Make a referral under the duty to refer

Overview

Find out about the homelessness duty to refer, who can make referrals and how to make referrals to Redbridge.

Check what duty to refer means

Public organisations such as job centres and hospitals can refer service users who are homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless to local housing authorities such as Redbridge Council.

To qualify for a referral, the service user must have:

• access to public funds, or
• EU settled status, or
• pre-settled status with an ongoing job

A referral under duty to refer does not mean that the service user will qualify for interim or emergency accommodation.

Read about the duty in GOV.UK's A guide to the duty to refer.  

Contact StreetLink London if the service user is rough sleeping or street homeless. You can still make a referral under duty to refer.

Who can be referred to Redbridge

Service users can choose to be referred to any local housing authority in England but they will need to meet certain criteria to qualify for a referral to Redbridge.

To qualify for a referral to Redbridge, service users will need to:

• be experiencing domestic abuse and are at risk of violence in a different borough, or
• have at least one local connection to Redbridge

A local connection means the person:

• lives in Redbridge now and has lived in Redbridge for at least 6 months out of the last 12 months 
• currently works full-time or part-time in Redbridge
•  has a relative such as a parent, sibling, aunt or uncle living currently in Redbridge who can support them – the relative must have been living in the borough for at least 5 years before the date of the referral
• is aged 18 to 21 and Redbridge Council placed them when they were under 18 with a foster carer, in a residential home or with other relatives, away from their parents - this means they can have a local connection to Redbridge and another area

Refer the service user to a different local authority if they do not have a local connection to Redbridge.

Get consent to make a referral

Before you make a referral, talk to your service user and get their consent. Use the following steps:

1. Explain to your service user why they are being referred to us.
2. Ask for their consent (permission) to the referral.
3. Ask for their consent to their information and contact details being passed on to Redbridge if they agree to the referral.

Read more about how to get consent

Make a referral

How you make a referral will depend on whether you have an ALERT account or not.

Use one of the following to make a referral:

• online through ALERT if you have an account - make a referral online (link opens in a new tab), or
• email us at dutytorefer@redbridge.gov.uk if you cannot use ALERT and we will email you a form

Your referral will usually be processed within 10 working days if it's a new referral.