Preparing for independent living
Your journey towards moving on to independent living accommodation will start with your personalised Pathway Plan. This will outline your pathway to independent living through your own views, with advice and guidance from your social worker and Personal Advisor. Your existing accommodation and future accommodation plans will be reviewed with you at your pathway meeting every 6 months.
Social housing in Kirklees
Choose 'n' move is the partnership of local authority and housing associations that provides social housing in Kirklees. You must be registered with Choose 'n' Move to be eligible to bid for suitable and appropriate properties. Your social worker and Personal Advisor can assist you from the age of 18 with the completion of the Choose 'n' Move application.
Tenancy-ready workshop
You will be expected to complete a Tenancy-ready Workshop which lasts about 90 minutes, to establish that you are tenancy-ready before you can be given a priority banding.
The banding system will allocate you to the appropriate band of housing need in accordance with your housing requirements. As a care-experienced young person you will be given priority banding for council housing and are able to begin bidding on properties 3 months before you turn 18.
Costs of running a home
There will be costs of running a home, which you need to make sure you can afford before taking up a tenancy.
Rent and service charges
Paying your rent is a priority. If renting privately, this can be altered depending on where you live. If renting from a council or housing association, the rent may be cheaper, but social housing is for those in most housing need and can be in short supply in some areas. You may be eligible to get help with some or all of your rent if you are on a low income or claiming benefits.
Service charges are usually paid if you live in a block of flats. They cover the costs of maintaining the shared areas and facilities.
Council tax
This is collected by your local council and used to pay for services such as policing and rubbish collection. The amount you pay depends on which band you are in.
You would normally pay your annual Council Tax charge over 10 months of the year.
Kirklees' commitment to care leavers means that you will be exempt from paying Council Tax even if you live out of area until you are 25 years old.
Other things you must pay for
Water can be paid either through water rates or by having a water meter. Some people have the same company for water and sewerage services, and some have separate companies.
You can find out who supplies your water at Water UK .
If you need support with your water bill, please see Yorkshire Water: Help paying your bill .
You can have the same supplier for gas and electricity or different suppliers. The average monthly cost depends on the size of the property and the number of people living there.
You may save money by having the same supplier and paying by direct debit.
It's a good idea to use comnparison sites to find the best deals.
The law says you need to be covered by a TV Licence to:
- Watch or record programmes as they're being shown on TV, on any channel.
- Watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service (such as ITV Hub, All 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, Sky Go).
- Download or watch any BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer.
This applies to any device you use, including a TV, desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, games console, digital box or DVD/VHS recorder.
You only need one TV Licence per household, even if you use more than one of the devices listed above.
A TV Licence can be spread over monthly payments by direct debt. Contact TV Licensing .
In the first year your Personal Advisor will support you to fund and arrange your TV licence.
Help with paying your rent and Universal Credit
If you are on a low income, you may be able to get help with paying some or all of your rent.
If you are a council or housing association tenant, the housing element of your Universal Credit is paid direct to your landlord. If you are a private rented tenant, local housing allowance is paid direct to you which you must then pass onto your landlord. It is always better to get it paid direct to the landlord.
Once you are on Universal Credit, you will need to check your online account to see what you have to do next. It's very important that you do this.
You can find out more information on the government website: Universal Credit
More information
Financial support and debt advice gives guidance on benefits, council tax and other support and advice.
