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drinking heavily. He was dependent on the goodwill of his friends, but like other
young people interviewed who had experienced homelessness, he stressed his
need to be physically and psychologically settled before he could contemplate re-
engaging with education, training or employment.

How young people accessed and used housing

Young people living in England and Wales can access housing through:

• housing officers and departments (which operate ‘housing lists’ to regulate
access to social housing through priority point schemes)

• housing associations (these typically have vacancies that are filled
through local council nominations, but some also accept direct
applications and operate their own waiting lists and points schemes)

• and voluntary sector housing projects

Study care leavers reported having limited direct contact with housing
providers and instead relied on mediating services, such as leaving care teams.
Fifty-seven per cent (39) of the care leavers in this study reported they had never
used housing offices and 65 per cent (51) reported they had never used a
housing support officer. Leaving care teams often set up first accommodation on
leaving care, liaising with housing providers as advocates for care leavers. Only
those care leavers whose contact with leaving care officers had broken down, or
who failed to receive adequate support in the first place, had to negotiate direct
access to housing themselves. However, once accommodated, care leavers then
went on to have more direct dealings with housing services.

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