Supported Accommodation and Supported Living · London
Support Living provides accommodation with support for young people and adults who are not able to sustain a tenancy unaided. Our provision is built on assessed levels of support, consistency of staffing and honest reporting to the professionals who place with us.
Support delivered
3 hours weekly to 24 hour waking cover
Accommodation on its own does not sustain a placement. What sustains it is the support wrapped around it, the consistency of the people delivering it, and an honest assessment of what a person can manage this week rather than what the referral says they could manage last year.
About Us
Support Living delivers supported accommodation and supported living across London and the surrounding counties, working with local authority commissioners, leaving care teams, community mental health teams and adult social care.
Our practice begins from the position that a placement fails long before the eviction notice. It fails at the point where support hours no longer match need, where staffing changes faster than a person can form a relationship, or where a concern is recorded but not communicated. Our provision is structured to address each of those failure points directly.
We operate a small portfolio and a settled staff team, which allows the person who assesses a referral to remain accountable for it. Commissioners and social workers receive direct answers and timely decisions without escalation through intermediaries.
Support hours are set by assessment against need and reviewed on a defined cycle. Where need reduces we say so, and the package reduces with it.
All support staff hold enhanced DBS clearance, undertake safeguarding training and operate under a clear reporting structure to our designated safeguarding lead.
Keywork notes, incidents and progress against the support plan are recorded contemporaneously and shared with the placing authority on an agreed schedule.
Levels of Support
Support is commissioned in hours, not in bedrooms. The scale below sets out the levels we deliver, what each one covers and the circumstances in which it is appropriate. Every placement is assessed against this scale before a price is quoted.
From 3 hours weekly
Scheduled visiting support to a person living in their own tenancy, covering benefits, appointments, correspondence, budgeting and tenancy obligations.
Sustaining an existing tenancy, or consolidating after move-on.
7 – 14 hours weekly
Named keyworker with a structured weekly session, daily welfare contact and accompanied attendance at appointments, education and employment.
Young people preparing for independence, and adults with stable but ongoing need.
08:00 – 22:00 staffed
Staff present in the building throughout the day and evening, supporting meals, medication prompting, occupation of time and the management of visitors and boundaries.
Placements where risk concentrates in unstructured daytime hours.
24 hours, awake overnight
Continuous staffing with a waking member of staff overnight, hourly welfare checks where the support plan requires them and a documented response to night-time incidents.
Elevated risk of self-harm, exploitation, absconding or night-time crisis.
Commissioned per assessment
Two members of staff on shift, sole-occupancy accommodation where indicated, and a support plan agreed jointly with the placing authority and any clinical team involved.
Step-down from hospital or secure settings, and placements that have broken down elsewhere.
Levels may be combined within a single property and adjusted mid-placement by agreement. A person is not required to move in order to move down the scale.
Our Services
Our services are delivered under contract to local authorities, integrated care boards and voluntary sector partners, and are available on spot, block and framework arrangements.
Accommodation with support for young people aged sixteen to twenty-five, including care leavers and young people supported under section 20. Provision covers education and training engagement, budgeting, cooking, tenancy readiness and a structured pathway towards independent living.
Aligned to the pathway plan and reported against it.
Longer-term supported living for adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults, delivered in shared houses and self-contained flats. Support is planned around routine, predictability and communication preference, with environments adjusted to sensory need.
Tenancy held by the individual, with support delivered separately.
Accommodation for adults with enduring mental health needs, including step-down from inpatient settings. We work alongside community mental health teams, care coordinators and clinical staff, and structure support around relapse indicators identified in the care plan.
Joint working agreed in writing at the point of placement.
Responsive capacity for placement breakdown, hospital discharge, court disposal and out of hours presentations. Where a bed is available we confirm within the working day and complete assessment alongside the placement rather than ahead of it.
Out of hours placement line available to commissioners.
