1. Hidden obstacles? Some youth specific homeless policy issues
Marike van Harskamp
Homeless Link Plus Project Policy Forum on Young People
10 July 2019

2. Who we are
A specialist partnership providing support to young people, aged 16-25, from across London who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
Partners
New Horizon Youth Centre, Depaul UK, Stonewall Housing, Galop, akt, Shelter
Holistic approach
accommodation access and provision
prevention, advice and advocacy
personal resilience - mental health, independent living, interpersonal skills
employment and training

3. Impact 2017-19 What policy points arise in our delivery which:
1,269 young people into crisis accommodation
1,144 times supported into long term accommodation
664 safely reconciled with family
12,485 with increased knowledge of housing options
1,773 resolved benefit and financial hardship issues
2,868 improved mental health
2,076 with improved interpersonal skills
1,501 increased employability skills
1,039 obtained accredited training
What policy points arise in our delivery which:
are young people specific
indicate a need for more joint-work and/or cross-departmental approaches

4. HRA – observations Background/scale Some of our experiences
12,200 young people presented at London boroughs as homeless (2017/18)
> only 12% accepted as statutory homeless (Centrepoint 2018)
> only 1 in 5 young people seek local authority help (GLA 2017)
225,000 young people in London have stayed in an unsafe place because they had nowhere safe to call home (Centrepoint 2016)
H-CLIC data?
Some of our experiences
local variations – some really good practice/renewed attention U25s; but often overlooked
effectiveness - lack of youth specific approaches, incl upstream work and delivery locations
inconsistency - HRA assessment and personal housing plans
safeguarding and risk issues – e.g. contacting excluders, serious youth violence
Duty to Refer – need to expand?
good practice - at JCPs especially

5. Funding Local authority funding cuts HRA – sustainable?
National Audit Office (2018) Financial Sustainability of Local Authorities 2018
HRA – sustainable?
£72m new burden funding. Estimated cost for London: £77m p/a
57% of LAs have insufficient funding to delivery HRA for young people alone (Centrepoint 2018)
New funding streams
U25s mostly overlooked (e.g. MHCLG Roughsleeping Strategy funding)
housing-led?
Adult social care %
Children’s social care %
Young people’s services %
Arts development and support %
Youth Justice %
Road safety education %
Sure Start %
Library Services %

6. Specific areas of policy impact
ACCOMMODATION
WORK & INCOME
SPECIFIC GROUPS/NEEDS
Provision
permanent loss bed spaces
move-on accommodation
age-appropriate
leaving prison
social housing
Cross-borough
reciprocals
funding / procurement
Local Housing Allowance
LHA freeze
Shared Accommodation Rate
Universal Credit
proof of ID
5 weeks’ waiting time
Youth Obligation
Income inequalities
no National Living Wage
higher risk of destitution
3x more likely precarious work
Asylum-seekers/refugees/NRPF
Section 20 presentations
no recourse public funds
legal support
16/17 yos identifying as trans
safeguarding / joint-work
Serious youth violence
redefinition priority need
Complex needs
Young people leaving care

7. What else? GLA Mayor’s No Night Sleeping Rough youth sub-group
London Housing Panel
London Violence Reduction Unit
Local authorities
youth specific in Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategies
joint-work
reciprocals
Government
data
cross-departmental approach
longer funding cycles
Spending Review

8. More info Marike van Harskamp marike.vanharskamp@nhyouthcentre.org.uk
londonyouthgateway.org.uk