If you are a young person leaving care, and worried about being homeless please see the following advice.
Cornwall's 16 Plus Team is a partnership between the local authority and Carefree Cornwall. If you are or have been in the care of the authority, it is important to know about:
- Your pathway plan
- Personal adviser
- Finding somewhere to live
- In care for less than 13 weeks
- Further advice
Your pathway plan
You should have a pathway plan with your social worker that shows how you will move to independent living. It should say:
- how social services will support you
- what other support is available
- what will happen if things don’t go according to the plan
The plan should include:
- where you will live
- what money you will live on
- a plan for your education, training or employment.
Social services must review your plan every six months and amend it if your needs change.
Personal adviser
Your pathway plan should tell you who will help you after you leave care. This is your ‘personal adviser’.
Social services should keep your plan up to date and give you a personal adviser until:
- your 21st birthday, or
- until your 25th birthday if you ask for this, or
- until your education or training ends if that is later
If you don’t know who your personal adviser is, contact the social services department that looked after you.
Finding somewhere to live
Social services don’t usually provide you somewhere to live after you turn 18, but they must plan what will happen with your housing.
Your housing options include:
Finding private rented accommodation
You can normally claim housing benefit (HB) or universal credit (UC) to help pay for rented housing.
After your 22nd birthday, HB or UC will only pay for a room in a shared house unless
- your landlord is the council or a housing association, or
- you have a dependent child.
Most landlords ask for rent in advance and deposit. Speak to your personal advisor as you may be entitled to a grant for this.
Finding private rented accommodation
Staying put
If your foster family agree, you could continue to live with them. Social services will pay them an allowance until you are 21 to provide you with ‘supported lodgings’.
Applying to the council as homeless
If you apply to the Council's Housing Options team, we will create a personalised housing plan (PHP) for you.
Your PHP lists the steps that you and the service will take to help you find suitable accommodation. If you are in ‘priority need’, we will find you somewhere to live while you work on the plan.
You are in priority need as a care leaver if you are 18, 19 or 20 and spent 24 hours or more in care while you were 16 or 17. Care leavers aged 21 or over may also be in 'priority need'.
Going on the waiting list for social housing
The majority of social housing in Cornwall is allocated by the Cornwall Homechoice Housing Register.
Apply for social housing by joining Cornwall Homechoice.
Foyers and supported accommodation
Foyers provide supported accommodation for young people. Services offered include: support, education, budgeting, training, life skills, employment, cooking, maintaining accommodation. Housing benefit to cover accommodation charges if in education or training.
In care for less than 13 weeks
If you spent less than 13 weeks in care, or if you returned home successfully when you were 16 or 17, you won’t have a pathway plan or personal adviser.
Social services will still give you advice. Social services may also give you help in exceptional circumstances, such as buying you items that you need.
Further advice
- Contact Housing Options | 0300 1234 161.
- Contact the 16 plus team | 0300 1234 101 or email children@cornwall.gov.uk