Homeless assessments are carried out over the telephone. It can take about an hour to fill out a homelessness application. All the information you give us is kept confidential. Let us know if you have any specific requirements. This could be an interpreter, or additional help for hearing, speech or sight difficulties. We will set this up before your interview.
During the assessment, we'll ask these questions:
- Are you homeless?
- Are you unintentionally homeless? By this, we mean do you have no other choice than to become homeless?
- Do you have a local connection to Fife?
The interview is to help gather as much information and work out the best way to help you. The more information you give us, the easier it will be for us to make the right decision and help you. You must tell us how things are for you now; please don’t try to make it sound better or worse than it actually is.
The officer may need to ask some personal questions, to give you the best help. You may want to have someone with you, for support.
We try to assess all homeless applications within 28 days from the interview, if we have all required information.
We will send you a letter as soon as a decision has been made about your application. We can give you this letter in another language or other formats.
If you disagree with our decision, you have the right to appeal. Details of how to appeal will be on your decision letter that we send to you.
What happens next?
If you are unintentionally homeless, you will receive 100 points on the Urgent Housing Homeless List. You will then need to choose at least three areas within Fife for housing. We know you may have certain areas that you would prefer to be housed in, but we ask that you consider other places too. This is so we can get you somewhere to stay as quickly as possible. You also can't ask for any property or heating restrictions unless you can prove there's a specific reason.
You will be made one offer of housing from the Urgent Housing Homeless list. If you refuse this offer of permanent accommodation, your homeless points will be taken off. This means the Council no longer has a responsibility to find you a place to stay, under the Homeless category. In some cases, your housing application could be suspended.
If you think the offer is unfair, you can appeal to the Lead Officer in the Area housing team. Your decision letter will tell you how to do this.