Homelessness
Advice and support for young people who is homeless or worried about becoming homeless.
You must contact us immediately if you are aged between 16 to 24 years and are homeless or worried about becoming homeless.
Youth Homeless and Housing Officers
Safeguarding Hub
Telephone: 0333 240 1727
National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS)
Telephone: 0808 808 1001
Website: www.nyas.net
Support is available for young adults who do not have a permanent home.
You don't have to be sleeping on the streets to be homeless, you could be:
- staying with friends
- sofa surfing
- staying with your partner's parents
- squatting
- at risk of violence or abuse at home
If you find yourself homeless, contact the Cumberland Housing team.
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.
What our young people say about us
"The best bit about supported accommodation is it’s helping me get more comfortable about opening up and also about being myself thanks to
all the support I have received."
"Being able to trust my support worker. Being able to have support whenever I need it and not just at appointments."