Homelessness, housing advice and support

Local authorities and social landlords are responsible for meeting housing needs in Wales and dealing with most housing-related issues.

The Welsh Government sets national policy but cannot intervene in individual cases, such as repairs, neighbour disputes, social housing allocation decisions, rent issues or complaints about your landlord.

If you are unsure which local authority (also known as a Council) provides services in your area, you can find your council using your postcode.

Find your local authority

Your local authority or Council are responsible for:

• assessing your housing needs
• providing homelessness advice and support
• managing housing registers (in most cases)
• working with housing associations in your area

Once you have identified your local authority, you should contact their housing or homelessness service for support. In most cases, your issue should be resolved locally. 

The Welsh Government does not investigate or resolve individual complaints, and sending your complaint to us does not form part of the complaints process or act as an escalation; you must follow the relevant organisation’s own complaints procedure.

We recommend taking the following steps:

1. Contact your landlord
   
   Your landlord (local authority or housing association) is responsible for managing your tenancy and dealing with any issues, including anti-social behaviour or repairs.
    
2. Use your landlord’s complaints process
   
   If you are unhappy with their response, you should use their formal complaints procedure. They must explain how this works and the timescales involved.
    
3. Escalate to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
   
   If you have completed the complaints process and remain dissatisfied, you can ask the Ombudsman to review your case. 

Repairs and property condition

Report any problems to your landlord first. 

Landlords must keep homes in good repair and address issues in a reasonable time. From 1 December 2022, landlords must ensure properties meet the Fitness for Human Habitation (FFHH) standards at the start of and throughout occupation. These include requirements to prevent or deal with issues such as damp and mould.

Further as of 1^st April 2026, element 1c of the Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS) places a formal duty on social landlords to identify, investigate and remedy housing hazards within set timescales.

Local authorities can also inspect properties using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. 

Find out more:

• Fitness for Human Habitation guidance
• Housing Health and Safety inspections guidance

Local authorities manage access to social housing and operate their own allocation policies. These explain how homes are prioritised. 

Your position on the housing register will depend on:

• your housing need,
• any connection to the area criteria set out in the local authority allocation policy, and
• how the scheme takes account of waiting times within priority groups. People with the most urgent need are given priority are recognised as having a “reasonable preference” under the law.
• If you are homeless or at risk of homelessness, your local authority must assess your situation and provide help where a duty is owed under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. 

Welsh language and social housing

You may also see references to local lettings policies. These allow local authorities to consider other particular descriptions of people to whom accommodation should be allocated to address a local need within a specific area of their local authority. Local Lettings policies do not replace the law — they must operate within the legal allocation framework.

Should local housing authorities decide to introduce a local letting policy, they must ensure they remain compliant with the law.  The Welsh Language Commissioner has clarified that it can be lawful to take account of a person’s Welsh language ability within lettings policies. However, this is subject to important limits:

• it must not override the legal requirement to prioritise people in housing need
• it can only be applied in a limited and proportionate way

In practice, this means language considerations may form part of how some homes are let where a local housing authority decides, but they cannot determine overall priority for housing. For a full explanation of the legal position, you can read the Welsh Language Commissioner’s published statement, which sets out how Welsh language considerations interact with housing law.

Find out more: Code of Guidance for Local Authorities on the Allocation of Accommodation and Homelessness

If you need help understanding your rights or navigating the system, you can contact:

Shelter Cymru

• Free, independent housing advice and support
• Telephone: 08000 495 495
• Email: emailadvice@sheltercymru.org.uk
• Face-to-face services available across Wales on Shelter Cymru

The Welsh Government funds Shelter Cymru to provide independent, free advice. Their advisers can help with a wide range of housing and homelessness issues. 

Citizens Advice

• Free, confidential and impartial advice on housing and other issues
• Telephone: 0800 702 2020 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)

You can also access advice online through Citizens Advice services. 

Anti-social behaviour (ASB)

• Report anti-social behaviour to your landlord. 
• Keep a record of incidents to support any investigation. 
• If problems continue, you may be able to request an ASB Case Review (formerly known as an ASB Community Trigger). This brings together agencies such as the police, local authority and housing providers to review your case
• Find out more: Anti-social Behaviour Case Review South Wales

• Most housing issues must be resolved locally
  Your landlord or local authority is the first point of contact.
• Use the correct route first
  This helps resolve issues more quickly and avoids delays.
• Follow the complaints process before escalating
  The Ombudsman can only consider cases after this has been completed.
• Independent advice is available