Homelessness and housing

We can provide help and support:

• if you are having constant fall outs with your 16 or 17 year old
• to make things easier at home
• with moving out options for your young person

Get help in your area

You can get help with housing for your young person.

If your young person is aged 16 or 17 years, contact the Youth Homeless and Housing Officers.

If your young adult is aged 18 years and over, contact the Cumberland Housing team.

Visit the Cumberland Council website for further information.

Young people aged 16 and 17 years

Parents or carers of 16 and 17 year olds are responsible for their children's welfare. Young people are not classed as adults until they turn 18 years old.

We want to keep families together in their homes wherever possible and where it is safe to do so. For most young people, staying in their family home (with support) is usually the best outcome for them.

We will always expect to speak to the young person as well as their parent(s) or carer(s). This is to find out more about why they cannot go home and talk about whether we could offer any help (not financial) to keep the young person at home.

All 16 or 17 year olds who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, will be referred to the Children’s Services Safeguarding Hub. A social worker will carry out a child and family assessment. This includes any concerns for the young person's safety, possible child exploitation or safeguarding concerns.

Housing myth busters

There are many myths about housing and accommodation, such as:

• a young person can leave home at 16 and get a council flat
• getting pregnant guarantees you a house
• it's easy to get a council house (social housing)

Supported accommodation

By law, a person under the age of 18 years cannot hold a tenancy in their own right (pregnant or not). They can access supported accommodation if they:

• are aged 16 years or over
• are homeless
• have nowhere else to go
• cannot manage to live alone without support

You may have a priority need to be housed or considered for supported accommodation, if you:

• are aged between 18 to 24 years
• are homeless
• are pregnant
• have nowhere else to go

Pregnancy does not guarantee a house of your own.

You would be expected to follow the rules of the tenancy or house rules and contribute to the costs.

Social housing

All social housing in Cumbria is let through a scheme called Cumbria Choice-Based Lettings. You will need to register before you can start to look at what properties may be available.

Anyone aged 16 years or over may apply to join the Housing Register but conditions will apply. For example, they cannot bid on properties until they turn 18 years old.

All applications are assessed according to the level of housing need and placed in one of 3 bands, A to C. They will also take into account whether applicants have a local connection with Cumbria, the extent of this and whether applicants can afford to resolve their own housing problems. 

Within each band, applications are placed in date order. There are no guarantees about how quickly or even whether young people will be offered a property. There are lots of applications for each property that is advertised.

Useful Links

If you find yourself homeless, visit Youth homelessness on the Cumberland Council website.

• Homeless Link
• Riverside
• Citizen`s Advice Bureau
• The Mix (Help and Advice for under 25s)
• Kooth Online Counselling for Under 18s
• CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• National Youth Advocacy Service
• NSPCC
• Childline