If you are a social, private landlord or a creditor, you are legally required to tell us when you take action which puts a household at risk of homelessness due to eviction. You must do this before you submit an application to the First Tier Tribunal.
This is required under Section 11 of the Homelessness Etc (Scotland) Act 2003. This legislation aims to make sure we know in advance when a household is at risk of being evicted or having their home repossessed. If we know this, we can offer help to households at risk at an early stage and aim to prevent homelessness.
We will use the information provided to us as part of a landlords’ or creditors Section 11 duties, to inform strategic planning on preventing homelessness and providing homelessness services.
Prevention work will be carried out by Housing Options Officers within Fife Council, allowing households at risk help at the earliest opportunity. It is critical the household accepts help offered, essentially allowing households at risk to remain in the property and prevent homelessness at the outset.
If you would like further information, please see the sections below:
If you are a landlord, you must tell us when you raise proceedings for possession of a home.
Earlier intervention and prevention work will be carried out with your agreement, when you serve notice to leave or indicate that you may proceed to court action. This allows maximum time to explore all other avenues available to the tenant, to avoid eviction and reduce the risk of homelessness.
Private Landlords will be contacted by a Housing Options Officer to discuss implications for the tenant, they will negotiate a resolution, preventing homelessness where possible.
Prevention work will be around:
In certain cases, the Housing Options Officer may refer households for welfare support based on the household circumstances.
Housing Option Officers will support landlords to direct their tenants to access Fife Council or partner services to support their tenants at risk of homelessness.
If you would like further information, please email Housingoptions.prs@fife.gov.uk
If discussions fail to resolve the issue, or save the tenancy, you can notify us using the form below:
Please download, complete, and email the completed Section 11 notice to Section11.Referral@fife.gov.uk.
If you are a creditor, you must tell us when you:
Information on the notice is limited due to the data protection Act 1998. Limited sharing of data causes difficulties in looking for ways to help prevent homelessness for the household concerned.
If you would like further information, please email Housingoptions.prs@fife.gov.uk
Where a resolution to prevent homelessness is not possible, please notify us using the Section 11 notice by Creditor form below:
Please download, complete, and email the completed Section 11 notice to Section11.Referral@fife.gov.uk.
Landlords are legally required to tell us that they plan to go to the First Tier Tribunal in order to take possession of your property. They are required to keep us informed in this way under legislation in Scotland.
At this point there is a risk of becoming homeless, but it is never too late to get help to stop you from losing your home. It is important to get the appropriate advice as soon as possible.
Please contact the council at the earliest opportunity and ask for help or support.
Tenants have a right to remain in their current property until an eviction order has been granted by the First Tier Tribunal. This can only happen after the NTL/NTQ period has expired, (notice period is dependent on the grounds for eviction stated in the notice).
Further information can be found on Shelter Scotland’s website or The Housing & Property Chamber (First Tier Tribunal)
Back To TopOnce the date on the notice has passed, your landlord has to apply to the First Tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber before you can be evicted from your home.
Once your landlord applies to the Tribunal you will be notified of this, and a meeting will be arranged (called a Case Management Discussion) where you will be able to say if you disagree with the reasons the landlord is giving for ending your tenancy.
At this meeting the tribunal staff can grant your landlord an eviction order, or they can refuse the request, or they can arrange another meeting if they feel that more information is required.
If they grant your landlord an eviction order, there will be another period of 1 month where your landlord still cannot evict you. During this time, you can submit an appeal to the tribunal if you feel that something was incorrect. After the month has passed, your landlord then has to apply to the Sheriff Officers for a date for your eviction. Only once this has been set can you legally be evicted from your home. Your landlord cannot do this themselves.
Back To TopWhen the Council receives a Section 11 notice, a housing options officer will be in touch to provide information and free advice on:
A Housing Options Plan (HOP) is an online tool to help you consider all the housing options available.
You will be asked a series of questions about your current circumstances.
It will take between 15-20 minutes to complete. We encourage you to consider all the options available to you.
Realistically, if you do choose to apply for social housing you may wait a long time to be housed, so we encourage you to explore all options that are available.
The HOP will provide you with other for you to consider addressing your current housing circumstances options.
Click here to fill out a Housing Options Plan
Back To TopBenefits and Money Advice - Benefits and money advice | Fife Council
Housing Benefit: Housing Benefit | Fife Council
Discretionary Housing payment (DHP): Discretionary Housing Payment | Fife Council
DWP/UC: Universal Credit: What Universal Credit is - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Partner organisations:
Citizens Advice and Rights Fife website: Citizens Advice and Rights Fife (cabfife.org.uk)
Frontline Fife - frontlinefife.co.uk
Fife Private Rental Solutions - Trust in Fife
Fife Law centre - Home (fifelawcentre.co.uk)
Other organisations:
National Debtline - Debt advice | Free debt advice | National Debtline | National Debtline
Shelter Scotland - Home - Shelter Scotland
Further helpful information on services available in your community can be found on the website On Your Doorstep Fife
Back To TopIf the lender is taking repossession action, they are legally required to tell us that they plan to go to raise court proceedings to take possession of your property. They are required to keep us informed in this way under legislation in Scotland.
Please contact us at the earliest opportunity, and ask for help or support.
Repossession is when your lender takes court action to sell your home to get back the money you owe them.
You may be able to postpone or stop your home from being repossessed.
Get advice on repossession of your home from Shelter Scotland which includes:
You can access free housing advice from Shelter Scotland on 0808 800 4444 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or by visiting their website - Shelter Scotland
You can also get legal advice from Fife Law Centre - Fifelawcentre.co.uk
Back To TopThere are other schemes which may help homeowners in prevention of homelessness:
Homeowners' Support Fund
If you're at risk of having your home repossessed, the Scottish Government's Homeowners’ Support Fund may be able to help you.
It's made up of two schemes:
Find out more about the Homeowners’ Support Fund from the Scottish government’s website:
Website: Homeowners’ Support Fund - mygov.scot
Help to pay mortgage interest
If you're a homeowner getting certain income related benefits, you might be eligible for the Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) scheme. This is help towards interest payments on:
Visit Home Owners' Support Fund - mygov.scot
Housing Options
A Housing Options Plan (HOP) is an online tool to help you consider all the housing options available.
You will be asked a series of questions about your current circumstances.
It will take between 15-20 minutes to complete. We encourage you to consider all the options available to you.
Realistically, if you do choose to apply for social housing you may wait a long time to be housed, so we encourage you to explore all options that are available.
The HOP will provide you with other options for you to consider addressing your current housing circumstances.
Click here to fill out a Housing Options Plan
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