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Contact the Council’s
Homelessness Service, if you become homeless, or are
at risk of becoming homeless. You can make an appointment
for a homeless interview by contacting here.
A Homeless Officer will help you
fill in your application and will make an assessment
of your situation. The Homeless Officer will be able
to give advice on your housing options and on the different
support groups and other agencies that may also be able
to help.
South Ayrshire Council’s
Homelessness Service provides advice and assistance
to homeless people, and to others who may be at risk
of becoming homeless.
Homelessness in something that
can happen to anyone from all walks of life, and can
be a very stressful time for those involved.
The Council has a legal duty
to help homeless people:.
- Firstly by interviewing you and assessing your housing
situation.
- Secondly, provided you circumstances meet the criteria
set out in Part II of the Housing Scotland Act 1987,
by offering you temporary or permanent accommodation.
There are different types of
temporary accommodation that you could be placed in,
namely:
- Bed & Breakfast;
- In a Temporary Furnished or Unfurnished Property;
- In a Hostel such as in Landsburgh House in Ayr.
Although this provides people with
a room over their head, it is not an ideal situation
particularly for homeless families. Applicants are placed
in more suitable and / or permanent accommodation as
soon as possible. However, there can be a long wait
for many homeless people to get their own house.
Young Homeless people also have their
progress monitored while in temporary accommodation
by the the homeless officer and Throughcare worker.
They need to show that they are ready to cope with the
responsibilities of a tenancy before they are given
a house of their own.
In furnished properties, everything
that is required such as bed linen, cutlery, curtains
etc is provided. Unfurnished properties are usually
used where the applicant already has their own furniture
form their last home, and this means that they do not
have to put their own belongings into storage whilst
they are in temporary accommodation.
The Homeless Service also provides
hostel accommodation for homeless families
When you are ready for your
own house and the Council has something to offer you,
you will be offered permanent accommodation. However,
homeless applicants only get one offer of housing, which
they must accept unless they are good reasons as to
why the house is not suitable. There is an appeals process
for applicants, if they are not happy with the offer
they get. More details on this process can be found
at www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk
in chapter 3 of the Housing
Options Guide.
A Homeless officer and a member
of the Throughcare Team jointly interview any young
homeless people. This ensures that young people have
immediate contact with the Throughcare Team, so that
the help and support they require can be put in place
as quickly as possible.
Throughcare help young people
aged 16 – 21, and give priority to those leaving
care and those who are homeless. The Team give advice
and will help you deal with agencies like the Benefits
Agency and Housing Departments. Once you have got somewhere
to live, it will support you so that you can live independently.
Each young homeless person in
monitored by this group, which includes their Homeless
Officer and Throughcare worker. This allows the Homeless
team to monitor and help where the young person may
be having any problems in their accommodation or in
any other aspect of their life.
The Start Project is aimed at
people aged 18-25 who are homeless, although if you
are younger or older they may still be able to help
you. If you are homeless, sleeping rough or in danger
of losing your accommodation the project can assist
you to find private rented accommodation and to apply
for council housing or housing associated property.
It can also give you advice on budgeting matters, help
with housing tasks & coping on your own.
The Skills towards Employment
Project is aimed at helping people aged 16-21 in South
Ayrshire experiencing difficulty in obtaining and/or
sustaining employment & training opportunities.
Provides practical and
emotional support to children, young people and families
that are living in temporary accommodation or at risk
of becoming homeless. This can include anyone about
to become a parent. Project workers are aware of the
impact that homelessness can have on both children and
parents. They will offer to remain in contact with a
family until they are settled, providing assistance,
information and advice on how to access other services
including services for their children.
The team includes 2 project workers whose main focus
is children, one worker for pre-5 children and the other
for older children.
The Council makes sure that
children who are homeless do not have their schooling
and education affected by the disruption of them leaving
their home. When a family contacts the Homelessness
Service, arrangements are made for transport or for
a bus pass for older children, so that they can travel
easily from temporary accommodation to their school.
This means that children and young people do not lose
their friends an other familiar faces, just because
they have had to leave their home.
There is also a nurse who visits
homeless people at Landsburgh House, to give advice
and assistance on keeping healthy. This is to make sure
that people who may find it difficult to visit their
doctor due to the disruption of being homeless, do not
become ill or run down when they are facing the difficulties
already caused by being homeless.
The Housing Aid Centre gives
advice on housing rights. It will help tenants and homeless
people appeal against the Council’s or any other
landlords’ decisions if they don’t agree
with them they have been unfairly treated. Housing Aid
can also give advice on any area of housing, including
private rented accommodation and your legal rights.
The Housing Aid Centre runs
surgeries in Girvan & Maybole on alternate Fridays
in the month.
Women’s Aid give support
and practical help to woman who are experiencing physical
or emotional abuse from the men they live with. They
offer counselling and advice on the law and domestic
violence. They also run a refuge where woman who are
escaping violent partners can stay (if space is available).
The Bridge Project offers help
with drug, alcohol, & solvent addiction, gambling
addiction and debt counselling. They also run a number
of support groups.
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