The chief executive of the Generation Rent ginger group has called on his former employer to make a case against landlords, who are accused of discrimination against care leavers.
Generation Rent boss Ben Twomey was, until earlier this year, a senior figure in the National Youth Advocacy Service.
Now the NYAS and Generation Rent have made a joint attack highlighting what it calls “the discrimination that is prevalent in housing” – specifically, care leavers and the challenges they face when they leave care and begin independent living.
Care leavers told NYAS and Generation Rent that landlords are often not willing to rent homes to them once they learn of their time in care.
One unnamed care leaver said: “It was quite hard to actually get a landlord that would accept a care leaver because of all the things said about are leavers… [the landlord] wouldn’t deal with care experience.”
A joint statement from Twomey’s past and present organisations says: “The care leavers NYAS and Generation Rent engaged with as part of this report we spoke to also voiced their difficulties in finding someone to act as a guarantor for them. While local authorities in both England and Wales have corporate parenting responsibility to care leavers up to the age of 25, there is currently no statutory duty on them to act as a guarantor.
“Data from the Care Leaver Local Offer has shown that only 38 per cent of local authorities with children’s social care departments will, in principle, act as a guarantor for care leavers.”
Care leavers in England are entitled to a grant of £2,000 as part of the ‘Setting Up Home Allowance’, which can be put towards household items or rental deposits, but the two organisations claim that care leavers often find themselves in rent arrears or facing eviction.
The Basic Income Pilot in Wales also offers financial support, granting care leavers £1,280 each month for two years after their 18th birthday to pay for bills or household items, though this is only available for those participating in the trial.
Joshua Williams, the current head of policy and communications at NYAS, says: “Too many care leavers have told us that they cannot access safe and secure housing when they leave care because of discrimination and not having someone who can act as a guarantor for them. We are calling on the UK and Welsh Government to remove these barriers through improved housing support and placing a statutory duty on local authorities to act as guarantors for all care leavers.”
And Twomey himself adds: “The cost of renting crisis is driving care leavers into poverty and homelessness. It is unacceptable that care leavers are also facing discrimination when looking for a home. As one in three care leavers across England and Wales experience homelessness in the first two years of leaving care, the UK and Welsh Governments need to act urgently to give better support and protection to these young people.”
