Supporting with Housing and accommodation
Your social worker and Personal Advisor will discuss with you about different housing options for your future. Your independant Reviewing Officer will talk about this with you and your important people at your Children in Care reviews and will help you think about how to get where you want to be.
Depending on your needs, and what goals you have for where you want to live in the future, there are lots of options that your Personal Advisor and Social Worker can consider with you.
Renting a Council Home
The Leaving Care Service can support you with accessing your own tenancy through Rotherham Council’s housing service, Key Choices.
Your PA will work with you to help you become ready for your tenancy and when you are, will apply to the priority panel for your care leaver priority status. If the panel agrees that you are ready for your own tenancy, you will become eligible to bid on council properties. Your PA will support you to do this.
It is really important that you know that you can only make bids for housing when you have priority status. When you make a successful bid, you will become the tenant of your own council property.
We can only ensure that you have priority status in Rotherham. If you have lived in another area for a certain amount of time, you may be accepted on to that area’s housing list. It is very difficult to apply for council housing in some areas of the country where housing stock is low. Your PA can talk to you about this and help to find alternatives if this affects you.
Supported/Semi-supported accomodation
We have access to supported and semi-supported accommodation both in Rotherham and outside of Rotherham.
Some of these homes are shared homes, where young people may have their own room, and there are staff in the home who support you with learning the skills you need to live independently in the future. Some of these homes are individual flats, with staff on site in an office who can help you. Your Social Worker and Personal Advisor will talk to you about whether these types of accommodation are right for you when you are thinking together about independence.
You can move into these types of arrangement from age 16, however we would prefer this move on arrangement was delayed at least until you have completed year 11 at school.
Dispersed Accomodation
These are flats which you would live in on your own, but where you would have a tenancy support worker who visited you to support you with paying bills, budgeting, setting up your home and other independence skills. In some situations, when you are ready to live independently without that support, you can take over the tenancy.
Staying Put
If you live with a Foster Carer, you might be able to remain living with your Foster Carer after the age of 18 up to the age of 21, this includes support if you go to university or into the Armed Forces.
As you will be living with your foster carer as an adult, we will help you develop a Staying Put living together agreement which details how you will contribute to household expenses.
Supported Lodging
You can choose to rent a room in a house of a ‘host’ family. Similar to Staying Put, this means that you would be a lodger in the home.
The Council do an assessment with people who want to become Supported Lodgings providers, so that we know they have the right skills and values, and we do all of the checks needed to make sure this would be a safe home for you.
Shared Accomodation
When you are over the age of 18 and are able to take care of yourself with minimal support, shared accommodation may be right for you.
The Council lease some shared houses which you can live in with up to five other young people. You can claim housing benefit towards the cost of the rent, or if you are working there would be a rent charge. Shared accommodation provided by the Council is a short-term option until we can help you access your own tenancy.
Privately rented accomodation
You may want to rent a property in an area where you can’t access council housing, or you may want to share a property with friends. If you do, we can help you to look for suitable housing.
University Accomodation
We can help you with a contribution towards your accommodation costs throughout your university course, and vacation accommodation in the summer holiday.
