The Council has a power (rather than a duty) to investigate whether you have a local connection to the area.
You will have a local connection to Dundee if:
- You normally live or have lived in the city for 6 of the past 12 months or 3 of the past 5 years.
- You have family living in Dundee
- You work or attend further education in Dundee
If you have a local connection to more than one Council, the Council that you first apply to as being homeless have a responsibility to accept a homeless application from you and carry out investigations into your circumstances.
Local connection does not apply in cases where you have had to leave your house due to violence or the threat of violence. In such cases, you can apply to any Council. The Council that you apply to may have to contact the Council for the area that you have had to leave to gather information to assess your case.
The Homeless Persons (Suspension of Referrals between Local Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2022 suspends all Scottish local authorities’ powers to refer a person/household who is homeless or threatened with homelessness to another local authority in Scotland on the grounds of their local connection. This is effective from 29 November 2022.