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| Many homeless youths 'unrecorded' | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| More than 250,000 people under the age of 25 in England and Wales could be classified as homeless, a BBC investigation has concluded. | |
| Many left home as teenagers after rows with their parents and now live in poor quality hostels or on friends' sofas - and are not included in official data. | |
| Campaigners working with vulnerable teenagers have called for more family mediation services. | Campaigners working with vulnerable teenagers have called for more family mediation services. |
| Government measures help the under-18s who leave home find accommodation. | Government measures help the under-18s who leave home find accommodation. |
| Under the Homelessness Act, local authorities are obliged to provide them with advice and temporary housing. | |
| But according to charities working with the homeless, many youths never claim housing benefits or are excluded from accessing services in the first place. | |
| The 250,000 figure has been drawn from estimates supplied by charities dealing with the homeless, housing benefit numbers and local authority data. | |
| The housing and homelessness charity Shelter said it has long been calling on the government to abolish a restriction that caps the amount of housing benefit the under 25s can receive. | |
| "By ending this restriction, the government will be taking an important step towards addressing the problem of homelessness and giving young people fair access to decent, affordable housing and a brighter future," said Martha Hannan, head of campaigns at Shelter. | |
| Children's charity NCH said one in five homeless people are care leavers and called for more resources to be put into early intervention services to help children stay with their families. |