Supported Housing: Young People

Mr. Chaytor: How many and what proportion of young people under the age of 19 years are living in supported housing schemes; and what is the maximum weekly housing benefit payable to such people?
Mr. Ian Austin: Figures on the total number of young people living in supported housing schemes are not collected centrally. There is no universal definition of supported housing, the different data sources CLG collects contain information on different types of supported housing (therefore the two following data sets are not comparable). Of the 32,813 clients under the age of 19 years who accessed housing related support services funded by the Supporting People programme between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, 15,155 (46%.) entered supported housing. The Continuous Recording (CORE) of lettings provides information on the number of supported housing lettings in the social housing sector. Between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, CORE estimates that 15,200 new supported housing lettings were provided to households headed by a young person under 19. Of all under-19s receiving new social housing lets, 60% were provided with supported housing. Read the full answer on the Parliament website.