Our Single Homelessness Service (SHS) aims to help you find suitable, stable accommodation. We’ll try to find you a place to live, and will help you settle you in your new home. If you need, we’ll help you work out how to pay the rent.

• The information on this page is also available in our Single Homelessness Service leaflet. [PDF, 0.6MB]

Eligibility

To qualify for help from the service, you must:

• be single and aged over 18
• be homeless or likely to lose your home and either rough sleeping or at risk of rough sleeping
• not be in ‘priority need’ for re-housing (ask a housing adviser to explain this)
• have a ‘local connection’ to Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire or Huntingdonshire.
• be either claiming state benefits or able to claim benefits (so, you could be in work at present). If you're unsure about this, we can talk about it when you come to see us.

You should be able to manage your tenancy without long-term help – we call this having ‘low support needs’. This includes paying rent and bills, looking after the property, and getting on with your neighbours. Crucially, you should be willing to share accommodation with others, even if this isn’t ideal for you in the short-term.

How it works

To apply or find out more about the Single Homelessness Service, contact our housing advice service. We’ll ask you a series of questions about your circumstances, to assess whether you are suitable for the service.

If you’re accepted on the service we’ll refer you to our Accommodation Finder team. They’ll make sure you’re definitely suitable for the service, and will discuss the options available to you. More importantly they’ll help you find your feet, by helping you connect to a GP, employment and other services. They can support you for up to three months.

Accommodation

Your new place will be good, safe, basic accommodation. It’s likely to be a house-share, but could be a ‘lodgings’ arrangement. The rent should be affordable, but this means it’s likely to be outside of the city. You should talk to a housing adviser to find out what’s available at present.

We’ll do our best to help you find a place to live, but this will depend on what’s available at the time. We cannot guarantee that we’ll be able to find a property for you, even if you’re suitable for the service.