Temporary accommodation

The temporary accommodation provided will meet your basic needs.  We refer to this as its suitability.  To be suitable the accommodation must have enough bedspaces (not bedrooms) for all members of your household, have use of a bathroom, toilet and kitchen, and the accommodation should not impact on the long term medical conditions of any member of the household. 

The council does not need to provide parking unless there is a significant medical or welfare need .  We expect households with younger children, including new born babies, to accept accommodation without lifts.

We cannot guarantee the accommodation will be near your child's school or your workplace.

If the travel to school becomes too great, we suggest moving your child to a school closer to your temporary accommodation.

Whenever we can, we will accommodate families with GCSE-aged children (aged 14 or above) within a reasonable distance of their current school.

If, after considering the above, you still feel your temporary accommodation is unsuitable, you may request a review of it.  How to request a review depends on the stage your homelessness application has reached.  

If the council has not yet made a decision on whether it accepts a duty to house you under the homelessness law, your accommodation is called "interim".  You will need to seek a judicial review of interim accommodation through the courts.  You can get help with this from the Citizens Advice Watford or a local solicitor.  The review process for temporary accommodation is a review under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 i.e the council reconsidering the original decision.

In other cases, a request to the council to review your temporary accommodation can be made verbally but we prefer to have it in writing and made within 21 days of your move to the accommodation.  Your review request/letter should set out the reasons why you think the temporary accommodation you have been given is not suitable, taking into  account the information on this page.  Your letter should be sent to:

• Housing Services, Watford Borough Council, Town Hall, Hempstead Road, Watford, WD17 3EX

The council will respond to your review request within 8 weeks of receiving it.

Both processes may take several weeks so we always recommend you move into accommodation during the review.