Housing advice for those leaving care

When you leave care, you will have to manage more things on your own but we will continue to support you. The level of support you receive depends on your status. Your status depends on your age, where you were in care and for how long.

Level of support from the age of 16

You should have a personal advisor, an assessment of the support you need and a pathway plan that sets out how we will support you, including financial support. The pathway plan should be reviewed as required and at least every six months. This should be in place until you are at least 21.

Reaching 21

Once you reach the age of 21 and if you are already in education or training, support will usually stop around the time of your 21st birthday. You should have a final meeting with your personal advisor who will talk to you about other services you may be able to get help with. However, if up until your 25th birthday you return to, or want education or training, you can come back to us and ask for support.

Leaving care

We work together to together to deliver advice and housing for young people and care leavers through the Young Person’s Pathway. Find out more on the Foundation website.

Your social worker should make a referral to the young persons’ Hub before you are due to leave care. You will meet with a young person’s worker who will talk through the options available and assess you for supported housing if this is an option that you want to consider.

Accommodation for 16 and 17 year old care leavers

We aim to find you a housing solution before you have to leave care so that you do not become homeless.
When you leave your care placement, we must ensure that the accommodation you move to is suitable. Moving straight from care to independent living is too big a step. 

Depending on your needs, there may be a choice of:

• returning to the family home
• continuing to live with your foster family
• supported lodgings with friends and family

Moving on and accommodation from 18 years old

Once you turn 18, some of the options listed above will be available to you long-term. You may choose to stay in your supported lodgings scheme rather than move to different accommodation. However, you could choose to move on to the next stage of housing options. These include:

• social housing
• private rented sector accommodation such as shared housing or lodges and self contained accommodation
• supported accommodation

Financial support

If you are receiving benefits or on a low income, you are likely to be entitled to financial assistance towards your rent. Further details are in our housing benefit section.

If you are under 18, your rent will usually be paid by the local authority that is looking after you. 

If you are looking to rent a private rented property, the maximum amount of help you can get is set by the local housing allowance. You can find out more on the local housing allowance page on the Government website. As a care leaver you will qualify for a self-contained one-bedroom property rate until your 22nd birthday.

You may also wish to start looking at suitable private renting options on websites such as Right Move or Spare Room.

Who to contact

Who you contact for support and how you access it is different depending on where you live in North Yorkshire.