Update on the final Youth Chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance
Last week, the Government published a new youth-specific chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance, setting out how councils should support young people aged 16 to 24 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
The new chapter follows a commitment in the Government’s National Plan to End Homelessness to introduce dedicated guidance for young people. Its publication is an important step towards ensuring that the particular experiences and needs of young people are recognised by homelessness services.
The Youth Homelessness Collective has long called for clearer guidance which recognises that young people can experience homelessness differently from older adults. Earlier this year, members of the Collective worked with young people, and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer to develop our own proposed Youth Chapter.
We are pleased to see many of the issues we raised now recognised in the final guidance.
What will the new guidance change?
For the first time, councils have a dedicated chapter explaining how young people’s circumstances should be taken into account when they seek homelessness support. The new chapter recognises that age, limited life experience, family and relationship breakdown, family rejection or relationship conflict related to sexual orientation or gender identity, domestic abuse, childhood trauma, and experience in care can affect a young person’s ability to prevent or resolve their homelessness and manage accommodation.
Importantly, it aims to reduce some of the barriers young people can face when seeking help. For example, councils are told to take a “reasonable and proportionate approach” to evidence, recognising that young people may not have access to identification or documents held by family members and that information can instead come from support services or trusted adults.
The guidance also recognises that young people may need support to understand and navigate the homelessness process. It says they should be able to access independent advocacy where available, receive clear explanations about decisions and what they need to do, and have ongoing contact and support throughout the process. Additionally, councils should consider young people’s age, maturity and support needs when finding accommodation, rather than assuming they are ready to manage a tenancy simply because they have reached a particular age.
Where we want to see more
There are areas where we would have liked the guidance to go further. These include clearer guidance on local connection and intentional homelessness for young people, more practical guidance on making services accessible, and greater consideration of whether accommodation will be genuinely affordable and sustainable.
There are also areas where the final chapter provides more detailed guidance for care leavers than for other young people. Some of this reflects the additional legal rights of care leavers, but we think there is more to consider about how challenges such as limited support networks, vulnerability and the transition to independent living affect young people without care experience too.
Making the guidance count
Overall, the publication of dedicated youth homelessness guidance is an important step forward. Many of the issues raised by the Youth Homelessness Collective and young people themselves are now recognised in the Homelessness Code of Guidance.
The Government has also committed to developing a Youth Homelessness Prevention Toolkit, which will provide further practical guidance for councils on supporting young people at risk of homelessness. This provides another opportunity to build on the new chapter and address some of the areas where more detail is still needed.
What matters now is how councils put the guidance into practice. We will continue working to ensure these changes lead to better and more consistent support for young people facing homelessness.
Written by Franki Taylor, Senior Policy and Research Officer at Centrepoint