MRAssociates — Glossary

A night shelter provides short term emergency accommodation for people who would otherwise be sleeping rough on the streets. Traditionally night shelters only guarantee a place for a single night: people must leave in the morning and there is no guarantee of a bed the following night. Following a decision by the Upper Tribunal that such short-term arrangements do not qualify for Housing Benefit because the claimant does not occupy the shelter as his/her home, many night shelters have modified this traditional approach so that shelter users have more of a connection with a “home”: for example allowing a longer stay with a guarantee of returning to the same room or bedspace for more than a single night.