‘Appalling’ that care leavers are more likely to end up homeless, says charity

Young adult care leavers face an “appalling” situation where they can be around nine times more likely to become homeless than their peers, a charity has suggested.

Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers, has called on the Government to urgently end the so-called “care cliff” and ensure young people are supported when they reach adulthood.

Last month, the Prime Minister said young care leavers – alongside veterans and domestic abuse victims – would “have the security they deserve”, as he addressed issues around current requirements to have a local connection in order to get housing support in many areas.

The Government said the changes will mean all three groups are exempt from local connection or residency tests which most councils have in place to determine who can qualify for social housing.

Labour said it intends to bring forward the changes through legislation in Parliament, although it did not confirm a timescale.

Become said the change must be brought in urgently, alongside better support for young people as they leave care rather than the “postcode lottery” many currently face.

It said its analysis of Government figures and population estimates suggested young adult care leavers can be around nine times as likely to face homelessness.

It said in 2023, approximately 9.13% of care leavers aged 18-25 were statutorily assessed as being homeless or facing homelessness, compared with an estimate of 0.97% of non-care-experienced young people aged 18-24.

It acknowledged a slight difference in age ranges and said the time periods for population estimates ranged from mid-2022 to the end of March 2023, but said it is confident, given its knowledge of the reality on the ground, that any margin of error would be “minimal”.

Its report, published on Tuesday, said: “From our work with care-experienced young people, we know that the number of care leavers who receive a statutory homeless duty are just the tip of the iceberg and beyond these statistics are many more who are ‘hidden homeless’, sofa surfing or rough sleeping, who may be unaware of their rights and entitlements and haven’t been in touch with their local authority for support.”

Government statistics published earlier this month showed a total of 4,300 care leavers aged between 18 and 20 were owed a homelessness duty by their local authority in the year to the end of March 2024.

This was up 16% from 3,710 the previous year.

At the age of 18 someone is no longer classed as being in care but they are entitled to support, including a personal adviser, up to the age of 25 if they wish.

Become said the reality is that young people face “an age lottery as well as a postcode lottery”.

It said while its research showed some “excellent practice”, with local authorities giving tailored support to young people leaving care, it also came across “really worrying examples” of young people feeling forced to leave care before they were ready and being encouraged to present as homeless to councils in order to secure housing.

The report stated: “In some local authorities the priority given to care leavers was greatest at the point of them leaving care and taking up their first tenancy; whilst some local authorities provided additional prioritisation to all care leavers up to the age of 21; and others provided this to all care leavers up to the age of 25.

“Given the likelihood of care leavers securing social housing in some local authorities reduces as they get older, the importance of providing appropriate, secure and affordable housing when they first leave care becomes even more critical.”

The charity’s chief executive, Katharine Sacks-Jones, said: “It’s appalling that thousands of care leavers are forced to leave their home at the age of 18, sometimes younger, without the family support that many of us take for granted.

“No young person leaving care should have to live in unsafe accommodation or be left homeless – but that is the reality for many right now, compounding the trauma they’ve experienced in the past.

“But this can be fixed. The Government must end the care cliff, prioritise social housing for young people leaving care and make sure they have the support they need every step of the way to make a positive start to adulthood.”

A Government spokesperson said: “Every child deserves the best start in life and we are working with councils and the sector to break down barriers to opportunity including those that stop care leavers from successfully making the transition into independent living.

“As part of our long-term strategy to end homelessness for good, we also are strengthening the support there to help care leavers access housing when they leave care.”