At a special meeting of the Associate Parliamentary Group (APG) for Looked-After Children and Care Leavers last week, young people cited location, safety and quick access to support among the things local authorities must consider when looking for suitable accommodation for care leavers.
The meeting, arranged by the parliamentary group's administrator The Who Cares? Trust, was held so care leavers could feed into the government's consultation into revised guidance for local authorities.
Asked to name their top three priorities for accommodation, one young person said: "Location of accommodation is important, whether it is close to public transport, shops, work and college."
Young people also voiced concern at the lack of guidance to help them choose whether accommodation offered to them is suitable, while others said a better system was needed to deal with complaints or concerns quickly.
One care leaver recommended that a list should be produced for young people to judge whether a place was suitable.
Others stressed the need for all young people to be made aware of advocacy services so that they could properly challenge decisions with which they didn't agree.
"It is really important for young people to have their voices heard," said one 20-year-old. "There are different experiences in different areas, but some young people don't know the process and need to know how to complain."
Helen Southworth, chair of the APG, said that sometimes local authorities placed too much emphasis on offering young people a choice of places at the expense of basic standards.
"The choice should be over things such as whether it is easy to get to work, not on whether there is something wrong with the house or not," she said.
One care leaver agreed and asked: "What if all three choices have something wrong with them? Are they just trying to get us into places no one else wants?"
Andrea Warman, deputy chief executive of the Who Cares? Trust, said: "From listening to young people's experiences of leaving care, it is clear there is far too much variation in practice, with too many of them left feeling unsafe and unsupported.
"We will use this information to produce a full and informed response to the government's consultation, representing the opinions of those who really matter."
Housing priorities: What care leavers say they really need
- It is important to feel safe. In an area where there are a lot of racist people, I experienced bullying in the street. I want to feel safe when I'm coming back from town or college
- If there is a problem with the accommodation, there should be an immediate process to sort it out. Having a member of staff on call to look at the accommodation when there is a complaint might help
- There is little choice of accommodation. If you reject three places, even if they all have a problem, you go to the bottom of the pile
- They need to make sure the locks are changed and we get our own new key, so we feel safe. It is a basic thing
