Renting Rights support service for 18-25 year olds

Renting Rights is a specialist support service provided by Housing Rights to assist young people aged 18-25 who are in housing need. Bethany Telford, our Renting Rights adviser has been helping young people to access or sustain their accommodation. Below we take a look at how she has helped her clients.

Mark, aged 25 – asked to leave his home due to antisocial behaviour

Bethany made contact with Mark after he called through to the Housing Rights helpline. He had been issued with a notice seeking possession for antisocial behaviour from his Housing Association and didn’t know what his next steps were.

Bethany liaised with the Housing Association and discovered Mark had never signed an Acceptable Behaviour Contract. She advocated on his behalf, and accompanied Mark to the Housing Association where he signed the contract. Bethany recognised that Mark was struggling with mental health and drug misuse and this was affecting his ability to sustain a tenancy. Bethany made a referral to a floating support agency who now help Mark attend appointments and engage with other support agencies.

Since Bethany helped Mark, he has continued to live in his Housing Association home with no further incidents of antisocial behaviour.

Jenny, aged 22 – a young mother in unsuitable accommodation

Jenny is 22, with 2 young children and a third on the way when she made contact with Bethany. She was living in a ground floor Housing Executive accommodation that had damp and Silverfish.

Jenny felt she was stuck in the unsuitable property and was worried about the impact it was having on her children. They had already been prescribed inhalers from their GP due to the damp in the property. When Jenny made contact with us, Bethany was able to advocate on Jenny's behalf to her housing officer. Bethany requested that Jenny was awarded management transfer status given that the property required ‘major repairs or improvements’. The status was granted and within 8 weeks she was rehoused permanently.

Since Bethany helped Jenny, she has had her third child and the family are enjoying the new arrival in their new home.

Vanessa, aged 19 – living at home which was unsuitable for her mental health

Vanessa contacted our helpline as living with her parents wasn't suitable for her due to her mental health. Bethany took on the case and explained the process of presenting as homeless, and guided Vanessa in gathering all the relevant evidence from her GP's, social worker, support workers and so on. We provided a letter in support of Vanessa's homeless application to the NIHE with reference to the legislation and the evidence.

As a result she was awarded Full Duty Applicant status which should help her move out in the future.

What else can Renting Rights assist with?

Renting Rights offers young people

• Advice and information
• Casework and advocacy
• Mediation

Accessing the Service

How to access the service

• Call our dedicated young person adviser on 028 90267917
• Email [email protected]
• What's app on 07861442311