Housing for care leavers
Whatever happens, your social worker and personal advisor will help you to find suitable accommodation for when you leave care.
Preparation for adulthood
As part of your pathway planning, we’ll explore your housing options with you before you turn 18. This will help us to understand your wishes and feelings and any additional support that you may need. Your Personal Advisor will work alongside your Social Worker to help develop the skills that you need to live independently if this is what you choose to do. This work includes using tools such as the ‘Get Ready for Adult Life’ booklet, the ‘Outcomes Star’ and considering referring you to the training flat scheme.
Training Flat
The flat is based in a central location and supports our 16/17 year old care leavers with having a taster of independent living. You will usually stay at the training flat for up to 3 weeks, to assess your independence skills and help your Social Worker and PA get a better understanding of any additional support you might need. This can help you with making an informed decision about where you want to live when you are 18 and will demonstrate some of the benefits and difficulties of living independently.
What is suitable accommodation?
Suitable accommodation is somewhere that is safe and right for you. It should be somewhere that will help you to develop your skills and experience. Many young people feel that they must have their own property by law, but this is not the case and having the responsibility of this at an early age may not be right for you. There are a number of housing options for young people to consider and this will have been discussed with you as part of your pathway plan.
Your personal advisor will help you to find suitable accommodation. This might involve:
- working with housing services to come up with suitable housing options for you, including supported accommodation if you are not ready or don’t want to have your own tenancy
- giving you high priority access to social housing in accordance with our housing allocation policy
- supporting you in a housing crisis, including offering a ‘second chance’ if your first move to independence does not work out for you
Tips for choosing the right kind of accommodation
When choosing the right accommodation, think about:
- is it near to college, work, family and friends?
- how you feel about sharing a kitchen and living areas with other people?
- what kind of support you need – someone to talk to every day or as and when you need it?
- what your responsibilities are – how will you pay your bills and maintain your property such as cleaning and ensuring it remains a safe place to live?
Your housing options
Some of the options available to you may be:
If you are living with foster carers, there may be an option for you to remain living with them after you turn 18.
This is called a 'staying put' arrangement and will have been discussed with both you and your carers as part of your pathway planning.
You may need to stay at, or stay close to, residential care if this is best way to give you the support that you need.
This is where you live independently, but with staff on hand to support you. There are different arrangements on offer and may include:
- shared houses
- bedsits
- small projects with self-contained-flats
- student accommodation
- part of an apprenticeship
If it is right for you and before taking on the responsibility of a tenancy, we can offer you the opportunity to live independently in accommodation provided by the Walsall Housing Group (WHG) from age 17. We are also developing a training flat to help you learn the skills and experience of managing your own home.
When you are ready, we will ensure that you have priority housing and can consider a tenancy for you to carry on in your own right once you turn 18 as part of our arrangement with WHG. A tenancy is a legal document which entitles a person to live in a property and outlines the responsibilities that go with this. There are different types of tenancy agreements and this can be confusing. Always make sure that you keep a copy and that you have discussed it with your Personal Adviser before signing. We will also be able to help you maintain your tenancy through our Housing Support Workers and will offer advice and guidance on how you can manage living independently. You will not have to pay your council tax until you reach the age of 25, even if you live outside of Walsall.
In some circumstances we will act as your rent guarantor. If you are over school leaving age and you decide to be fully independent and work full time to pay your rent, you can ask us to act as your guarantor.
For whatever is right for you, we can help you to move in and you can use your setting up home allowance in order to buy furniture and other things that you may need. All of this will be done with the support of your Personal Advisor.
Homelessness
As a Care Leaver, Walsall has a duty to give you help and guidance to prevent you from becoming homeless. If you are feeling worried or concerned about this or are struggling to manage where you are living then advice and support are available. Please speak to your Personal Advisor immediately if you are worried.
