Supported living gives deafblind people real choices about how they live.

The supported living services come in all shapes and sizes – for people who can live with almost no support, and for people who need someone there 24 hours a day.

This form of living offers people more choice – about where to live, who to live with, and who provides the support.

What it means

Most people who use a supported living service rent or own their own home and have their own tenancy agreement. They don’t live in a property owned by the care provider – the landlord and the provider of support must be different.

This means the deafblind tenant would be able to change their service provider and choose another without risk of losing their home if they felt their current care provider was not doing a good job.

Deafblind people who have chosen supported living have highlighted the privacy it offers and the greater freedom to live independently.

Responsibilities

Sense provides supported living services to people who rent from their local council, from housing associations, from social landlords and from their parents.

In supported living, responsibility for the accommodation in which people live rests with them and / or their landlord. This is reflected in the way in which supported living services are regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

The CQC regulates and inspects care provision, but not the accommodation. They can only enter a property with the permission of the person whose home it is, again reflecting the increased responsibility of the individual.

REACH Standards

While there is no official definition of supported living, the REACH principles (external link) are widely accepted:

• I choose who I live with
• I choose where I live
• I have my own home
• I choose how I am supported
• I choose who supports me
• I get good support
• I choose my friends and relationships
• I choose how to be healthy and safe
• I choose how to take part in my community
• I have the same rights and responsibilities as other citizens
• I get help to make changes in my life.

Sense ensures that each supported living service is tailor-made. It’s designed to give each person the maximum amount of independence, and as many opportunities to learn and to develop as possible.

Financing supported living

Many people living in supported housing need help with funding.

Care and support is paid for by social services and / or health funding, increasingly in the form of a personal budget.

Where people are eligible, housing and everyday living costs are paid for by the welfare benefit system.

The level of funding received for care and support depends on an individual’s assessment, and their benefits on their eligibility to receive them. There is considerable local variation in allocated funding.

Further information

For more information about supported living and Sense services, contact our Information and Advice service.