County council to act as guarantor for care leavers when renting

Kent County Council is set to operate a pilot scheme under which it would act as guarantor for care leavers who rent a home and pay a landlord.

The issue was raised by the county’s Young Adult Council last year and initially ruled out on legal grounds.

Kent’s 18-plus Care Leavers Service already offered care leavers a rent deposit and one month’s rent in advance, so the new guarantee would be against unpaid rent rather than the initial set up of a tenancy.

But Roger Gough, cabinet member for children, young people and education brought a report last week to the corporate parenting panel, which said fresh advice showed it was possible for the council to provide this service.

It said research by the homelessness charity had noted that care leavers need sufficient money to pay rent and a deposit and local authorities should act as guarantors, since care leavers would often not have family members to do this.

Cllr Gough’s report said: “There is no evidence of a prohibition on a local authority acting as a guarantor”, since the Localism Act 2011 allowed a local authority to do anything that individuals may generally do.

Under the proposed new service, Kent would enter an agreement with a landlord and another with the care leaver.

Kent would have the financial risk if the care leaver defaulted on their tenancy or caused damage to a property, and the report noted that it would be necessary to further consider the financial risk particularly with the Children and Social Work Act 2017 meaning Kent might extend the scheme until care leavers were aged 25.