"At 16, to be taken off the street and put in a bed and breakfast is really traumatic. Bed and breakfast is no good for anyone." Few would disagree with the words of this charity lawyer quoted in our feature (page 26). But the reality is that more teenagers than ever before are being rehoused in this inappropriate fashion. The 2002 Homelessness Act imposed on councils a duty to house homeless 16-to-17-year-olds. Many say they have little choice but to place these vulnerable youngsters in the very accommodation they are obliged to take families out of.

Before the new act came into force, dealing with this age group fell to the social services department. Teenagers with nowhere to live were either put into care, sent back to their homes or were found supported housing.

There is no doubt that the act is an improvement, but the issue of teenage homelessness is one of its weakest and least thought-out aspects. Some councils feel let down that Supporting People money, which they would have spent on providing tailored accommodation for this group, has sadly not been forthcoming. Others, overwhelmed by the requirements of the act, have simply let teenage homeless take a much lower priority.

One of the most successful strategies is where councils use greater mediation to restore relationships between parents and their children – and, if need be, to remind adults that parenting teenagers will always be difficult. Unfortunately, demand for mediation often outstrips supply.

The act is an improvement, but the issue of teenage homelessness is its weakest aspect

It is also imperative that councils, RSLs and charities work together to make the most of the resources that are available. As councils get their homeless strategies together this month, reducing the number of children in B&Bs must become a self-imposed target before it becomes a scandal.

The prince with a purpose
Details of his polo-playing costs and tax ploys may not have endeared Prince Charles to everyone, but he clearly nurses a deep concern over rural issues, including the lack of affordable housing (page 13). The Prince – along with the Duke of Westminster, the Countryside Agency and the Housing Corporation – is to pay for two directors to cajole other wealthy landlords into supplying more affordable housing on their estates. He's appealing to old-fashioned aristocratic philanthropic values to work with RSLs to convert flats over shops, carry out the odd barn conversion or restore cottages rather than instigate a wide-ranging building plan.

Source

Housing Today