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Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Get help to avoid becoming homeless


We offer free help if you are homeless, at risk of homelessness or simply want advice about your housing options.

You may find yourself at risk of being homeless for many reasons. Do not wait until you become homeless tell us you are at risk of becoming homeless.

If you need somewhere to sleep tonight Contact Homeless (freephone number).

How we can help you

We will provide advice on a range of housing issues, from landlord disputes to homelessness. We'll look at all of your options, from supported accommodation to privately rented housing. 

Helping you keep your home

If you're in danger of losing your home, we will work with you to prevent this happening. We can help if:

Finding a new home

If it's not possible to prevent you becoming homeless, we will try to help you find a new home, whether that's renting from a private landlord or housing associations.

What we must do

Homelessness covers a wide range of circumstances from being 'roofless' to being without a home of your own.  If you are homeless or think you may become homeless in the near future, we can give you advice about your rights and the housing options available to you.

The first time we speak to you we will ask questions to assess your situation to confirm what duties we owe under the homelessness legislation and if we have a legal duty to find you a secure home.  

Only certain people can be given a priority for rehousing under the current homelessness rules; however, our aim is to prevent homelessness wherever possible and if we can't accept your homeless application we will still provide you with advice and information to help you find or keep your home.

See Shelter for more information on the help we must provide.



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