Accommodation advice and support for care leavers
Your last LAC Review prior to your 18th birthday will ensure that there's a clear plan in place for you; covering where you will live and the support you will need once you're 18 years old and over. Your Social Worker will work with you to agree plans for when you're no longer in care, which will include accommodation (this will go in your Pathway Plan).
When you're over 18 years old, you will have the responsibility of paying your rent whether you're 'staying put' with your carer, in supported lodgings, or in your own place.
The law says we must do the following:
- Listen to your wishes and feelings
- Appoint you a Personal Adviser
- Assess your needs
- Prepare your Pathway Plan with you
- Review your Pathway Plan
- Up to the age of 18 we will find you somewhere suitable to live
- Pay for your accommodation up to 18
- Give you money for your subsistence
- Keep in touch with you
- Visit you regularly
Setting up home allowance
As Corporate Parents we're committed to making sure that once you leave our care we help you find suitable and safe accommodation. Your Personal Adviser will help you access your 'setting up home allowance' (also known as your leaving care grant), which is an allowance of £1,500 with an additional contingency allowance of £500 (if needed over time).
If you move into supported living, you may only need part of this allowance. We will keep hold of any unused allowance and pay to you up to your 25th birthday. When you move for the first time into your own accommodation you can access up to £30 to help with additional costs (for example, for food).
Council Tax
If you're a care leaver living in B&NES, you will be exempt from Council Tax. To access the exemption, you need to contact your Personal Adviser who will help you apply. If you have a partner, you will need to speak to your Personal Adviser about eligibility. This policy applies to care leavers up to their 25th birthday.
If you're a care leaver living outside of B&NES, you will need to make contact with your local council to determine whether they have an exemption policy in place. Your Personal Adviser will also help you with this. If your local council doesn't have an exemption policy in place, we will pay £150 towards the first year of your Council Tax.
Staying put
If you want to stay with your foster carer(s) after you're 18 years old, and your foster carer(s) agrees, we will support you to remain with them under what is called a ‘staying put’ arrangement until 21 years of age.
'Staying put' enables you to gain skills so that you can succeed in your next steps around your independence; to contribute to your living cost as part of learning to manage and take responsibility for looking after yourself. This includes paying rent from your income, whether this is from benefits or from working (we expect you to be working, studying or both). Talk to your social worker if you need to claim Universal Credit (from 18 years old).
Supported lodgings
If it's not possible for you to stay with your foster carer(s), you could try supported lodgings, where you live in another family home, and have the additional support that comes with being part of a family, but with some independence. Again this is until you turn 21 years old.
You will also need to contribute to your living costs, which can come from your earnings or your benefits (we expect you to be working, studying or both). You will need to pay a contribution towards your living cost, plus rent, which may come from your income or from the Housing Element of Universal Credit, if eligible. You will pay this directly to your supported lodgings provider.
Living by yourself
Depending on your age and circumstances, you may wish to live on your own in a flat which you rent. Renting a home from a housing association can be affordable, but it's in high demand because there’s simply not enough for everyone. It will usually take a number of years before you get a place to live, but the sooner you join the scheme the better your chances are of getting somewhere because the person who will be given a home first will be the person in the most need, and has waited the longest.
Renting from a private landlord can be a quicker route to finding somewhere to live, but it can be confusing if you’ve never lived by yourself before. Speak to our private rented officer on 01225 39 62 96. They will talk you through the process, including getting help to pay the rent, a deposit and furnishing your home as well as your responsibilities as a tenant and those of your landlord.
Living with other people
Living with someone else is a good stepping stone to having your own place. You can learn in a supportive environment about:
- paying bills
- running a home
- getting help to access work and training.
Apply for a house share, a foyer or a hostel online
Emergency housing
Becoming homeless is scary but there is help and emergency housing on offer. Call our Housing Options team on 01225 39 62 96 as soon as possible. They could stop you becoming homeless and find emergency housing, which will depend on your age and circumstances.
View other housing and support options in BANES online
As well as staying put and supported lodging options, your Personal Adviser will help you find other suitable accommodation. This will involve:
- Working with Bath and North East Somerset Housing Services to find suitable housing options for you, including supported accommodation, if you are not ready or don’t want to have your own tenancy.
- Supporting you to access different independent housing options including social housing (this is accommodation managed by BANES housing or a housing association).
- Helping you to access your 'setting up home allowance' ('leaving care grant') of £1,500 with an additional allowance of £500 (if needed over time) to enable you to set yourself up in your long term accommodation.
- Doing whatever we can to ease the pressures on you if you have your own place for the first time. For example, we've introduced a policy which means that care leavers living in Bath and North East Somerset don’t pay Council Tax up to the age of 25. Talk to your Personal Adviser who can speak to the Council Tax department on your behalf.
Housing help for care leavers - Housing Options team support
Living by yourself is a big step, but we can help you consider your options and decide what's right for you. We can help:
- if you have nowhere to live
- if you have been evicted
- if you're at risk of losing your home.
We’ll agree a personal housing plan with you with steps to take to help find somewhere to live, or prevent you from losing your home. Find out more by calling 01225 39 62 96, or visit us in one of our Information and Advice Centres. Our housing support gateway also has more information about housing options and support in Bath and North East Somerset.