- News & Comment
-
Online Shop
Online Services
Looseleafs
Law Reports
Books and eBooks
-
CPD & Events
Webinars
- Authors
- About Family Law
- Contact
The government has published a new action plan aimed at halving homelessness among care-experienced young people, introducing additional responsibilities for local authorities to improve housing support and prevent care leavers from becoming homeless as they transition into independent living.
The Care Leaver Homelessness Reduction Action Plan, published on 5 November to coincide with the start of Care Leavers Month 2026, sets out measures intended to ensure that no young person becomes homeless as a result of leaving care.
Under the arrangements, local authorities will be required to publish plans addressing care leavers' accommodation needs, work with local housing partners and clearly set out the support available to young people at risk of homelessness through their local offer for care leavers.
The measures build on provisions introduced through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which mean certain care leavers under the age of 25 can no longer be classified as intentionally homeless. The changes also remove the requirement for care leavers to satisfy local connection tests when accessing social housing.
The government is encouraging councils to publish local homelessness prevention targets and information about the assistance available to young people at risk. Areas facing higher levels of youth homelessness will also receive targeted advice and support from youth homelessness advisers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
The action plan brings together additional guidance and resources for local authorities and their partners, including new guidance on planning housing pathways for care leavers, updated advice on joint working between housing and children's services, and guidance on young people remaining with foster carers beyond the age of 18.
A new youth homelessness prevention toolkit and an updated chapter of the Homelessness Code of Guidance covering young people, including those with care experience, have also been published. Updated guidance on social housing allocations is expected in 2027.
The government has also announced a new £3m Test, Learn, Grow programme focused on preventing youth homelessness.
The plan follows the government's wider programme of children's social care reform. The Staying Close initiative, which helps care leavers access and maintain safe accommodation and obtain support with health, education and employment up to the age of 25, is currently operating in 50 areas. It is due to become a national duty on local authorities for care leavers up to the age of 25 from 2029.
From autumn 2027, government departments and public bodies will also take on corporate parenting responsibilities, requiring them to work with local authorities to support care leavers.
The action plan follows a government review of early deaths among care leavers, published in August, which highlighted the isolation experienced by many young people when leaving the care system.
Children's Minister Josh MacAlister said homelessness could be one of the consequences of young people entering adulthood without a strong support network. He said the government was changing children's social care to place greater emphasis on enduring relationships and expanding support to help care leavers secure a stable home.
Minister for Homelessness Florence Eshalomi said the measures were intended to prevent young people reaching homelessness in the first place, rather than simply providing accommodation once they had lost their homes.
The number of care leavers aged between 18 and 24 in England has risen to 86,890, an increase of almost 10% over two years. The group also remains disproportionately represented in the homelessness system.
Centrepoint chief executive Seyi Obakin welcomed the action plan, highlighting figures showing that the number of care leavers aged 18 to 20 assessed as being at risk of homelessness in England had increased by 37% over the previous five years.
He said approximately 48% of the young people supported by Centrepoint had previously been in care, often facing the responsibilities of independent living without the family support networks available to many of their peers.
Obakin said the plan provided an opportunity to strengthen the assistance available to care leavers, but stressed the importance of ensuring access to safe, stable and genuinely affordable housing alongside financial, practical and emotional support.
Coram policy officer Louise Mumcular also welcomed the government's commitments, noting that housing was the most common issue for which young people sought assistance through the organisation's Coram Voice advocacy service.
She said national targets would need to be supported by sufficient investment, consistent implementation across local authorities and access to suitable and affordable accommodation.
Mumcular also highlighted the importance of strengthening support at key transition points, including when young people move home, leave education or training, or experience a breakdown in their living arrangements.
She said care-experienced young people needed more than accommodation alone, emphasising the importance of providing safe, stable and supportive homes in which they could establish independent lives.
