There are a number of local and national charities that can help you with finding emergency housing if you cannot get help and advice in time.

Emergency Housing Help in King's Lynn & West Norfolk 

If you are homeless in King's Lynn and West Norfolk and cannot get immediate help, you can either contact the King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council's out of hours emergency contact on 01553 616601  or alternatively the King's Lynn Night Shelter on 01553 776109 or the Purfleet Trust on 01553 767829.

King's Lynn Night Shelter

St John's Vicarage
Blackfriars Road
King's Lynn, Norfolk
PE30 1NT

Purfleet Trust

The Purfleet Trust Pathway House
Austin Fields

King’s Lynn
PE30 1PH

You can also try these organisations for urgent personal safety situations:

Refuge on 0808 2000 247* at any time,
Women's Aid to search the local directory

Men's Advice Line on 0808 801 0327* Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm

*Calls are free.

You must normally ask for a review within 21 days of getting your decision. You'll need to either write to your local council asking them to review their decision, or if you prefer, you can phone or visit them to tell them you want a review.

Your local authority might give you housing while they review their decision, this is called 'housing pending review'. You should ask for this when you request the review.

Some decisions can only be challenged by applying to court for a judicial review. Please check the following examples:

• the local authority refuses to accept your homeless application
  
  

• the local authority refuses to give you emergency housing - for example when you first apply for help or while you’re challenging your homeless decision
  
  

• you think the emergency housing you’re offered is unsuitable
  
  

• the local authority refuses to protect your property - for example if there isn’t room to take it with you when you’re offered housing
  
  

• the local authority refuses to give you housing while you’re waiting for the outcome of your review
  
  

• the local authority refuses to accept your late review request
  
  

Challenging a decision by judicial review can be legally complex and you will need to get legal advice.

You might be disappointed with a local authority's decision, but you will still need qualifying grounds to challenge a decision. It's therefore important to understand what circumstances might potentially support your challenge.

Firstly, you will need to check whether the local authority has a duty to help you:

• Homelessness - Adults
  
  

• Homelessness - Children

Secondly, you will need to check if the local authority has properly assessed all of your information or if any other information should be provided to them to support your challenge. You can check the Homeless Code of Guidance for local authorities.

We recommend getting some housing advice before making your challenge, organisations such as Shelter can help. You can also find an adviser locally by using the Advice Local Search Tool.

You should write to your local authority asking them to review their decision and keep a copy of your letter or email for evidence. Get a proof of posting receipt when sending your review and supporting evidence.

You can also phone or go to the council in person to tell them you want a review. It's worth doing this if you're close to the review deadline.

You’II need to say you want a review and explain why you think the local authority should change their decision. Make sure you say when you got your decision letter and which decision you want reviewing.

Remember to check the main points in law about what the local authority's responsibilities are, and try to make you own attempts to resolve your housing issues with any local family and friends networks you have.

Emergency Housing Duty

The local authority must give you emergency housing if they think you might:

• Be legally homeless
  
  

• Meet immigration conditions
  
  

• Have a priority need because you have children, are pregnant, are at risk of Domestic abuse, or vulnerable for other reasons