Housing help for prison leavers
Find out what you can do to find accommodation, and what help and advice is on offer after your release.
What you can do
Different types of housing offer different levels of support. You may want to consider:
- Private rented housing — using online searches such as Rightmove and Zoopla.
You may be able to get help with a deposit and apply for housing benefit to help pay your rent.
See the Local Housing Allowance rates to work out how much housing benefit you might get. - Hostels and other supported housing — these have entry criteria based on age, gender, local connection and need. You will need a professional referral for a hostel — see 'How we can help' below.
- Social housing — sign up for social housing via Property Pool Plus. You must disclose your offending history when you sign up.
It's also important to ask family and friends to help you find somewhere to live.
How we can help
We can't help every homeless ex-offender, but we can help you if:
- you have spent time in prison or on remand and
- we think you are vulnerable because you are homeless.
If you think you may qualify for help, please ask your support worker to make a homeless application for you.
They will need to upload risk assessment done on your release from prison, approved premises or a CAS3 accommodation placement.
Your probation officer can also refer you via the CRISIS accommodation for ex-offenders referral route.
What support do we give?
To make a proper assessment of your housing needs, we will need full disclosure of your offending history. If you are not willing to disclose your offending history, this may affect what help we can offer you.
Once we have assessed your needs, we may:
- refer you to Mainstay for temporary accommodation or an Offender Pathway hostel
- help you sign up with Property Pool Plus to apply for social housing, depending on your offending history
- advise you on how to search for a privately rented property and apply for help with housing costs
How do we assess your needs?
We'll review your homeless application and consider:
- how long you were in prison
- the support the probation service, youth offending team or drug and alcohol team give you
- if you have been able to find and keep accommodation
- support you have from family and friends
- any mental health problems, drug or alcohol misuse, or a history of having been in care
- anything else that may affect your ability to find yourself a home