Crisis youth housing for homeless teens
Explore our youth homelessness services
Supporting homeless youth
Find your
safe space
Youth housing that empowers
Connected and in control
What is Bunyap House
Bunyap is youth housing designed to be a safe space for homeless youth who find themselves without a safe place to stay. It’s also about growing as a person, and connecting you to the support you need to move forward.
You’ll be invited to build your life skills and share house responsibilities, like taking part in rostered cooking nights. You may be able to access other services, like alcohol and other drugs support for homeless teens, delivered by our very own Wellbeing Facilitator.
Our vision
Our youth homelessness services hope to reduce your risk of homelessness by supporting, listening,. educating, and connecting. We do this by reducing your housing insecurity and developing skills that help you make good decisions for both now and your future.
It’s all part of our broader mission to support people experiencing hardship and disadvantage to live the life they choose to live. Your safety is our number one priority – we’re here to understand your situation, so you feel comfortable to push forward.
Are we the right fit?
If a room opens up, we’ll assess your situation to make sure you’re the
right fit for our youth housing. There are a few boxes to tick – most you
can control by opening yourself up to the idea that with the right support,
you can overcome what’s holding you back.
How old are you?
You need to be aged between 15 and 19 (under 16s need a parent, guardian, or child protection worker to support when meeting).
Can you help us?
You need to be willing to share your story so we can get to know you, and understand how we can best support you to secure long term housing.
What’s stopping you?
You need to be willing to address personal barriers to gaining youth housing (while planning to transition into something more stable).
Can you cooperate?
You need to be willing to work with other organisations that provide support for things like mental health, alcohol and other drugs.
Can you support yourself?
You need to be aware young people are expected to pay rent. If you don’t have a regular source of income, we can support you.
Can you live on you own?
You need to be willing to develop independent living skills in our youth housing like cooking, cleaning, laundry, using public transport.
Are you ok with our living agreement?
You need to accept and abide by the terms of the Licence to Occupy that act as a legal agreement for our youth housing.
Are you ready to live with others?
You need to be willing and able to live communally within our youth housing by embracing a ‘shared living’ environment.
Bunyap House is designed for you to enjoy the time we have together, with opportunities to relax, socialise and unwind. But it’s also an opportunity to build care and trust between the people you share your space with, grow your life skills through accessing youth homelessness services, and make the positive changes needed in your life to build your self-belief when you leave.
Budgeting skills will prepare you for getting on top of your spending and saving habits, cooking for your roommates and cleaning shared spaces help you take ownership of positive habits, while weekly house meetings allow you to raise issues and create a stable homelife.
✔️Access community or private housing, or apply for private rentals (including advocating on your behalf with real estate agencies)
✔️Sort out your financial situation (e.g. budgeting, clearing debt, rent arrears)
✔️Strengthen your family relationships (e.g. through our Reconnect program)
✔️Engage with education and training opportunities and gain employment
✔️Access our services (e.g. financial counselling, tenancy support), and services from other providers (e.g. mental health, physical health, alcohol and other drugs).
This is your safe space
If you find yourself in an unexpected youth homelessness crisis, your safety comes first. Maybe you’re facing your first night of rough sleeping, and how scary that is. Maybe you’ve already experienced it before and don’t want to go through it again. Or maybe you’re a friend who knows someone in need, and read somewhere that Bunyap House’s youth housing can help.
Whatever brings you to us, our goal is to do everything we can to catch you or your friend before they experience youth homelessness again. As one of the only teams that work in crisis Youth Homelessness Services for 15-19-year-olds in the South West, we’re here to do everything we can to help.