Support for 16-24
Housing
We will work with you to help you have ‘suitable accommodation’.
If you are under 18, this might be foster care, residential care, being in the care of you parents or someone else who has parental responsibility for you. Or it might be semi-independent accommodation.
If you are under 18 and you are no longer in care, having returned to the care of your parents or someone else with parental responsibility for you, it is important to know that if you have left care for over six months before you turn 18, you are what is known as a ‘Qualifying Care Leaver’ and as such do not have the same entitlements as covered in this care leaver local offer.
Further information can be found on our Qualifying Care Leaver pages. If you left care because a Special Guardianship Order was made, then you are also a ‘Qualifying Care Leaver’.
If you are over 18, suitable accommodation might be Staying Put with your foster carers, residential care with Adult Social Care or Health funding, living with family members, university accommodation, or in your own tenancy. It could also be accommodation provided by work, Supported Lodgings, or a shared tenancy with a partner.
Moving around the time of your 18th birthday
If you are looking to move into your own tenancy once 18, you should complete work to become tenancy ready. A charity called DePaul work with us to provide tenancy support through a scheme called Step Forward.
They will work with you 1-1, as well as support you to apply for social housing and to bid. If you are doing this work whilst in semi-independent accommodation and both you and your social worker feel you may be ready to move in before turning 18, the property - with DePaul support - needs to be registered with Ofsted. This will depend on you working with DePaul and it being considered safe and positive for you to move into your own home at this time. If the arrangement is not Ofsted registered, you will need to wait until you are over 18 to move in, using the time before then to get your home ready and as you would like it.
If you are not working with DePaul, we offer our own support work to become tenancy ready. It is called: “Ready, Steady, Rent”. You can ask your Personal Adviser more about this.
Financial Support post 18
As an adult, you are liable for your rent once you turn 18. However, it’s possible, and for many young people it is likely, that you will be eligible for financial support to meet these costs through Universal Credit. As a care leaver you are entitled to up to the ‘One Bedroom’ rate of the Local Housing Allowance up until your 25th birthday. More information can be found on the DirectGov.UK website.
It is essential that you maintain your Universal Credit (UC) claim to not incur any arrears. This means attending job centre appointments and keeping up with your UC ‘journal’.
Rent to your landlord can be paid to them directly by DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) i.e. from universal credit (UC). This does need to be specifically requested. Speak to your Housing Officer and your job coach as soon as possible to arrange this.
It is important to note that if you start employment, you are likely to become liable for some or all of the rent and therefore you must save from your employment income to pay the rent, being prepared for gaps e.g. if your employment ends before UC contributes to your rent again. Your PA can help you think about this, so that it is not a worry and so that you don’t get into arrears.
Your Council Tax is paid for you until your 25th birthday. You need to send your bills to visits@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk and to your Personal Adviser so that it can be paid by us.
Setting Up Home Allowance
Should you secure accommodation that is sustainable long term, you will be able to access financial support known as ‘Setting Up Home Allowance’.
This financial support is to be used to buy essential furniture and white goods for your new home. We will work with you so that you can decide on the items and styles that suit you best, within limits for each item and making sure that essential items are covered. Often, we will pay for the items and arrange delivery to you. If you need support at the point of their delivery to the home, do talk to us about this. If there are reasons why it is practical for you, or those supporting you, to order the items, this can be considered with your Personal Adviser.
From March 2024, our allowance has been to a maximum of £3000 for those starting to set up home after that date. This followed the Department for Education recommendation for this amount.
Please note: it is not that you have £3000 that is your money to spend; it is that we commit to spending up to this amount for each care leaver who is entitled to it, according to need and to costs for essential items for setting up your home.
The 'Setting Up Home Allowance' is usually administered over a single move to independence. However, with discretion, requests to purchase some items in advance that will be taken on in a move, or requests to use any remaining allowance for repairs, replacements, storage or moving costs may be agreed. More detail can be found in our Care Leaver Financial Procedures (PDF, 458KB).
