At Your Own Place we work with people of all ages and many backgrounds. What they have in common is a risk of homelessness. This can be as simple as having been homeless before, or something much more nuanced that doesn’t have a label and isn’t perceived or counted.
If you’re familiar with Your Own Place you might think we work with young people. You can be forgiven because this is where we started out and with good reason. Youth (under 35) and eviction from the private rented sector are still the biggest determinants of homelessness. So are leaving care, being in custody, having a mental health need and if you see today’s data on private sector rents making up an average of 28% of people’s incomes, you’ll understand why it tends to be young people and those on a low income (as those groups are more likely to be in private rented homes).
At Your Own Place, we talk a lot about the dual safety nets. Those safety nets that many of us never even think about. Either you’re lucky enough to always have a bit of spare cash in the bank to bail yourself out of sticky situations and/or you have a family member who can always help, including when you get divorced and need somewhere to stay. Having someone at the end of the phone with support, a hug, their own experiences of going through life’s hardships and coming out the other side or just lending you a tenner for electricity is not to be underestimated in the extent to which this can prop people up when things get tough.
For people who are in supported accommodation, leaving care, leaving custody or even leaving the army, these are rocky times to navigate and now hugely expensive. Without the knowledge, confidence, skill and resilience to navigate your money and housing options, thing can go wrong quickly and badly.
So we’re chuffed to bits that our award-winning Pre-tenancy workshops continue to reach people without a safety net, without the support many of us take for granted and provides invaluable knowledge and confidence to people as they get their home – to keep their home.
