Accommodation

Your Pathway Advisor will help you to understand your accommodation options and work closely with you to find suitable housing so that you can begin building a home. Once you find somewhere, your Pathway Advisor will work with you to build your understanding and skills of how to manage your accommodation. This might be advice on bills, rent, benefits or setting up direct debits.    There are several options available to you in terms of accommodation pre and post 18. We have a young person’s housing worker based in our team at Ashton Old Library that you can get to know. They will support you with housing applications, bidding on properties and general advice about the process.  

Staying Put 

Tameside’s pledge to Care Leavers includes supporting you to remain in your foster placements beyond the age of 18 up to the age of 21. This will allow you to further develop your independent living skills before moving on to your own accommodation. You will have to pay a small contribution each week which will be discussed with you before the policy is put in place.  

For more information please talk to your Social Worker.

Living with Family 

If agreements are made for you to return to live with your family your Social Worker or Personal Adviser can support you with this. Depending on what age you are when you return to your family this can impact on what support you will be entitled to as it may change the category of Care Leaver that you are.

Semi-independent living 16+ 

The provisions in Tameside are run by private providers; these properties usually accommodate between two and four Care Leavers and have support staff on site around the clock. Staff will offer support around the development of your independence skills.

Local Authority Housing

At 18 you are entitled to apply for local authority housing. TMBC give all care leavers aged 18-21 priority status for housing, which makes securing a property much easier to do. Your Personal Advisor will talk you through the process and help you to work out the system. Taking on a tenancy is a big step and it’s important you feel ready for this. We work really closely with our young person housing worker and will bring them in early to meet with you and discuss the process of applying for and securing housing. Your Personal Advisor and the young persons housing worker will be with you every step of the way. We also work closely with the local housing providers to speed up the process for Care Leavers. When you get your housing we will work with you on a really clear support plan. You wont be on your own and we will give you the help and support you need, especially at the start when everything is new. 

Supported Temporary Housing via THA including TYPS

Where the Personal Advisor identifies that supported temporary housing via THA is the best option, a referral should be made to Tameside Housing Advice 6 months prior to the young person reaching 18 using the Common Referral Form. This referral should be forwarded to the following email address: Housing.options@tameside.gov.uk.

The referral will be forwarded by Tameside Housing Advice to appropriate providers of supported housing, and the Personal Advisor will be notified of who the referral has been sent to. In some cases, Leaving Care will also be asked to complete a risk assessment for a young person. A risk assessment will always need to be provided for TYPS. The supported housing provider will make arrangements to assess the young person’s suitability for their scheme and inform Tameside Housing Advice of the outcome of the referral. Tameside Housing Advice will advise the Personal Advisor by email on the outcome of this assessment who will be responsible for communicating with the young person.

Three possible outcomes are possible:

• Young person is declined for the service; reasons will be provided and shared to facilitate working and support with the young person. Young person will have arrangements for review / appeal of such a decision.

• Young person is accepted but there is no property available yet and the young person is placed on the waiting list.

• Young person is accepted and offered a property

Former UASC

If you are a former unaccompanied asylum-seeking child, arrangements for accommodation are different while you are waiting for a decision from the Home Office about your Leave to Remain. The Care Leavers Team will continue to ensure you have suitable accommodation for the duration of this process. If Leave To Remain is granted, then all of the housing options discussed in this local offer will be open to you. While you are waiting for your decision, we will continue to provide you with suitable accommodation, complete pathway plans with you and identify the areas you might need a bit of support in. If you have any questions or worries about your housing then contact your Personal Advisor or speak with our duty worker. 

If you need some additional support when you reach the age of 18 you may be offered support from a transitions worker who can offer further advice and support to you on how to manage a tenancy.  As a Tameside Care Leaver you will be provided with priority housing status. Your Personal Adviser will be able to provide you with more information on these options.

As a Care Leaver you may also be exempt from paying council tax from the age of 18 up to the age of 25. For further information please visit Care Leavers Discount (tameside.gov.uk)

What if there is a problem with your accommodation?

When you encounter a problem with your accommodation, you should contact your Personal Advisor or the Duty phone number and we will do everything we can to help. We might support you to contact your landlord and discuss the issues relating to your tenancy, help you find new accommodation or even emergency accommodation. The Personal Adviser/ duty worker will support you to try to resolve any issues you are experiencing. If you are still at risk of being made homeless then we will submit a ‘housing portal’ referral to the Adult Homeless team (over 21) and they will carry out an assessment of your needs. If you’re not satisfied with the response we can support you to make a complaint, or you can do this independently. 

The Pathway Service and its partners operate under the 'second chance principle' which recognises that it can be really tough to take on and manage your own accommodation. If it does not work out the first time, we can support you to build the skills to try again.  

Housing advice and additional support 

• www.tameside.gov.uk/housing/homelessservice
• Money Saving Expert's 50+ Tips For Renters
• National Homelessness Advice Service.
• Tips for keeping your house clean.
• Living on a budget.
• Basic cooking skills and online recipes.