Young people aged 16 and 17 who are either street homeless or
being asked to leave accommodation can claim help with housing from
Suffolk County Council's Social Care Services or the Council
because they are considered to be ‘priority need’ due to their
age.
What will the Council do?
A Housing Options officer will interview you and ask questions
about your housing situation. You may be offered:
Family mediation - if you are staying with
close relatives, a professionally trained family mediator can
arrange to see you and your relatives to try to resolve any
disputes and enable you to remain in your present accommodation.
You can download a leaflet explaining
how mediation can help and how it works (new
window PDF 441KB).
All 17 -18 year olds approaching the Council will be referred to
Children & Young Persons Social Care Services at Suffolk County
Council.
Supported housing - if you have no experience
of living alone and need help with managing money, paying rent and
living independently, an interview can be arranged with one of the
following supported housing providers in the Suffolk Coastal
district:
- Sanctuary Carr-Gomm, based in Felixstowe.
- Flagship Foyers, based in Felixstowe, Leiston and
Framlingham.
- Genesis Housing, based in Felixstowe.
Applying for social housing
Anyone, over the age of 16, can register with
Gateway
to Homechoice to apply for social housing, however to be
accepted onto the register you must
meet the eligibility criteria.
When you register your application will be assessed and you will
be placed in one of five priority bands (from A to E with band A
for the most needy cases) depending on how serious or urgent your
housing needs are.
Once you know the band you have been allocated you will be able
to 'bid' for accommodation that suits your requirements as it
becomes available.
If you are able to stay in your current accommodation, with
friends, relatives or a resident landlord, it is unlikely that you
will given priority for re-housing through Gateway to
Homechoice.
Private landlords
Until you are 18 years old, you cannot legally hold a private
sector tenancy in your own right. It may be possible for a
responsible adult to act as ‘guarantor’ on the tenancy (this means
they are legally responsible if you do not pay the rent or damage
the property), but many landlords are reluctant to rent to young
people.
If you are not working or are on a low income, if you claim help
towards the rent from the Council, Housing Benefit rules say that
if you are single and below 25 years of age (this will rise to 35
years of age from 1 January 2012), you can only claim help for rent
on a single room. This means you cannot rent anything larger and
will not be eligible for help on a self-contained one bedroom
flat.
It is more likely that if you want to rent from a private
landlord, this will be someone renting out a room in the house
where they live. Often the rent will include heating, water and
lighting costs.
Where and how to get in touch with us
Suffolk Coastal District Council,
Housing Options Team,
Email:
homelessness@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
Council Offices, Melton Hill, Woodbridge IP12 1AU.
Monday to Thursday - 8.45am to 5.15pm.
(Please note that the doors to our Melton Hill offices are
closed to the public until 9.30am on Wednesday
mornings).
Friday - 8.45am to 4.45pm.
Telephone: 01394
444264.
Map of the Woodbridge office (new
window).
Seafront Offices, 93 Undercliff Road West, Felixstowe IP11
2AF.
Monday & Wednesday - 2pm to 4.30pm.
Telephone: 01394
276766.
Map of the Felixstowe office (new
window).
Orwell School Youth Centre, Felixstowe.
Thursday - 3pm to 5pm.
Useful websites