Housing Advice: Care Leavers and Young People

Information and advice on housing options for young people and care leavers

If you are homeless, threatened with homelessness within 56 days or concerned about your housing situation, the council can provide advice and assistance. Please email housing@westberks.gov.uk and we will contact you to arrange an appointment.

If your enquiry is urgent, you can speak to an officer by calling 01635 519 530 and choosing option 2. Our hours of service are: Monday to Thursday - 8.30am to 5pm, Friday - 8.30am to 4.30pm. If you have been made homeless outside of these hours, please call the emergency duty team on 01344 351 999.

On this page:

Care Leavers

If you are a care leaver, you may be entitled to help and support from the Care Leavers Team.

You can find out more about this service on our Leaving Care Team webpage.

Will the Council Provide Me with Accommodation?

Your Homelessness Prevention and Relief Officer will conduct a full housing options assessment with you as part of your application process, and they will make necessary enquiries to determine our duty towards you.

Over 18

If you're a single person over 18 with no children and you are homeless, or threatened with homelessness, you may be able to access our local hostel. Two Saints operate a direct access hostel close to Newbury town centre. The main hostel has 60 beds and is staffed 24 hours a day - it's also able to accept people with varying support needs.

Contact Two Saints directly for further information.

Under 18

If you are under 18, we have a legal duty to support you. This will be through a joint assessment, which will determine what is in your best interests.

To contact Children's Social Services directly, please call the West Berkshire Contact Advice and Assessment Service (CAAS) on 01635 503 090, or email child@westberks.gov.uk.

If you are calling outside normal office hours (9am to 5pm), please call the Emergency Duty Team on 01344 351999.

Supported Accommodation at Bramlings House

Bramlings House is a supported housing scheme for vulnerable young people, including young parents.

There are support staff available 24 hours a day, and they have 12 single en-suite rooms, which share a lounge and kitchen, and 13 self-contained one bedroom apartments. Eight of these are reserved for young parents.

If you wish to be referred to the service please contact the Housing Operations Team by e-mail at housing@westberks.gov.uk, or call 01635 519 530 and choose option 2.

You can find more information about Bramlings Supported Youth Housing on the A2Dominion website.

Other Support Services

Centrepoint

Centrepoint is a charity supporting homeless people aged 16 to 25.

If you're rough sleeping, sofa surfing or don't feel safe in your home, the Centrepoint Helpline is there to support you. You can also get in touch if you're worried about a young person.

Call the Centrepoint Helpline free on 080 8800 0661 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).

You can also find out more on the Centre Point website.

The Mix

The Mix is the UK's leading support service for young people under the age of 25.

They tackle issues from money to mental health, homelessness to finding a job. You can find more information on The Mix website, or you can call their helpline on 080 8808 4994 (available from 11am to 11pm every day).

Galop

Galop provide support services to LGBT+ victims and survivors of hate crime, domestic abuse and sexual violence. They offer support by telephone, email, text and WhatsApp. They also work with young people under 25.

Galop can assist with hostel accommodation, but only if you live in the London area and you are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, and identify as LGBT+.

You can phone the Galop Shoutline on 0800 999 5428, between the hours of 10am to 5pm on weekdays, to ask for advice or to arrange an appointment. You can also email them at advice@galop.org.uk.

Find out more on the Galop website.

The Prince's Trust

The Prince's Trust works with disadvantaged young people aged 11 to 30. They provide training, personal development opportunities and grants to help young people to get into work, education, self-employment or training.

You can find out more on the Princes Trust website.

You can contact them for free on 0800 842 842.

Financial Support

Universal Credit

Anyone making a new benefit claim, or reporting a change of circumstances, is required to claim Universal Credit. If you already claim benefits and your circumstances don't change, you may not be moved over to Universal Credit just yet.

To find out what benefits you may be entitled to, please visit the Benefits Calculator on the Entitled To website.

Housing Benefit

If you are under 35 years of age, single and do not have children, you are usually only entitled to benefits which would cover renting in a shared accommodation. The maximum housing benefit that you would get would be the rate for renting a single room in a shared house, and this rate would be given to you even if you live in a self-contained flat.

Shared accommodation is when your tenancy agreement states that you have access to one bedroom only and shared use of a bathroom, kitchen and living room. The shared accommodation rate differs depending on where you live.

You can check the shared accommodation rate in your area using the Local Housing Allowance rates search.

Please note that the shared accommodation rate only applies when renting from a private landlord (this means it doesn't apply to council or housing association properties).

The shared accommodation rate doesn't apply if you live with another adult or child. There are also other exceptions if you:

Have a history of care and are aged under 22
Are a registered foster carer
If you receive a severe disability premium or someone receives this for you
Are someone who has a proven need for overnight care and has a spare bedroom that a non-resident carer regularly stays overnight in
If you are aged over 25 and have spent at least three months in a homeless hostel or hostel specialising in rehabilitating and resettling within the community
Are a former prisoner and are managed under the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)

If you are a part-time or full-time student, you can get Housing Benefit if you receive income support or income-based JSA.

You can also get Housing Benefit if you are a part-time or full-time student and a lone parent, or a member of a couple who are responsible for a child and you are both full-time students, living in temporary accommodation provided by the Council.

For more information or to apply for Housing Benefit, please visit the Housing Benefit pages on the GOV.UK website.