Who can help
Please note that hact and CIH are not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Benefits
The Department for Work and Pensions administers welfare benefits (for the unemployed and those unable to work) in the UK. Their website includes comprehensive information about benefits for:
- people of working age
- pensioners and people planning pensions
- disabled people and carers
- people with children.
You can also use this site to find the office nearest you to claim benefits. No information is currently available in languages other than English or Welsh. Tax credits are benefits available for some people who are on low incomes, but in work.
Citizens Advice have an advice site that can also help you find your local citizens advice bureau for face-to-face advice and help. The site includes information about benefits, immigration, housing and most other useful topics.
This independent welfare rights site has written guides to all the main benefits.
Many local councils include a housing and council tax benefits calculator on their sites (here is one example, from Salford City Council). A commercial company offers a free welfare benefits calculator on their site. These will also calculate the local housing allowance that replaced housing benefit in April 2008.
Private renting and rights
Shelter offer written advice on private renting, deposits, problems with landlords etc on their site. This allows you to search for housing advice by area, and to get the contact details of Shelter’s local offices, which offer free advice and help with all types of housing problems.
Citizens Advice have an advice site that can also help you find your local citizens advice bureau for face-to-face advice and help. The site includes information about benefits, immigration, housing and most other useful topics.
The London Housing Foundation has published a useful site about the private rented sector that, although mainly focused on London, has lots of useful information about renting privately as well as a list of schemes in London that may be able to help with deposits and rent in advance.
Decent and Safe Homes (DaSH) operates in the East Midlands and aims to raise the standards of private rented accommodation there. Their site includes information for landlords and tenants and about their migrant workers project.
Advice for migrant workers
The Migrant Workers Project covers the East Midlands and Lincolnshire, but includes information of use to all migrant workers. Their site can be read in Albanian, Czech, German, Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Turkish, Ukrainian and English.
The Decent and Safe Homes (DaSH) site works in the East Midlands and has produced some useful leaflets about migrant workers and their rights in various languages:
The Trades Union Congress which represents all major UK trades unions has produced various resources for migrant workers (including a handbook in English for workers from the European Accession (A8) countries), which can be found via their site, from which you can also find leaflets about rights at work for migrant workers in
They also run a site in Polish (in partnership with Citizens Advice and Solidarnosc). The UK Government has also produced some leaflets in Bulgarian, English, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian and Slovakian about working in the UK, and some more detailed information produced in co-operation with the relevant EU governments in Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese.
The Migrant Gateway website provides access to information, advice and guidance for EU and non-EU nationals who already work and live, or would like to come to work and live, in the United Kingdom. It includes housing information in a number of languages.
Advice for refugees
The largest organisation working for refugees in England is the Refugee Council. It produces information in a range of refugee languages.
The Refugee Action site also has a useful set of leaflets aimed at women refugees explaining their rights in areas like family law, relationship breakdown and domestic violence.
General Advice
Almost everything you might want to know about homelessness can be found on the Homeless Pages.
For money problems, the National Debtline may be able to help.