Young people 'hounded' for rent upfront to get a social home: 'It's meant to be affordable housing'

Young people on benefits are being “hounded” for hundreds of pounds in upfront rent costs blocking them from securing an affordable social home, a youth charity has revealed.

Youth charity EveryYouth told the Big Issue that it has spent almost £30,000 since 2020 helping 100 young people facing homelessness after they were asked to pay rent upfront on social homes.

The charity said that the practice of asking young people on benefits for upfront rent happens “despite housing providers knowing full well that universal credit and housing benefit are paid in arrears”, describing the practice as a “national scandal”.

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EveryYouth partner charities across the UK have been stepping in to cover rent in advance payments for young people, who they say would have faced homelessness if they were unable to pay. The programme, funded by donations and accessed by nine UK youth homelessness charities, has helped to cover the cost of 95 upfront rent costs for social housing, costing a total of £28,518.18.

If young people are unable to pay their rent upfront, the charity says they could be accused of entering debt as soon as their tenancy starts. They also describe young people being “hounded with letters and calls, threatened with eviction, or denied a ‘secure’ tenancy after 12 months”.

Charlie*, 22, explained that she was living in supported accommodation for around three years after a family breakdown, and on the day she moved in, was asked to pay two weeks of rent upfront, worth £200.

“This would have been four weeks if EveryYouth’s RDS [Rent Deposit Scheme] had not agreed to pay the other two weeks, otherwise I would had to have paid four weeks on sign up and I would not have been able to move,” she said.

Charlie described being “incredibly stressed and unwell” due to the situation, explaining that the demand for rent payment top-ups “continued for around six months where they were calling me weekly to pressurise me to set up a payment plan.”

She added that she doesn’t trust the housing system, and feels like her tenancy is “always at risk” as a consequence.

‘I would have been homeless – it’s meant to be affordable housing’

Freya* from Northern Ireland said EveryYouth paid more than £420 for a single rent in advance payment when she moved into her property after leaving her foster care family and finishing school. The 19-year-old said she was in no position to pay the rent in advance costs, despite working four days a week and studying.

“I probably would have been homeless otherwise. I was thinking about going to a homeless shelter in Belfast,” she said. “It was really scary, I’m not gonna lie. I thought ‘How am I going to be pay this?’. It’s meant to be affordable housing. The Housing Executive should give young people a house which is affordable and not ask for rent in advance.”

Maeve*, 22, explained that being asked for rent in advance was “a nightmare and stressful”, and that she worried she would “lose her tenancy” due to the situation.

When she was offered a social housing property, she had been on the housing register for around a year, and that she was told she would have to be “four weeks ahead” with her rent, which she couldn’t afford on the basic level of universal credit.

“Universal credit’s housing element has always paid in arrears, and I felt like I was being failed by the system that was out of my control,” she said.

Housing transition manager Anne Johnson explained that young people are often not paid their housing benefit in time to pay the amount they owe and are being “hounded for money they do not have”. That’s becaause payment dates for universal credit are not aligned to dates when rent is due.

“Young people sign the tenancy and then get hounded through letters stating they are in rent arrears. The shock value unsettles them and they get constantly called,” she said. “It’s portrayed to be affordable housing when it’s not. A young person under 25, on universal credit and having to pay bills, there’s no money left for them to survive.”

EveryYouth is now urging social housing providers to end the practice of collecting rent in advance from young people in receipts of benefits.

“It’s a national scandal that we and other charities are subsidising government agencies unnecessarily,” said EveryYouth CEO Nicholas Connolly. “Where do these ‘rent in advance’ payments go and where are they stored? It’s a wasteful use of precious charity money, which is becoming harder and harder to raise in the economic climate.

“There’s a simple solution – young prospective tenants facing homelessness must not be required to make these payments or be marked as ‘in arrears’ so they become penalised for money they do not owe.”

*Names have been changed.

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