If you think you're homeless or are likely to become homeless in the near future you should approach your Local Authority Housing Advice and Homelessness department. If you want advice and/ or support to assist you to do this you could contact an agency such as C.A.S.S.. (Click on the link on the left-hand-side for the contact information of agencies, which might be able to assist).

• Local Authority Housing Advice and Homelessness departments:
• Tel; Carlisle; (01228) 817499; out-of-hours or emergencies; (01228) 511061
• Tel; Workington; (01900) 702660; out-of-hours or emergency; (01900) 871080
• Tel; Whitehaven; (01946) 598431 or 598432; out-of-hours or emergency; (01946) 815500
• Tel; Penrith; (01768) 861400/ 817817

In some circumstances Local Authority departments can provide temporary accommodation however, not everyone who is homeless/ threatened with homelessness is entitled to this provision. Homelessness Officers have standard criteria against which to assess somebody's application. Based on these criteria a decision is made as to eligibility and subsequently, the amount of temporary accommodation a person is owed.

For Example:

• If you are:
  eligible for assistance
  homeless/ threatened with homelessness
  deemed to have a priority need and
  deemed to be unintentionally homeless
  the Local Authority will owe you a full duty which means that they must provide temporary accommodation until you are permanently re-housed. 
• If you are:
  eligible for assistance
  homeless/ threatened with homelessness
  deemed to have a priority need but
  deemed to be intentionally homeless
  the Local Authority only has a duty to provide temporary accommodation for twenty-eight days.

A Local Authority may provide temporary accommodation before a decision has been made if they feel that you are likely to have a priority need, however, this temporary accommodation may change or end once a full decision has been made.

You don't have to be literally sleeping on the streets to be classed as homeless. You might also be legally homeless if you are:

• staying with friends or family temporarily
• staying in a bed and breakfast/ hotel/ hostel
• living in overcrowded conditions
• you are at risk of violence in your home

If your Local Authority Housing Advice and Homelessness department doesn't owe you a duty but you're still unhappy with your housing circumstances, agencies which provide housing-related advice and support might be able to assist you in improving your current situation or securing alternative accommodation.