We know that if you have been in a settled foster home, the best plan may be for you to remain living there until you have finished education or achieved other goals that will help you move smoothly to independent living.
If both you and your foster carer(s) express a wish to enter into a Staying Put arrangement, and we think it’s appropriate, we’ll provide advice, assistance and support to draw up a living together agreement in advance of your 18th birthday. Most Staying Put arrangements can last until you turn 21, but if you’re at university and in a Staying Put arrangement, you can remain there until the course has finished even if this goes beyond your 21st birthday.
The Staying Put agreement should be reviewed at least every year and your Personal Adviser will facilitate this.
If your Staying Put carers are asking for an enhanced level of payments, this will need to be agreed by Adult Social Care, if you are Care Act eligible. In exceptional situations, on a short-term basis, additional payment levels may be financially supported by Children’s Social Care. There is a separate Staying Put policy covering more details.
Your Personal Adviser will support you to access all the benefits you’re entitled to while in your Staying Put arrangement, including claiming the housing element of Universal Credit. You’ll need to pay a portion of money from your wages or from your Universal Credit personal allowance as a contribution towards your ‘rent’ and pay any entitlement of the housing element of Universal Credit to your carer.
If you’re a student in higher education and you return to your Staying Put arrangement during vacation periods, the expectation is that carers are paid the standard Staying Put allowance pro-rata for the number of days you stay there. More information can be found in the Care Leaver Financial Procedures (PDF, 458KB) and Staying Put Policy (Word, 155KB).
If your plan for where you live post 18 is to have your own tenancy, we will work hard with you to help this be as smooth as possible.
Do make use of preparation support either via our ‘Ready, Steady, Rent’ course or via DePaul step-forward programme. It is really helpful to think through all the changes and responsibilities that come with managing your own tenancy.
There are various avenues for support for you:
- DWP / Job Centre staff will help you sign up for Universal Credit (UC) on your 18th Once this is done, we will give you the equivalent weekly amount until this starts being paid
- Your Housing Benefit element of UC can be paid directly to the landlord which can be very helpful and avoid getting into debt from missed payments
- We can apply to the HELP scheme for ‘white goods’
- We can support you to set up paying for your utilities regularly
- Some housing providers give additional tenancy support as you start, so do ask them about this
If it isn’t possible for you to stay with your carer, but it’s felt you’re not ready to move into semi-independent accommodation, your Personal Adviser may consider Supported Lodgings for you. Supported lodgings are when you live in a family home and having the additional support that comes with being part of a family. You’ll need to pay a portion of money from your wages or personal allowance through Universal Credit as a contribution towards your ‘rent’ depending on how much you earn and pay any entitlement of the housing element of Universal Credit to your carer.
Many young people are not yet ready to live totally independently at 18, so we are developing opportunities for those leaving care to live in supported accommodation post 18. This is likely to be shared accommodation with other young people, where additional support is provided by staff who are either on site all the time, or who regularly visit the home. The support they offer would be for things like budgeting and cooking, and to resolve any issues as they come up. You are likely to be asked to pay a regular 'service charge' which is a small contribution to the bills of the home. Please talk to your Personal Adviser if you would like to explore this option.
If you are seeking asylum in the UK and do not yet have a decision about your right to remain, we continue to support you in supported accommodation post 18, the level of support will depend on your needs and the provision where you are settled and have been supported pre 18.
If you decide to go to university, you’re not eligible for housing benefit unless you’re a parent, so you need to ensure that your rent is paid from your student loan and the financial support we provide. For the majority of students, the two options will be student accommodation for the full year or student accommodation for the term-time and Staying Put with your previous foster carers in the vacations.
More information can be found within our Care Leavers Financial Procedures (PDF, 458KB). From April 2025 the offer is that we will pay 50% of your accommodation costs during your undergraduate course.
If you are choosing to stay in your own tenancy whilst studying locally, talk to your Personal Adviser about any possible financial support.
