Can I foster with a 1 bed flat?

Things are set up in the best interests of the child and personal space, for both of you, is one of the major things taken in to consideration

Maybe a newborn for a very short period of time (until they should go into a cot in their own room) but generally no!

The chances of getting a newborn just for a few months is very very slim.

I doubt you'd be approved in the first place without a second bedroom!

This sounds more about your want for a child, or to take care of a child. Than what is actually best for a child. A child that is very much in need, and has had their whole world upended most likely.

if you really want to foster. Could you move
to a two bed?

Wrong!! I spoke to someone about Fostering and not having a spare room an the woman pointed out babies under 12months can have a cot in your room.

Fostering to be a mother is absolutely the wrong attitude to go into it with - in many cases the goal of fostering is reunification or adopting.

How old are you? I would start looking into what you would need to do in order to afford to be a single mother via an official route (a.k.a sperm donor at legit clinic). Including changing jobs - retraining if needed, moving to a cheaper area, etc. Not sure how old you are but there may still be time to do all this.

You are centering yourself in the world of Fostering, this pov is as far removed from what a Foster child needs.

You can always apply op and I think you should, purely because the rejection will do you some good and perhaps open your eyes to what Foster carers should be.

We have many single carers. It's hard on your own though. You need a very robust support system as a single carer.

This is why you wouldn’t make be a foster carer. Fostering is not just about being a mother. It’s also not based on being a couple. You need to do some research. You sound a little naive if I’m being honest.

There isnt much call for respite care for babies, which is what you would be limited to.

It might be the case you still need two bedrooms, I can't remember what the family said the criteria was, it could be the same as becoming a regular foster carer but I do think it's worth asking the question.

A family member looked into fostering as a single person and was basically told she would be unable to keep her job. You are essentially being paid to be a foster parent to be on call for whatever is necessary, not use childcare during work hours etc. This isn't feasible for most people. Instead she looked at becoming registered for respite care. I don't know the ins and outs but the idea was to offer weekend care to children with such high needs that the parents needed a break every now and again. Having one bedroom and a pull out sofa bed in the living room for you might work? Could be something to look into.

I sit on fostering panels and one of the very few musts for a carer is that they have a spare room. The carer also needs to have a bedroom. We have had carers apply and move to suitable accommodation in order to be approved.

With all due respect OP, fostering and adoption aren’t really the default for women who haven’t met a partner. I’m sorry you aren’t where you want to be yet in life but children who need a home and family come from trauma- it really isn’t about your wants but their needs. They deserve the best chance in life and that does mean stability and space- on top of the qualities of the parent which I’m sure you have.

Although you’ve name-changed, op, I recognise you from your earlier thread. IIRC you didn’t seem to like the idea of going it alone as a parent because you didn’t feel you would have enough support/resources. Surely that would also be true, in fact more so, if you were a foster parent, as the children you would have placed with you would often have had trauma in their lives, and be exhibiting challenging behaviour? I imagine you would need a good support network to be able to cope and do your best by them. I’m not talking about a partner, necessarily, but the same sort of support network that would make life easier for any single parent.

Why not enquire op? Worse happens is that they say no.

This.

Not at all - you can be renting or in council house / housing association and still foster.

Ownership is not the important factor. The safety, security and positive support is what's important. That includes not putting already traumatised kids into inappropriate / not ideal situations like overcrowded homes.

The thing is, your post about how it’s “sad” that things are restricted to couples/the well off comes across as centred your own wishes.

Nobody who was looking at things through a lens of what’s best for a child would seriously suggest fostering in a one-bedroom property.

I would still approach your local authority or fostering agencies to enquire but be aware that it will be babies only

Just no

You may be able to foster babies and toddlers short to medium term. There is such a shortage of foster placements that even though many stay with family, there are still plenty of young children needing placements. However you would need to have or be willing to gain experience of looking after babies to be considered, as you'd be expected to already have the basics of parenting down (feeding, changing, naps, jabs etc) and be willing to take children to see their parents, which at that age could be five times a week, and possibly support them to move on to adopters.
I know someone who does this and often has two babies under 6 months at any one time, she's had consecutive placements for at least five years. She's super woman, though also bonkers! (Love her but no idea how she can do it, though I'm very glad she can she's amazing)

If you can't house a child, which is understandable given the resources required, you could look into being an independent visitor. This is when you are matched to a child in care and meet up with them regularly, take them out eg for food, cinema etc.