TWO homes that offer an “innovative” solution for young people set to leave care will be built in Devon as part of a collaboration with a major children’s charity.

The properties, which will be built in Exeter and Barnstaple, will each be able to accommodate four young people aged 16 or over who are set to leave their care provision.

The sites will also have “intensive wraparound support” to meet the needs of those in the accommodation.

Councillor Richard Jefferies (Liberal Democrat, Feniton and Honiton) said that for the young people these homes would be aimed at, they would provide “much-needed stability”.

“There is a pressing need for suitable accommodation for these young people, and this will help towards our sufficiency and meet our strategic priority of delivering innovative solutions to the problem,” he told Devon County Council’s cabinet.

“It comes with no capital cost as we are lucky to be working with Barnardos, who received a large donation for them. They have offered the money to build the homes and we are putting up the land to make the scheme work.

“There is no cost to us but lots of benefits to young people.”

The cabinet voted in favour of the scheme, which will see the Exeter home built at St Aldens Farm, in Alphington off Shillingford Lane, and then at The Garden at the east end of Silverhill Lodge, in Barnstaple’s Sowden Lane.

Donna Manson, the council’s chief executive, welcomed the “amazing work” that had helped support the scheme, but noted that various aspects of assistance needed to be in place to ensure the young people in these homes flourished.

She noted huge efforts by Devon’s district councils, social care staff, and county council officers to create a more joined-up system that supports those in their transition out of care.

“A key part of our discussions, though, has been the number of evictions, which is heartbreaking, as so many people have worked hard to get young people into accommodation but the number of evictions is astonishingly high,” she said.

“Partners are working well together but we have identified a gap in health and emotional support, and support for trauma and addiction.

“We have talked about how to start plugging that gap as soon as possible, as if we don’t provide vulnerable young people with key support in relation to health, in the right way and in their locality, that can lead to issues.”

Councillor Jacqi Hodgson (Green Party, Totnes and Dartington) said she had been a foster parent and had experienced the difficulties some young people feel when leaving care.

“They are desperate to get on their feet but are terribly vulnerable, so if units like these ones exist, where others in the same situation are also living, who have had similar experiences, and all of those young people have the support of a trusted adult , I think this could be a critical way forward,” she said.

Cllr Hodgson acknowledged that while the two homes would only provide eight spaces, it was “money well invested and we are lucky to have it in Devon”.

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter (Wearside and Topsham) agreed it was a “good idea”, noting that the council had been working on it a “long time”, including when he was the portfolio holder for children’s services.

Barnardos received an £18 million donation from the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust to build these gap homes in various locations across the country.

There are currently eight gap homes located in Essex, Renfrewshire and Stirling in Scotland and the donation will pay for the next 15 gap homes to be built in Lincolnshire, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Devon, with further locations for the remaining 30 houses currently being finalised.