Colchester City of Sanctuary

Contents

Find a home

How to find private rented housing

Colchester has a very competitive private rented housing sector which can make it very difficult to find a landlord who is willing to offer you a tenancy. See below for some places you can look for privately rented housing:

On the websites, you can filter your search by area, price and number of bedrooms. It is useful to look for multiple properties at the same time because properties get rented out quickly, and some advertised properties might not be available. It is good to look with friends or people you know as this will make the search process easier.

What fees will I need to pay?

Most letting agents will require you to pay various fees before offering you a tenancy.

The fees will often cover the cost of credit checks, and administration.

On average, a landlord will ask for approx. 6 weeks rent as a damage deposit. They will also ask for the first month’s rent in advance.

Information about deposits and rent in advance payments generally (including where you might get help to pay these) can be found here.

If you are a newly granted refugee or in Colchester under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme you may be able to claim your first month’s rent and deposit from the Communities and Partnerships team. You must do this by a referral from RAMA

Evidence that you have the ‘right to rent’

By law, all private sector landlords and letting agents must undertake a ‘right to rent check’ before they rent you a property.

They must check your immigration status and that of anyone aged 18 or over who will be living with you. If a landlord or letting agency fails to do the checks, they may be liable for a fine of up to £3,000. Everyone is required to have a ’right to rent check’, regardless of nationality or property type. Not cooperating with supplying evidence for ‘right to rent’ will likely end your chance of renting.

For more information about the ‘right to rent’ checks, please follow this link.

For a list of the documents that can be accepted to prove that you do have the ‘right to rent’, please follow this link.

Follow  this link for more information on finding a home

Shelter have a clear guide explaining the process of asking for help with housing.

Stonewall Housing offer support for LGBT+ people who need help with housing.

Refugees at Home offer short term hosting connecting people seeking asylum and refugees to hosts with spare rooms.

Advicenow have made a series of videos explaining the process of applying for housing and benefits, and also dealing with poor quality housing and eviction.

Social housing

Social housing is housing that is truly affordable because the rents are tied to local incomes and provided by housing associations and the local council.

There is no immediate access to social housing.

Please note that social housing is unlikely to be an option for your first home after leaving asylum accommodation or if you are here under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Unfortunately, it is extremely unlikely that you will be offered a council home. There is a nationwide shortage of social housing, and in in Colchester we have a waiting list of around 3,000 households. Waiting times to be rehoused from the housing register are exceptionally long for all applicants and vary depending on the size of property that is required, and the banding awarded. Typically, a household on Band B waiting for a three-bedroom house will wait for 3-4 years. Only around 20% of people on the housing register are successful in getting a home.

Anyone can register, but your application will be assessed by a points-based system. If you do not receive any points, you will not be able to bid on anything. If you would like more information, go https://cbhomes.org.uk/find-a-home/apply-for-housing/

 How to make an application

You can register online with any PC or tablet, for example from your home or at the public access computers in the Greenstead local office or any library, including the Colchester town centre library. If you do not have access to a computer or tablet, are unable to get to a location with a public access computer or have nobody to assist you complete an application please contact Colchester Borough Homes Gateway to Homechoice Team by emailing Housing.evidence@cbhomes.org.uk or by telephone on 01206 580292.

Both RAMA and Essex Integration are able to help with applications.

At risk of homelessness

If you are a newly granted refugee, it is important that you contact RAMA as soon as possible so they can assist with housing and help prevent you becoming street homeless.

If you are here under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and your relationship with your host and is breaking down, we will work with RAMA who are commissioned by Colchester City Council to offer mediation, support and help to rematch people to alternative hosts where mediation is not successful. However, our pool of new hots is dwindling and rematching may not be an option.

For households who are homeless, or where homelessness cannot be prevented, we will try to assist them to find private rented accommodation.

If you are homeless in an emergency, we may have a duty to provide temporary accommodation but only for households who have a priority need. Households with no priority need are supported to find other accommodation.

You can complete a 10-minute online assessment (Enhanced Housing Options Wizard) which will provide advice and guidance tailored to your current situation. It will give you the next steps that you should take to address your current situation and if you are homeless or threatened with homelessness in 56 days and are unable to help yourself you will be able to self-book an appointment with a Housing Solutions Officer at a date and time to suit your needs.

If you do not have access to a smartphone/computer and/or the internet you can contact the Housing Solutions Team on 01206 580290 Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm, who will provide you with advice and assistance on how to book an appointment.

You can email the Housing Solutions Team at housing.solutions@cbhomes.org.uk.

Am I eligible for help?

You can find more details on who is eligible from the housing charity, Shelter. For additional information and advice – go to:

If you are offered accommodation, you may be given temporary accommodation first, which is usually a bed and breakfast. This will be paid for by housing benefit. You may also have to pay service charges, which you will have to pay for out of your benefits or wages.

What happens if you cannot prevent me from becoming homeless?

If we are unable to prevent you becoming homeless or find you another home, our next duty is to relieve your homelessness by assisting you in securing alternative accommodation.

We can provide financial assistance to obtain alternative accommodation, this can be rent in advance and help towards a deposit or both.

If you are homeless and we have a ‘reason to believe’ you are in Priority Need, we may have a duty to provide you with interim (short term) accommodation also known as S.188 accommodation. If you have a local connection to Colchester and we are unable to prevent your homelessness, we have a duty to complete another assessment and Personalised Housing Plan.

This housing plan will identify how and what actions we will take to assist you to relieve your homelessness and what actions you are required to do. If we have reason to believe that you have a priority need we will have a duty to provide you with interim accommodation for a further 56 days.

Further help and support

Emergency Homeless
Phone 01206 580280
Email: housing.solutions@cbhomes.org.uk

RAMA (Refugee, Asylum seeker & Migrant Action)
Phone: 01206 638454

Government support and advice

Page last reviewed: 12 March 2024