Visiting support to people living in their own tenancies, whether following move-on from our provision or by direct referral. Delivered in blocks of assessed hours, with the same reporting standard applied as to residential provision.
Commissioned by the hour, reviewed by the quarter.
Supply of vetted support workers, waking night staff and team leaders to providers and local authorities experiencing shortfall. All staff supplied hold enhanced DBS clearance, complete our induction and are placed with a documented skills profile.
Ad hoc shifts, block bookings and temporary to permanent.
Our Accommodation
Our properties are residential homes in residential areas, chosen for proximity to transport, education and health provision rather than for the availability of cheap stock. Each is maintained to a documented standard and inspected on a fixed cycle.
3 – 5 bedrooms
Single occupancy bedrooms with shared kitchen, living and bathroom facilities. Matching is undertaken before a vacancy is offered, and a placement is declined where the mix would be unsafe for an existing resident.
Own front door
Independent living space with its own kitchen and bathroom, within a building that retains staff presence. Appropriate where communal living is a barrier but full independence is premature.
Single resident
A whole property allocated to one person, used where risk to or from others makes shared living inappropriate, and where enhanced staffing is commissioned alongside.
Gas safety, electrical installation and fire risk assessment certificates held current and available on request
Furnished to a specified standard with an inventory issued at the start of each placement
Planned maintenance cycle with a documented response time for reactive repairs
Licensing obtained where the property falls within a selective or additional licensing scheme
Referrals
The process below is the one we follow for every placement. Commissioners receive a written outcome at each stage, and we decline referrals we cannot meet rather than accepting them and managing the consequences afterwards.
Stage 01
We receive the referral with the risk assessment and any care, pathway or support plan attached. Screening is completed against current vacancies, the existing resident mix and the level of support the person requires. Where we cannot meet the need we say so, in writing, with the reason stated.
Stage 02
An assessment is completed with the person and the referring professional, establishing the support level, the hours proposed and the outcomes to be worked towards. A written support plan and a fixed weekly cost are issued before any commitment is sought.
Stage 03
The person visits the property and meets the staff team before the placement begins wherever circumstances allow. Where an emergency placement makes this impossible, the introduction takes place within the first forty-eight hours.
Stage 04
Keywork begins in the first week. Progress against the support plan is reported to the placing authority on the agreed schedule, and any material change in risk is reported at the point it occurs rather than at the next review.
Stage 05
Move-on is planned from the beginning of the placement, not from the point at which it is due. We support tenancy applications, viewings and the practical business of moving, and offer floating support afterwards where it is commissioned.
Coverage
We accept referrals from across Greater London and the neighbouring counties, and work regularly with authorities placing out of borough where local provision is unavailable or where distance from an area is itself a protective factor.
Where a referral falls outside our established area we will assess it on its merits rather than declining on the basis of postcode alone.
Careers
We recruit support workers, waking night staff and team leaders for permanent posts on established rotas, and maintain a bank for staffing supplied to partner organisations.
The attributes we recruit for are patience, consistency and the willingness to record what happened accurately, including when it did not go well. Training, clearances and qualifications can be arranged for the right candidate; temperament cannot be taught and is assessed carefully at interview.
Successful applicants can expect a fixed rota rather than variable daily assignment, a properly resourced handover, supervision on a defined cycle and prompt payment.
Delivering keywork sessions and daily support on a consistent rota, with training provided in safeguarding, first aid, medication and de-escalation.
Overnight cover in staffed provision, responsible for welfare checks, incident response and an accurate written handover to the morning team.
Holding responsibility for a property, the staff rota, the quality of recording and the working relationship with the placing authority.
Send the referral with the risk assessment attached, or tell us the level of support required and the area. We will confirm whether we can meet the need, and at what cost, within the working day.
Contact
Please indicate the level of support required, the area and the date needed. Referrals from commissioners receive a written outcome the same working day wherever a decision can properly be made.
Referrals accepted Monday to Friday, 09:00 – 18:00
Out of hours placement line for commissioners, 24 hours