Create a national strategy to end youth homelessness

In 2021-22, 129,000 young people experiencing homelessness approached their council for help. Yet no one is talking about this and there is no national plan to end this ahead of the General Election.

This has to change. We have the power to help so many young people, and absolutely should.

The scale of the issue may be unseen but the solutions are not. Young people’s experiences of homelessness are different from other age groups, so the solutions need to be different too. We know what works. That’s why we are calling for a cross-departmental strategy, prioritising prevention, housing & finances, to end youth homelessness.

As a coalition of over 100 youth organisations, we’re calling on government to commit to a strategy to end youth homelessness.

We need a #PlanForThe129k.

Every child and young person deserves a roof over their head and a safe place to call home.

The Government is firmly committed to tackling all forms of homelessness including youth homelessness. The Government’s Ending Rough Sleeping for Good strategy, published in 2022 and backed by over £2 billion, recognises the particular challenges facing young people experiencing homelessness.

The strategy puts prevention at its heart. The Government has committed over £1 billion to councils in England through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to help them prevent homelessness over three years, including youth homelessness. Councils can use the funding flexibly – for example, to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions or to provide temporary accommodation.

In addition, in his Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced Government is increasing the Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of market rents from April. This will mean 1.6m low-income households will be around £800 a year better off on average in 2024-25, and will make it more affordable for young people on benefits to rent properties in the private rented sector.

Government support for housing-led solutions includes the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP), which aims to provide longer term supported housing, Housing First and other housing-led accommodation with accompanying support, including for young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness or rough sleeping.