At Youth Concern our supported accommodation project – The Next Step (Merryville House) has space to provide a home for up to 9 young people aged 18-25 who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness and need low support accommodation.
The Homeless Link report very much reflects our resident’s experiences of the system, particularly how hard it is to access ‘Move on’, as the local authority housing allowance caps for under 35s don’t match the private rental costs of even a room in a shared house.  Access to social housing for our residents is also challenging, which leaves us with limited options for those who can’t return to the family home. 
We have seen a noticeable increase in referrals for young people who are also verified rough sleepers. For different reasons they can’t live with their family, and as a result, find themselves sleeping on the street or sofa surfing between distant relatives or friends. 
One young person was placed in emergency accommodation outside of Aylesbury, and as they were over 18, they found themselves sharing their placement with people who were using crack and getting intoxicated. They witnessed violent altercations and often felt too fearful to sleep at night. This had a negative impact on their mental health. Another young person who was sleeping on the streets describes the anxiety this causes and how their alcohol use increased to manage those feelings and fit in with the other rough sleepers. Every day was a battle. 
Living at The Next Step makes a difference to both of those young people’s lives. They have a safe roof over their heads, people who care what happens to them, and a structured environment that will help them gain the skills they will need to manage when they leave us. The longer a person remains homeless, especially when they’re rough sleeping, the harder it is to achieve a positive outcome. That’s why young people’s accommodation is so important and being able to help them at the earliest stage of things going wrong.