Care leavers

If you are under 18 and a Nottingham City care leaver, Children’s Services will support you. You should contact the Leaving Care Duty Service for support and guidance or speak with your personal advisor.

Tel: 0115 876 1341 or 0115 876 1333 (Monday to Friday between 10.00 – 4.00pm)

Email: LeavingCare.Duty@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

All care leavers once over 18, are usually financially responsible for their own accommodation and day-to-day living costs, however if you are between 18-20 years old and you are homeless, as a qualifying care leaver you will automatically have a ‘priority need’. This means there is a special reason why the council must give you more help if you are homeless now, or at risk of homelessness within the next two months. It also means that Housing Solutions will have a duty to provide emergency accommodation if you are homeless and eligible for assistance pending enquiries into the loss of your last accommodation.

Benefits

At aged 18, you will be entitled to claim benefits. For more advice on claiming benefits, speak with your Personal Advisor/Social Worker. You can also visit the Gov website - Benefits - GOV.UK

It is also important to note that if you are receiving the ‘Housing Element’ of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit for a privately rented property, you will be eligible to claim the self-contained, one-bed rate of the Local ‘Housing Allowance’ within Universal Credit, instead of the Shared Accommodation Rate. As such, it is important to be sure that your rent is affordable and sustainable. 

For Benefit Advice and rules for care leavers, visit Tackling Financial Insecurity Together | Turn2us

If you are a care leaver and do not have accommodation available to you, you can apply to our housing register – HomeLink - Nottingham City Council. You can apply to our Housing Register before your 18th birthday, but your application will remain pending while we determine whether you can manage a tenancy.

Council Tax

From 1st April 2019, the Council will give a 100% discount for Council Tax payers aged 18 and 19 who were previously under the care of the Council. To get this discount the following conditions must be met:

• the taxpayer is under 20;
• they were previously under the care of Nottingham City Council;
• they are liable for Council Tax as a resident with the highest legal interest (i.e. it does not apply to empty properties);
• their personal advisor has submitted the required application to the Council Tax section

To receive this discount please contact your personal advisor who will then make the required application on your behalf to Council Tax. Please note this discount does not apply for any period before 1st April 2019 or to any taxpayer who was under care with any other Council.

Housing Solutions will determine whether you qualify for homeless assistance and emergency temporary accommodation. We will assess each case on an individual basis, however, regardless of whether you qualify for emergency accommodation, Housing Solutions can help you to find longer term accommodation if you are homeless and eligible for assistance. 

You should first call or visit us to discuss your situation. You may then be invited to an appointment with a Housing Casework Officer to determine what help the Council can provide. As part of this, we will complete a Full Housing and Support Needs Assessment. This assessment will support the development of your Personalised Housing Plan (PHP). 

In this plan, you will be given actions to prevent homelessness, which may include things like looking for private rented accommodation or looking for employment. You will agree to these actions with your Housing Casework Officer. Failure to carry out the tasks agreed in your PHP may limit the help we can offer you.

Private rented accommodation

There is a shortage of housing in the UK, especially social accommodation. As such, you will be expected to be searching for private rented accommodation, and our NPRAS team can help you with this. 

Support for care-leavers and care-experienced individuals:

• Care leavers | Catch22
• Centrepoint
• Barnardo's
• Mind