Housing
You can get housing advice free of charge by seeing a Housing
Advice Officer at the Gateway where a drop in service is in
operation every week day between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm or on a
Saturday between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm.
On a Tuesday from 9.00 am until 12 noon at the Gateway there
will be somebody available from the Ashford Breakthrough Project
who can see 16 and 17 year olds to help and advise on the
following:
- Homelessness prevention through family mediation
- One to one key worker support
- Practical life-skills support
- Signposting and referral to appropriate agencies
The Gateway is at 14 Park Mall, Ashford, Kent TN24 8RY and the
telephone number for the Gateway is 0845 824 7247.
What do I do if I am homeless?
If you are asked to leave home, you should first of all call in
to the Gateway to see a Housing Advice Officer who will talk to you
about your Housing Options.
The Advice Officer may talk to you about the Ashford Mediation
Service who provide a service that helps you to work with your
parents or guardians to resolve tensions at home and to work with
your family towards resolving any problems you may have with your
housing
What do I do if I am asked to leave home immediately and the
Gateway is closed?
If you are asked to leave home and are unable to find a friend
or family’s home to stay at that evening you should telephone 01233
331111 where you will be given an out of hours telephone number to
call.
I have my own accommodation but I am struggling to manage, what
should I do?
If you are finding it difficult to manage in your tenancy or you
foresee difficulties you may qualify for floating support. You can
either make a self-referral by telephoning 01622 69453 or 01622
694825 in the first instance or email the Supporting
People Team. Alternatively a Housing Advice Officer can fill
out a referral form on your behalf, which would be sent to
Supporting People.
Supporting People would place your application in a band
according to your need and you would then be contacted at a later
stage by one of the agencies that provide support. An initial visit
will be made to you to discuss your needs in more detail.
How do I apply to Ashford Borough Council for housing with them
or with a Housing Association?
If you are aged 18 or over you may wish to apply to Ashford
Borough Council to go on to our housing register. You can either
download an application form (923Kb
PDF) or telephone 01233 331111 and ask for a form to be
sent out to you. You will then need to attend a drop in session at
the Civic Centre, bringing with you the form and proof of id,
address and any other information as requested on the form. At the
session you will see a Lettings Officer who will provide you with
further information about the housing register.
We need your help!
The Council want to update the service
provided to young people aged 16 – 18 years who are threatened with
homelessness. Some under 16s also find themselves in this situation
and don’t know what to do. The Council would like to help this
younger age group by working with them to prevent this situation
happening. They want your help to do this.
The Council want to know what you think are
the most important things young people would want to know if they
found themselves in a possible homelessness situation.
What would you like to see available?
- A confidential phone number.
- A qualified person to help sort out things at home.
- Some short stay accommodation while things are being sorted out
at home.
- Shared housing with some support and advice.
- What others things do you think need to be in place.
Who do you think young people would feel more
at ease with discussing their homelessness and housing
problems?
- A person from the Council specially trained for teenage
queries.
- A specialist organisation that deals with young people like the
YMCA or Connexions.
- Is there someone else you would recommend?
These are just a few suggestions. Please let us know what
you think should be put in place by emailling Carol
Morton. Your emails will be in strict
confidence.
Ashford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford TN23 1PL
Call: 01233 330290 Email: info@whatmattersashford.co.uk Text: 07765 897208
Copyright 2007 Ashford Borough Council
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