Centrepoint unveils strategy to end youth homelessness by 2037

More than 120,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 faced homelessness before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2019/20, according to Centrepoint’s Youth Homelessness Databank.

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Centrepoint’s latest strategy aims to create change so that no child born this year will face homelessness when they turn 16.

Challenges currently faced by young people, and how to alleviate them, have been set out in a new document entitled Change the Story: Ending Youth Homelessness All Together.

Changes to employment, housing and welfare legislation, as well as the implementation of prevention interventions, could see the number of young people facing a housing crisis significantly reduced, the charity says.

Almost four in five (88 per cent) of young people currently supported by Centrepoint are able to move into their own homes, reconnect with family and find jobs or go to university as a result, and the charity reaches more than 14,000 people each year.

While the strategy document acknowledges that the threat of homelessness can never be fully removed, Centrepoint proposes to support those accessing temporary accommodation by offering permanent homes to young people as soon as they are ready to live independently.

Centrepoint has pledged to innovate its services, share insights and expand partnerships, acknowledging that the scale of the task to end youth homelessness goes beyond the scope of any single organisation working alone.

Robert Cade, Centrepoint’s director of strategy and performance, and the strategy’s co-author, said: “The last twelve months have been an enormous challenge to both homeless young people and the organisations like Centrepoint who support them, as the surge in calls to our Helpline and the staggering levels of youth unemployment attest.

“The success of “Everyone In” [introduced by the government during the pandemic] confirmed ending homelessness is achievable with the right levels of resources and will - but that legacy is meaningless without lasting change. This strategy can help us realise that change through working together across society to end youth homelessness altogether.”