PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Local housing allowance for care leavers and homeless young people (13 February 2020)

That this House is deeply concerned that care leavers risk facing eviction and homelessness on their 22nd birthday, due to the increasing gap between the local housing allowance and private sector rents; regrets that care leavers aged 22 have their local housing allowance reduced to the lowest shared accommodation rate (SAR); notes Centrepoint’s analysis of rental data which shows that a room in a shared house would only be affordable in one of 234 local authority areas for those in receipt of the SAR; is also deeply concerned that homeless young people under the age of 25 are trapped in supported accommodation because the SAR is not enough to cover the cost of rent; regrets that this causes bed-blocking of vital spaces for other homeless people; notes that to extend the exemption from the SAR on an annual basis, it would cost around £6 million for care leavers and £3.8 million for homeless under 25s; and therefore urges the Chancellor to provide this relatively small amount of funding in the upcoming Budget which will make a huge difference to the lives of vulnerable young people, many of whom have experienced unspeakable trauma and difficulty.

Sponsored by:
Caroline Lucas (Green Party)