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← Housing help YOUNG PEOPLE & HOUSING

If you are young and do not have somewhere safe to stay, you still have options.

Being asked to leave, sofa surfing, sleeping somewhere temporary, leaving care or staying somewhere that feels unsafe can all be housing problems. You do not have to wait until the situation gets worse before asking for help.

Get Centrepoint advice General housing help
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1
Do not dismiss sofa surfing as “not homeless”

Temporary stays with friends or relatives can still mean you do not have a secure home. Tell an adviser exactly where you are sleeping and how long you can stay.

2
Contact your council early

If you have nowhere safe or stable to live, ask for the homelessness or housing-options team. If you are under 18, ask for children’s services as well.

3
Mention anything that increases risk

Tell them if you are leaving care, escaping abuse, pregnant, have health needs, are LGBTQ+ in a hostile home, or have a pet that affects what accommodation will work.

SPECIALIST SUPPORT

Organisations that understand this situation

These links go directly to specialist or official services. Their availability, coverage and eligibility can change, so use the latest information on their own websites.

Housing advice 16–25

Centrepoint

Housing advice, legal and financial guidance for young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in England.

Get support Housing advice

Shelter

Independent housing guidance if you have nowhere to stay, are being asked to leave or need to understand what a council should do.

Get support LGBTQ+ young people

akt

Specialist UK support for LGBTQ+ 16–25 year olds who are homeless, at risk or living in a hostile environment.

Get support LGBT+ ages 13–25

Galop

Support for LGBT+ young people who are experiencing or worried about abuse and may be homeless because of it.

Get support
OTHER SUPPORT

You can use more than one route to help

Housing problems often overlap with family, safety, identity, money and pet issues. These Paw Keys support pages are designed to connect rather than compete.

All housing help →
Domestic abuse & housing

If a partner, ex-partner or family member is making home unsafe.

→ LGBTQ+ housing & safety

If rejection, hostility or abuse is putting your housing at risk.

→ Forced marriage & family abuse

If family pressure, threats or forced marriage are making you unsafe.

→
IF IT IS ALL GETTING TOO MUCH

You can talk to someone as well.

Samaritans are available day or night if you need a confidential conversation about whatever you are dealing with. You do not have to be at a particular point of crisis to contact them.

Samaritans116 123Free to call
Contact Samaritans

Information checked August 2026. Paw Keys is not an emergency, domestic-abuse, safeguarding or homelessness service. We link to independent specialist organisations and official services; always check their latest information, coverage and eligibility.