Housing for those in prison or remand

Remand prisoners may be able to claim housing benefit for up to 52 weeks. You will need to contact the Housing Benefits team to find out more.

For convicted prisoners, housing benefit will only be paid for a maximum of 13 weeks.

You must let the Housing Benefit Team know that your circumstances changed, including:

• where you are
• the address you wish to claim for
• whether you’ve been sentenced or are on remand
• the date you were sentenced and your release date, including remission
• the date you were remanded and, if you were sentenced, the date you were sentenced, the length of you sentence or your release date

If you are released from prison and have nowhere to live you should receive advice from the prison housing officer.

This should include a referral to the local authority that you have a connection to. This is usually the area in which you lived before you went to prison, unless you are unsafe in that area or you are not permitted to return. If this case, you can make a homeless application to any local authority.

If you have a probation officer, they should be able to help you find somewhere to live.