options team on 01246 345700.

• find a council home
• register for a property – how to bid and priority band information
• Home Options – includes a help and advice section and registration form for our choice-based lettings scheme

Housing associations in Chesterfield

16 housing associations rent properties within Chesterfield Borough Council.

Each of the housing associations offers a proportion of their properties that are available to let through the Home Options choice-based letting system. In addition, several of the housing associations operate their own waiting lists and allocate their own properties.

We also have several supported housing schemes in our area. If you are homeless or threatened with homelessness, please call us on 01246 345825 to discuss a referral being made.

If you have been a member of the armed forces and have found yourself homeless, we can provide you with housing advice and assistance.

For armed forces housing advice, you can also contact the District Armed Forces Champion for Derbyshire: Elizabeth Gaunt MBE 07827 233143.

You may be able to register on our waiting list, visit our Home Options website for more information.

Contact us on 01246 345825 if you need advice.

Are you frightened to stay in your current home because of threats or violence from your partner, ex-partner or family?

Contact The Elm Foundation for advice, accommodation and support.

• phone: 01246 540464
• email: info@theelmfoundation.org.uk
• text: 07788 396182

You can also contact the homeless team directly for advice.

Useful pages on our website:

• domestic abuse support

Links to other websites:

• Women’s Aid
• National Domestic Abuse Helpline

If you've been in the care of the local authority, there are a range of services available to help you. This can include help to get accommodation and support. 

If you're living in local authority care, or you were in the past, you may be entitled to additional priority to help you to move home.

If you've been in care and are about to become homeless or are homeless and you need more help, you can contact us on 01246 345825, or fill out our online referral form.

If you’re aged between 16 and 18 and you’re homeless or threatened with homelessness, please contact social care on Call Derbyshire 01629 533190.

They will then contact the local authority to complete a joint assessment if they feel it necessary.

This will help us to prevent you becoming homeless and assist you to return home where this is suitable.

If you're in prison or youth detention and will have no home on release, we can assess your needs and we can work with you and any professionals helping you to find a home.

We can offer advice on a range of issues. It's important for you to get in touch as soon as possible to give time for an assessment so that housing options can be explored. If you need any more help you can contact us on 01246 345825, or fill out our online referral form.

Your resettlement officer will need to complete a duty to refer so we can make an appointment before your release from prison.

If you're in hospital and will be unable to return home because of your ill health it may be possible for your home to be adapted to help you to stay there.

If you have no place to return to when you're discharged from hospital, the Housing Options team can assess your housing and support needs and work with you, and any professionals, to ensure accommodation is available for you when you are well enough to leave hospital.

It's important to make contact as soon as possible to allow time for assessments to be completed and accommodation to be identified. Call us on 01246 345825, or fill out our online referral form.

Useful pages on our website:

• adaptations (council tenants)
• disabled facilities grants (DFG)
• Careline and response service

Equipment and adaptations 

If you're struggling to live in your home because of an injury or long-term illness, equipment and adaptations could help you to live in your own home independently.

Disabled facilities grants

You could get a grant if you're disabled and need to make changes to your home, for example: 

• widen doors and install ramps
• improve access to rooms and facilities - such as stairlifts or a downstairs bathroom
• provide a heating system suitable for your needs
• adapt heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use

If you feel you need to move because your home isn't suitable anymore because of your health issues you can register for council housing. You can ask for an assessment of your health, which may give you a higher priority for your housing application.

If you need any more help you can call us on 01246 345825, or fill out our online referral form.

Useful pages on our website:

• disabled facilities grants (DFG)
• adaptations

The public bodies which have a duty to refer are as follows: 

• Jobcentre Plus
• social service
• authorities
• probation services
• hospitals, as part of providing inpatient care
• emergency departments
• urgent treatment centres
• prisons
• youth offender institutions
• secure training centres
• secure colleges
• youth offending teams
• Royal Navy
• Royal Marines
• Army
• Royal Air Force

What do I need to know?

• you can refer any customer/service user you've identified as being either homeless or threatened with homelessness, take a look at the other information in this section for more advice
• the customer / service user must give their consent to be referred
• the individual can choose which local authority they wish to be referred to, so ask them where they would like the referral to be sent
• if in any doubt, or if your customer / service user needs urgent housing assistance, please contact the Homeless team on 01246 345825

If you’re one of the public bodies in the table above and want to refer a customer, you can complete our online referral form.

This process does not replace or affect any safeguarding concerns and referrals. Please report safeguarding concerns in the usual way.