From care to where? Care leavers’ access to accommodation

A safe and secure home is the foundation on which care leavers can build their lives after care. Having this base means that they can fulfil ambitions, gain qualifications or enter work, establish themselves within a community and put the difficulties of their childhoods behind them. However, something is still going wrong for some of the most vulnerable young people. Some care leavers face a journey to independence permeated by housing insecurity. Of the care leavers surveyed for this research, 26 per cent have sofa surfed and 14 per cent have slept rough since leaving care.

This report is based on the accounts of young people who have left the care system and have navigated their way through the complex systems and processes to find a place to call home. They have lost tenancies, been homeless, accessed benefits, lost college places, battled poor mental health and failed to manage their finances.

However, they are also highly resilient young people. They have gone back to college, gained employment, made new friends, and learnt the skills needed to manage their own tenancy. They have persevered.

While there have been many positive policy changes aimed at improving outcomes for care leavers in recent years, accommodation remains an area fraught with problems. Local authority practitioners are struggling to balance increasing workloads. Some of the mechanisms designed to ease the transition to independence – pathway plans, joint protocols and reciprocal arrangements - are not working as effectively as they could. External factors are also increasing the pressure on local authorities, such as increasing demand for services and a challenging housing market.

There is cross-party backing for providing care leavers with the best possible support and for tackling and preventing homelessness. This report outlines the difficulties faced by care leavers which are placing them at greater risk of housing instability. We also outline the challenges facing local authorities in meeting the needs of their care leaver population. These challenges are not insurmountable.