Important notice
Duty to refer is part of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. It is one of Enfield Council’s statutory homelessness duties.
Who should use duty to refer
Only public authorities specified in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 can use duty to refer:
- prisons, youth offending teams and institutions
- secure training centres and colleges, probation services and rehabilitation companies
- Job Centre Plus
- social services
- emergency and urgent treatment centres, and hospitals providing in-patient care
- the regular forces of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force
You must make a ‘duty to refer’ homelessness referral to a local authority if you:
- work for one of the public organisations in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
- notice that someone you are supporting is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
Individuals and the public
Individuals and members of the public cannot make a referral under ‘duty to refer’.
If you are homeless, or worried about becoming homeless, we could help you as part of our statutory duties.
Rough sleepers
Please do not use ‘duty to refer’ to tell us about someone who is sleeping rough. You will need to create a StreetLink alert.
Other ways to get homelessness help
Individuals and members of the public cannot make a referral under ‘duty to refer’.
If you are homeless, or worried about becoming homeless, please:
- get information from our online housing advice tool
- read about homelessness help we could offer
Refer someone under duty to refer – use Jigsaw ALERT
Do you work for a public organisation listed in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017?
You can refer people to us:
- Get permission from the person you want to refer
- Use Housing Jigsaw’s ALERT to tell us about them
Make a referral on Jigsaw ALERT
What happens next?
A referral under ‘duty to refer’ does not guarantee we will house the person.
Each case is different. We will assist referred people or households depending on their circumstances and our statutory homelessness duties.