Types of housing

This is somewhere to live that has additional support from a keyworker. The keyworker will help you with any challenges you are facing and support you to develop the skills you need to live independently. Your keyworker will work closely with your personal advisor (PA) and will support you to meet the goals set out in your pathway plan. In supported housing, you will need to pay a ‘service charge’, which is a weekly payment that covers bills such as electricity and heating for your home. You may also need to pay rent in supported housing, but this will depend on if you work and how much you earn.

Supported housing is available in areas across West Sussex and range from larger foyer type projects, to much smaller semi-independent housing, which is like having your own place with a little extra support. Many young people will start off living in a foyer type project and move to semi-independent housing once ready to live more independently. The final step from here is usually moving into your own independent private or social housing. Your keyworker and PA will support you to apply to move into and move on from supported housing.

If you and your foster carer agree, one option is for you to remain living with your foster carer after you turn 18. This ‘staying put’ agreement can continue until you are 21 years old or up to 25 if you are in education.

This arrangement is only available if you are in foster care at 18 and is ideal if you are not yet ready to live independently. You will need to be enrolled at college or university before you reach 21 to be able to stay in Staying Put past this age. You will be expected to pay rent of £10 each week and reviews should take place at least every six months to make sure all is well in the staying put agreement.

Your staying put carers will work closely with your PA to help move you on into independent housing once you are ready. If you and your carers wish you to remain living there after the staying put arrangement ends, you can enter a private agreement where you are responsible for paying full rent.

Like 'staying put', it is possible to remain living in supported lodgings until you are 21 years old or up to 25 if you are still in education. You will need to be enrolled at college or university before you reach 21 to be able to stay in supported lodgings past this age.

There will be regular reviews to ensure you are getting the support you need to develop your independent living skills and to make sure you feel this is the right place for you to live. Your PA will support you to move on from supported lodgings when the time is right.

Social housing is accommodation owned by councils and housing associations. It is generally more secure - you have more rights and can usually live there longer - and is more affordable than ‘private rented’ housing. In West Sussex, access to social housing is managed by district and borough councils and you will need to apply to one or more of these to join a ‘housing register’. This is a waiting list for accessing social housing.

Each district and borough set their own criteria on who can access their housing register and the process can be quite complicated. West Sussex care leavers have a local connection to all district and boroughs in the county and can choose which housing register they would like to apply for.

We have a specialist housing support worker and care leaver support workers in our service who work hard to ensure the young people we support have somewhere safe and secure to live.

You will be able to join at least one housing register at 16 years old to give you the best opportunity of moving when you are over 18 and ready to manage your tenancy.

Your social worker, keyworker or PA will support you with this process, so you don’t need to worry about what to do and who to speak to. We will encourage you to apply to the area where you want to live and where you will feel the most comfortable and most settled.

Private rented housing can be accessed directly via private landlords or through letting agents. This can either be a ‘self-contained’ flat where you have use of your own bathroom and kitchen or ‘shared’ accommodation where one or both are shared with others.

There are lots of things to consider when looking to move into private rented housing but don’t worry, your PA will help you every step of the way.

Finding somewhere to live

The first thing you need to do is decide what accommodation is best for you and your circumstances. You need to decide where you would like to live and then look for somewhere that is suitable and affordable for you.

If you are working, you will need to be prepared to pay towards your rent from your wages. Depending on your hours worked and your income, you may be entitled to claim the Housing Element of Universal Credit to help pay your rent. If you are not currently working or if you are studying at college your rent will likely be paid by Universal Credit, so it is important you look for properties that are within the maximum Local Housing Allowance (LHA) limit.

As a Care Leaver, you are entitled to the one-bedroom rate of LHA up until your 25th birthday, so please ensure you look for properties that are within this limit in the area you are looking to move to. Your PA will help you every step of the way and we also have a Housing Support worker who will work with you individually to find a home that is right for you!

Landlord checks

Your landlord will make checks to ensure you are the right person to move into the property once you have found one you like. They need to check you have the ‘right to rent’ in the UK and will usually ask to take a copy of your passport as proof of this. Other checks may include asking for proof of income and a reference from your previous housing. This is a standard thing that everyone who rents somewhere must do and we will support you to get the information that is asked for.

Guarantor

A guarantor is someone who ensures the rent is paid to the landlord when they don’t receive it from the tenant. Many landlords require confirmation of a guarantor before agreeing someone to move in. We may be able to act as a guarantor to the property you move into. Your PA will support you with this and an agreement from us will follow an assessment of your needs and be depend on things like whether you are ready to live independently and if the property you would like to move into is suitable and affordable.

Deposit and rent in advance

Most private rented agreements will require a ‘deposit’. This is an upfront payment up to the value of 5 weeks rent which is kept in a ‘Tenancy Deposit Scheme’ until the end of your tenancy. This is to make sure you return your home in the same condition as when you moved in. For example, if your walls were white when you moved in, you painted them blue and didn’t paint them back to white when you moved out, they would use some of the deposit to return the walls to its original colour.

Moving into your own private accommodation will also mean finding money upfront for rent. This is usually one month but can be up to six months’ rent in advance, especially if a guarantor is not available.

Our district and borough housing departments may be able to support you financially to move into your own private accommodation and your PA will request a meeting to discuss what help they may be able to offer. If this is not successful, we can support you to access funds needed for a deposit and rent in advance if we agree following an assessment it is the right time for you to live independently and if the housing you would like to move into is considered suitable and affordable.

Tenancy agreement

Once you have passed the reference checks and found the funds needed to move in – this is where your independence journey begins!

Before you move into your home, you will be asked to sign a tenancy agreement; this is a contract between you and the landlord that will cover things such as:

• you and your landlord’s contact details
• the length of time you will be able to live there (usually a minimum of six months)
• the rent you will pay (how much, when it needs to be paid and how to pay)
• deposit amount and where the deposit is held
• expectations on maintaining the accommodation, how the landlord will monitor these and how to raise any issues
• any known flaws with the accommodation such as the condition of carpets, cupboard doors etc so that you are not charged when ending your tenancy for causing damage to the property that was already present when you moved in; this is called an inventory
• how to end your tenancy (how much notice you or your landlord need to give)
• reasons that a landlord can end your tenancy or evict you

Both you and the landlord will sign this and once that is done you are ready to move in!

If you are studying at Chichester College, you may have the opportunity to live on campus in their halls of residence. If you are going away to university, you will need to apply for student finance to pay rent for where you live during your studies. For some this may be in the halls of residence. Your PA will help you with the application and through the process of applying for university.

We will pay for your accommodation out of term time when you are at university. If you are going to university locally, we can keep your Staying Put placement open until you finish your studies. If you are going away, you can still return to your Staying Put accommodation out of term time.

For some young people leaving care, returning to live with a family member can be an option. If you are looking to live back with your family, we will support you to do this and ensure this will meet your needs.