Shelter in England and Scotland#
Shelter says it exists to defend the right to a safe home. In England it gives online advice, runs an emergency helpline and webchat, has local services in cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Sheffield, and has solicitors who give free legal advice and attend court in eviction cases. In Scotland the same charity works as Shelter Scotland, which has campaigned on Scottish housing since 1968 and writes its own advice, because housing law differs between the two countries. Wales has its own, separate charity, Shelter Cymru.
How to get help#
Shelter's get help page explains its routes. The emergency helpline is for people who are homeless, have nowhere to stay tonight, are at risk of harm at home, or may lose their home in the next two months; the helpline and webchat run on weekday working hours, waits can be long, and an interpreter can be arranged. The webchat has an exit button. Its national services advise only on housing law in England.
Shelter Scotland's help page has a helpline for people who are homeless or at risk, an online chat for anyone with a housing problem who still has somewhere to stay, and community teams in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, by appointment, for people whose council has not accepted a homelessness application.
Proving who you are without a fixed address#
Shelter publishes nothing about deed polls, but its guide to getting ID is one of the most useful pages anywhere for someone changing name while homeless. Banks usually want a valid passport or photocard driving licence, it says, but some will take a citizen's card, a birth certificate or a provisional licence instead, or a letter from:
- your employer, the DWP, HMRC or your council;
- the manager of a hostel, refuge or supported housing project;
- a professional who knows you, such as a GP, teacher or social worker.
It adds that banks usually accept a wider range of documents when you apply in person. Shelter Scotland's page on services without a permanent address says the same about a letter from a hostel, refuge or supported housing manager, and warns you may need to try more than one bank. One limit is worth knowing: Shelter's national helpline cannot confirm your identity for a bank, because it does not meet you in person. A local service, day centre or outreach team that already supports you may.
Shelter also points out that registering to vote is free and can help banks confirm who you are, and that there is a special form for people with no fixed address, using an address such as a day centre or night shelter.
Putting a new name on top of all this#
A deed poll explains why your documents show two names; it does not prove who you are on its own (is a deed poll proof of identity?). So the letter Shelter describes and the deed work together: ask your project manager or support worker to write the letter in your new name and mention the old one.
GOV.UK's wording for a free deed poll includes your address. Shelter warns that you should not give a refuge's address without being told you can, and the same care applies to the address you write on a deed. Its voting guide adds that the name on your voter ID should match the one you registered with, so update the electoral register once the deed is signed. When you have a tenancy again, changing the name on your tenancy agreement explains the next step.
If your ID does not match your gender#
Shelter's banking pages suggest asking someone from a homeless charity or an LGBTQ+ organisation to go to the bank with you if your documents do not match your gender, and they list LGBTQ+ housing services. The trans and non-binary charities page has more.
This page describes what Shelter and Shelter Scotland publish on their own websites, read on 26 October 2026. Shelter has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
