Islington extends homelessness rights for young care leavers

Cllr Una O’Halloran and housing director Ian Swift. Image: Islington Council

Islington Council has agreed to make all care leavers under the age of 25 a top priority for accommodation if they become homeless – as officers warn of a tough winter ahead amid the ongoing housing crisis.

On Tuesday, the Children and Young Person scrutiny committee approved a protocol that puts care-experienced young people in the ‘priority need’ category if they are unhoused.

Ian Swift, director of housing operations, said the national emergency situation with homelessness means “we can’t rest on our laurels”.

“What the protocol tries to do is safeguard and enhance [Islington’s] corporate parenting responsibilities.

“It ensures that if care leavers become homeless that we pick them up straight away. We’re committing that nobody will ever be made ‘intentionally’ homeless.”

Priority need status is given to those considered at much greater risk of harm if they become homeless, and legally obliges local councils to provide them with shelter.

This category automatically includes people who are pregnant, at risk of domestic abuse, or who were were in care at 16 or 17 years old.

Other individuals, such as those with disabilities or health conditions, may also receive the status but only after councils assess their evidence and situation.

In other circumstances, councils may decide people are ‘intentionally homeless’, for example, as a result of refusing housing benefit, not paying rent, or being evicted for antisocial behaviour.

Cllr Una O’Halloran, executive member for homes and communities, was clear about the policy’s urgency.

“We’re a council that listens to young people. We make no apologies — our care leavers, we should look after them.

“We need to keep them in the borough because that way we can keep an eye on them, and work with them, until they’re fully independent.

“I want to make a commitment now.”

Swift was at pains to remind members of the borough’s impending challenges with shelter.

“We’re in a crisis that’s not going to get any better. We’re bracing for the winter months crisis within the health service, with a lot of people being forced to leave hospitals that we’d need to provide accommodation for.

“There are 18 times more people on the housing register than there are available properties. We will only re-house seven per cent of people on the housing register in the next 12 months, and that is getting worse.”

Members also heard that the council has purchased 20 ex-Right to Buy properties, specifically to house 18-24-year-olds.

The council also expects to spend an extra £2.25 million in 2024/25 after a 35 per cent increase in demand for homelessness support in the first half of the year.

A draft version of the policy stated that while affording care leavers automatic priority need could see a financial cost, “most young people who have been looked after are found to be vulnerable because of this and consequently awarded priority need status anyway”.

Prior to April 2018, housing did not monitor whether people had formerly been in care unless they were at risk of danger or harm, the report added.

The policy document alluded to the stark statistics around care-experienced people compared to their peers, including worse outcomes in terms of education, homelessness and involvement with the criminal justice system.

It states: “The extra risk of premature death rose for care leavers from 40 per cent in 1971 to 360 per cent in 2011.

“Care-experienced people are also more likely to experience an unnatural death (suicide, violent death, accident).

“We are determined to make a difference and address the inequalities some [of these] young people can face.”

Two years ago, the Children’s Commissioner for England also found more than 50 per cent of children in care had a criminal conviction by age 24, compared to 13 per cent of children who were not.

The council’s decision follows its move to grant care leavers a legal safeguard against discrimination.

Following the Equality Act 2010, the Town Hall made care experienced a ‘protected characteristic’, similar to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.