Gap Homes

A Gap Home is a purpose-built house for young people leaving local authority care. Living in a Gap Home means you can live independently but have access to consistent wraparound support from local Barnardo’s services.

They are self-contained homes which provide a safe and sustainable environment where young people like you can learn skills, such as cooking and budgeting, to help you bridge the gap between care and independent living.  

The young people we support tell us that living in a Gap Home has provided them with a more certain future. 

Jenny*, lived in a Gap Home in Scotland for just over a year with her newborn baby. She was 19 and living in a residential unit when she became pregnant so it was arranged for her to move into a Barnardo’s Gap Home. 

“It was a big change, and I was scared. But living there with the support I had wasn’t a massive jump to go from being surrounded by people, to suddenly living on your own and everything that comes with that. It was a nice stepping stone.

“As well as my worker that came to help me every day, there was different support I could access at different stages depending on what I needed, including parenting support and counselling when I was struggling. I got help from Barnardo’s with learning how to pay bills and managing all those other things to run your own home.” 

Paul*, also benefited from the support of his project worker. He had multiple foster homes in different parts of Scotland throughout his childhood. His last placement broke down, so he was moved into a homeless hostel. It wasn’t a suitable environment, and his social worker referred him to us, and he was able to move into a Gap Home.

“I didn’t know how to run my own flat. I wasn’t sure how to pay for bills or the best way to cook for myself. One of the useful things my project worker did was help write a list of all my potential outgoings and costs for when I have a place of my own.  

“When I’m feeling low, I know my project worker is there to give me encouragement and advice. I’ve been able to meet other young people supported by Barnardo’s through group activities such as cooking."

Living in a Gap Home has helped both Jenny and Paul get ready for the next stage of their lives.

Jenny has now moved out of the Gap Home into her own flat and is studying to get a care qualification.

“I feel like I’ve come a long way. I’m confident in making decisions about our future, which is something I never imagined having the confidence to do just a couple of years ago.” 
Jenny

Paul is also studying and thinking about the future.

“Gap Homes helps you develop a plan with goals that you can aim for. I’m currently studying at college. My plan is to begin a career in the airline industry as cabin crew. I like meeting new people and would like to eventually travel the world.  

“Because my course is full-time, I’m not able to work and there have been times when I have run low on money. Through Barnardo’s I was also able to get a laptop which has been vital for my studying.”      

Moving out for the first time is a learning curve for any young person. But we know it’s even harder if you’re a young person leaving care. 

If you’re under-18 and in local authority care you may be being fostered or living in residential care such as a children’s home, residential school or a secure unit. The duty for local authorities to provide accommodation varies depending on where you live and how old you are. While young people can leave care around 18 years, many start the transition to independent living as young as 16 or 17-years-old.

Renting in the private sector can be hard for everyone, but evidence shows young people leaving care face additional challenges. A survey by the charity Centrepoint found that nearly one in 10 (13%) young people leaving care had been unable to access accommodation because the landlord was unwilling to accommodate them (Centre point, 2017). If they are eventually offered a place to live (whether that's council housing or a private let) it can often be a ‘hard to let’ property in an undesirable location. These properties are often cold, damp, expensive to run, and difficult to heat. It also might be unfurnished with no carpets or furniture and somehow, they need to find money to buy these things.

We also know that if you’re a young person leaving care you may not have the same support network as your peers. There might not be a family home to return to if things go wrong, or be someone to call if you’re struggling to fix a problem. 

The result of all these things is that one in three care-experienced young people become homeless in the first two years after they leave care (APPG for Ending Homelessness, 2017). We’re working hard to change this, and that’s why we created Gap Homes, a project that offers homely, affordable housing for young people leaving care. They offer somewhere you can call home and provide additional support you might need, on-site. Young people typically live in a Gap Home for up to two years giving them a stepping stone from care, to living independently.

Elizabeth McShane, our Gap Homes: UK Head of Business explains, “Gap Homes are high-quality houses that are easy to manage, have low energy costs and allow young people to be visible in their communities. They provide a safe and stable foundation and a sense of belonging from which young people leaving care can learn and grow. A Gap Home makes the journey from care to living a more independent life smoother, by removing the worry and overwhelm associated with poor quality accommodation, allowing them to concentrate on themselves and what they do want to do with their lives”

At the moment we have Gap homes in Renfrewshire and Stirling in Scotland, and Essex in England. We hope local authorities and other organisations across the country will work with us to replicate the model so more Gap Homes can be built and available to offer young people the support they need.

We’d like to give a special thank you to the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust who has given us £18 million, the largest ever donation in our history. We will use this money to build 50 new Gap Homes, some will be in Lincolnshire, Birmingham and Glasgow, with other locations being finalised. The money will also provide an ongoing fund to support vital services in the North of England.  

We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Apollo Blinds, BEKO, CBRE, IKEA, LandAid, Saint Gobain and Sigma Capital who have helped us build our existing houses and turn them in to homes.    

*Names have been changed to respect the privacy of the young people.