Explain why the housing situation is unsafe now
Contact the appropriate authority before an eviction date or unsafe arrangement becomes a crisis. Give factual evidence about treatment, access and vulnerability.
Your same-day housing evidence pack
Take independent advice before refusing an offer.
- Contact the council or Northern Ireland Housing Executive and record the application reference.
- Explain eviction risk, sofa surfing, abuse, disrepair, overcrowding or unsafe access.
- Keep notices, tenancy papers, messages and dates.
- Gather factual medical and functional evidence without oversharing unrelated history.
- Describe stairs, bathroom, infection, medicine-storage, treatment-travel and carer needs.
- Request every decision and suitability assessment in writing.
- Record review or appeal deadlines and obtain independent housing advice.
Questions for the housing authority
Ask whether a formal homelessness application has actually been opened.
- Have you accepted a homelessness application and what duty are you considering?
- Is interim accommodation available while the decision is made?
- How will illness, treatment and disability affect suitability?
- What evidence is still required and by when?
- What is the review deadline for this decision or offer?
State facts and medical impact
Do not rely on saying only that the situation is stressful.
“I am homeless or threatened with homelessness because of these facts. Cancer treatment creates these additional access, infection and travel risks. Please confirm the formal application and urgent accommodation decision.”
Make the health risks concrete and contact housing help early
Approach the council or Northern Ireland Housing Executive as soon as housing may be lost or is unsafe. Cancer is important evidence, but it does not produce one automatic legal outcome.
Explain the housing facts clearly: eviction notice, sofa surfing, abuse, overcrowding, disrepair, unaffordable costs or accommodation that cannot be entered or used safely. Keep the application reference and every written decision or offer.
Connect health to suitability. Describe stairs, toilet and washing access, infection risk, medicine refrigeration, treatment travel, space for equipment, carer access and the likely harm of moving. Ask clinicians for factual evidence about function and risk rather than a promise of housing priority.
Homelessness law differs substantially across the UK. Scotland does not use the priority-need test, while England, Wales and Northern Ireland retain distinct legal frameworks. Get nation-specific advice before refusing accommodation, leaving a tenancy or missing a review deadline.
A practical way through it
Use the parts that fit your situation and leave the rest.
- Contact housing nowUse the local authority or Housing Executive homelessness route and say if you have nowhere safe tonight, face abuse or have received a legal notice.
- Secure the documentsKeep tenancy papers, notices, court papers, messages, photographs, repair reports, benefit decisions and the homelessness application reference.
- Describe health-related suitabilityList access, treatment, medicine, equipment, infection, fatigue and support needs and explain the likely consequence if each is not met.
- Ask for written decisionsRequest the duty accepted, reasons, accommodation details, review information and any action required from you in an accessible form.
- Check every offer before refusingAsk a housing adviser to assess location, access, affordability, safety and legal consequences. Record why an offer cannot meet a documented need.
- Coordinate other supportTell the cancer, discharge, social-care and benefits teams about the housing risk so plans do not assume a safe address or usable facilities.
What this can look like
When temporary accommodation is medically unsuitable
After hospital discharge, Saira is offered an upstairs room with a shared bathroom, but neuropathy makes stairs unsafe and treatment has increased infection risk.
A prompt response
Saira does not simply refuse. She immediately gives the housing officer specific access and clinical concerns and asks how to preserve the offer while suitability is reviewed.
Her discharge team provides factual mobility and infection information and explains the equipment and follow-up required.
A nation-specific housing adviser checks the review route and helps her put the objection in writing.
Contact the authority now
- Explain sofa surfing, threatened eviction, abuse or inaccessible accommodation.
- Keep notices, tenancy papers and the application reference.
Evidence health and suitability
- Describe treatment travel, infection risk, stairs, bathroom access, medicine storage and carer access.
- Ask clinicians for factual functional evidence rather than a promise of priority.
Protect review rights
- Request written decisions, reasons and suitability details.
- Scotland abolished the priority-need test. England, Wales and Northern Ireland retain separate priority-need frameworks. Serious illness remains relevant evidence but does not create one automatic result. Get urgent independent advice before refusing accommodation or missing a deadline.
A manageable next step
What you could do now
- Contact the correct housing authority today.
- Gather the notice and factual medical evidence.
- Take any decision or offer to a housing adviser before refusing it.
Checked sources
Read the original guidance
We summarise carefully and link to the source so you can check the full, most current information. Sources were checked 9 September 2026.