Call for council collaboration over care leaver housing

The call for reciprocal housing agreements between councils has been put forward by Barnardo's as a way of helping to improve the transition from care to independent living for care leavers aged 18 to 21.

Barnardo's says many young people placed in so-called out-of-area care placements outside of their home borough do not want to return once they are eligible to leave care because they have laid down roots in the new area. But they may only be eligible for priority housing and independent living advice services from their original placing authority, meaning most would receive little support if they wanted to remain in the area where their placement was.

One Barnardo's leaving care worker interviewed for the charity's On My Own report on the accommodation needs of care leavers said: "A lot of these young people don't want to come back because they've already established their networks [in the other borough].

"There needs to be something that proxies regional boundaries that says if you can prove your local connection - you've been living in area B for five years even though you're from area A - then as a care leaver, you still get priority."

To overcome this, Barnardo's says local authorities should include, as part of their "accommodation pathway" plans for young people, reciprocal agreements on social housing allocations across local authorities to support care leavers placed out-of-area.

The idea is one of a number of recommendations included in the Barnardo's report to increase the range of housing options open to care leavers and help reduce the risk of homelessness - research shows that about a third of young people experience homelessness within two years of leaving care.

Housing charity Centrepoint said it supported the call for reciprocal agreements between councils.
 
Paul Noblet, Centrepoint's head of public affairs, said: "It's absolutely essential that young people have the option of remaining close to the network of support they have built when leaving care.