This chapter uses the data from the original study to evaluate the three explanations for young people experiencing difficulties in independent tenancies that were discussed in Chapter One. The key difficulty considered is tenancy failure, but there is also consideration of a number of other long-term problems that were revealed by responses to second interview questions. These problems are being in trouble with the police in the early months of a tenancy, falling into debt for the first time, reduced optimism about independent living and experiencing a worsening relationship with parents.

Failings on the part of the individual

The effect of involvement in social problems

It was noted in Chapter One that explanations of difficulties that are based on young people's personal characteristics tend not to emphasise any antisocial or ‘deviant’ behaviour on their part, but instead take the less critical approach of focusing on their inexperience or immaturity. However, it was impossible to thoroughly examine the data without considering the effect of young people's experience of social problems – or, to take a less generous view, the extent to which they had been involved in problematic behaviour.

The findings left little doubt that 16- and 17-year-olds rehoused as homeless in Newcastle are more likely than other people of the same age to have experienced difficulties such as absence from school or trouble with the police. There was also clear evidence of a concentration of these problems among some members of the sample. The effect of these problems on long-term difficulties was quite substantial. Drug taking at the first interview increased the risk that a respondent's relationship with their parents would have deteriorated by the time of the second, as did high scores on the index of social problems. High scores on the index were also associated with worsening feelings about independent living and failure in tenancies.

The effect of the number of social problems on tenancy outcomes was also evident when considering young men separately. Similarly, accepting a tenancy with In Line increased the likelihood of tenancy success for both the sample as a whole and young men in particular.