Young people looking for housing face negative stereotypes

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, written by Ecotec Research & Consulting, is the result of interviews with young people and practitioners working with young people.

It says young people are not given enough consideration in social housing allocation, while private landlords often view them as high-risk tenants. Specific groups of young people including young offenders, teenage parents, care leavers and single young men find it particularly difficult to find appropriate housing.

The report suggests the answer may lie in schemes that work together to help young people progress through supported and semi-supported housing to independent living, such as a Welsh project that sublets from private landlords to young people and supports them to find new accommodation.

Kathleen Kelly, research manager for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "This research suggests that proposed government measures relating to home ownership have little relevance to the housing concerns of most young people."