Press release: 54% increase in homelessness among young care leavers 

Today, new official figures show a rise in the number of young care leavers facing homelessness with a particularly sharp increase in the last two years.  

Our analysis of the Government’s own data shows that:  

• The number of young care leavers aged 18-20 who are homeless has increased by 54% over the last five years.   

• 4,300 care leavers aged 18-20 were assessed as homeless in the last year – up from 2, 790 in 2018-19 (1,510 additional young care leavers faced homelessness last year) 

• Over the past two years the increase has been particularly sharp, with 910 more care leavers assessed as homeless in 2023-24 than in 2021-22 – an increase of 27% 

• The number of care leavers aged 18 – 20 facing homelessness has risen more than twice as fast as the overall number of homeless households, and fifteen times faster than the overall number of young people facing homelessness. 

• 15% of care leavers aged 18–20 assessed as homeless were in the North West of England, 15% were in the South West and 14% were in the South East. 

These figures are just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond these statistics are many more who are hidden homeless, sofa surfing or rough sleeping, who may be unaware of their rights and entitlements and aren’t accessing support through their local authority. Many will be struggling to manage jobs, education and bills without a suitable roof over their heads. 

Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO of Become, says: 

“The stark reality of more care leavers becoming homeless is that society is failing these young people. Each year, thousands of children move out of their foster or children’s homes at the age of 18, sometimes younger, and are forced to become independent overnight. Many young people are sofa surfing, living in hostels or unsuitable accommodation where they don’t feel safe, struggling to stay afloat with little support. 

But this can be fixed, homelessness can be avoided. The Government pledged last week to remove the local connection test for care levers, which is a good start, but it must now End the Care Cliff, prioritise social housing for young people leaving care and make sure they have the support they need to make a positive start to adulthood.”  

Become is calling on the Government to:

• End the care cliff – Make Staying Put and Staying Close schemes fully funded, opt-out legal entitlements for all young people in care up to 25 so young people can stay in their homes or connected to support without facing a care cliff at 18. 

• Create a homelessness safety net for care leavers by amending homelessness legislation to:  

• Urgently introduce the exemption to the local area connection test for care leavers so they can bid for social housing in the area they were moved to when in care  

• Make all care leavers a priority for social housing up to the age of 25 

• Exempt care leavers from homelessness intentionality rules, which can deem a young person has made themselves homeless because for example they have left their given accommodation or fallen into rent arrears 

• Increase access to safe, appropriate homes by requiring all local authorities to provide a consistent rent guarantor and deposit scheme for care leavers. 

-ENDS-