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COVID-19 homelessness and housing advice for tenants

Southwark’s Housing Solutions services

Our hours of service are unchanged:

  • Monday and Tuesday, 9am to 4pm
  • Wednesday, 10am to 4pm
  • Thursday and Friday, 9am to 4pm

There are three ways to contact us:

  • phone 020 7525 4140
  • use our online form to help us assess your housing situation; we'll contact you to provide appropriate advice and assistance

Contact us form

Contact us about COVID-19 related housing or homelessness matters

You can contact us about any housing or homelessness matter including:

  • if you have symptoms or are diagnosed to have COVID-19 and are being threatened with eviction
  • if you live in shared housing and you're concerned someone else has the virus
  • if you're being threatened with eviction for any other reason (for example, you're struggling to pay your rent)

Shelter’s free urgent expert housing advice

Talk to an expert housing adviser if you're in urgent need of housing advice.

Call Shelter’s free advice helpline on 0808 800 4444, open every day of the year:

  • 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday
  • 9am to 5pm, weekends

Support if you've been made homeless out of hours

If you've been made homeless outside of our normal working hours, we operate an emergency out of hours service. You can contact our emergency out of hours service at 020 7525 5000.

Temporary accommodation and hostels

For Southwark homeless applicants in temporary accommodation, we've set up a duty line to support any coronavirus-related issues. Contact us on 020 7525 1093.      

Groundswell have an advice and support guide for people living in temporary accommodation and hostels.

Financial support related to rent

You may be experiencing some difficulty paying your rent or have other rent related costs you're struggling to cover; this might be especially due to the current COVID-19 outbreak. Our Financial Inclusion Team would like to help if possible.

If you receive Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit, we may be able to help. There are two ways we can assist you:

  • Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)
  • extended payment of Housing Benefit

Partner organisations

Shelter - independent advice

Shelter provide independent housing advice. They are available to chat online and have an urgent helpline.

Shelter have COVID-19 housing advice covering:

  • eviction
  • rent payment problems
  • mortgage arrears and repossession
  • income and benefits
  • landlord access to your home
  • moving out

Domestic and sexual abuse support

Are you feeling threatened or unsafe in your home? COVID-19 may have a serious impact on those experiencing domestic abuse due to enforced social isolation. Restrictions may leave you feeling like there's nowhere to turn for help. However, the police, local and national organisations are still available to support you. Advice and support about domestic abuse is available for everyone regardless of background, financial situation, nationality or immigration status.

How to get help for domestic abuse in Southwark

Solace Advocacy and Support Service Solace in Southwark (SASS)

SASS can help people experiencing domestic abuse or concerned someone they know may be at risk. The service is available to women and men aged 16 or over who live in Southwark.

National support for domestic abuse

Refuge - Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline

If you're in immediate danger call the police on 999

There's additional information about local and national support on domestic abuse.

Rough sleeping

To help someone you see sleeping rough, alert our local services on the StreetLink website.

Stonewall Housing LGBT+ advice and support

Stonewall Housing is still offering housing advice and support to Southwark residents who identify as LGBT+. They offer advice and support via phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp and email. You can contact them on southwark@stonewallhousing.org to arrange an appointment.

Mental Health Crisis and Homelessness

South London and Maudsley (SlaM) 24/7 Mental Health Support / Crisis Line is a telephone service providing crisis intervention, support and advice 24 hours a day 7 days a week. You can reach them on 0800 731 2864.

Tell us how we're doing

We're trying to do all we can to safely support our residents. We're keen to listen and learn from any comments or feedback so that we can learn from your experiences and provide the best service possible to others in future. Our You Said We Did survey is simple, quick and easy to use.

Public bodies and partners

Southwark Council is continuing to operate the Duty to Refer process successfully with our partners and is committed to rapidly responding and maintaining this referral service throughout this coronavirus emergency.

The duty to refer requires public authorities in England to notify a local housing authority, such as Southwark Council, of service users they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Please use the Homelessness Reduction Act referral form to notify us of such cases, so we can provide the appropriate support to the household. As a minimum, we'll require contact details of the household being referred along with their signed consent and the reason for referral. If possible, fully complete the form as this will assist us in dealing with the referral.

Page last updated: 12 May 2022

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