About Mencap's supported living services
People take choosing where to live and who to live with for granted – we don’t, we understand that having these choices makes you feel in control of your life.
We support people with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
to live how and where they choose in our
supported living
Supported living is when you live in your own home with support from staff. People who live in supported living have a tenancy agreement.
services.
Mencap supported living services
Supported living accommodation: Homes to meet your needs
We work together with social and private landlords to find a home that meets your needs. Some of our supported living services are purpose-built or have been adapted and use technology that helps people to live as independently as possible.
For many people who want to live independently, getting the right care and support is just as important as finding the right home.
Supported living by Mencap
We have been supporting people for years, so we know what quality support looks like.
Our services meet or exceed the standards set by the Care Quality Commission and the Social Services Inspectorate Wales.
We also have our own quality standards, 'What Matters Most' which help us support people in the best possible way. These standards have been developed to cover the things that people have told us are important to them.
We have supported many people to move from residential care or family homes into their own place or a house shared with friends.
Latest supported living room vacancies
Take a look at our list of current room vacancies throughout in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and find out how you can contact us to express your interest.
Personal support by Mencap
We can provide personal support to help you with things like getting dressed. We can also help you around the home, such as cooking a meal. And if you would like support to go out in the community A community is the people and places in an area. or to do your favourite thing, we can help you to with that too.
Support is available from a couple of hours a week to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Read our housing report
Take a look at our report based on research Research is a way of finding out information which could come from books, or asking people what they think. around Specialised Supported Housing (SSH) for people with a learning disability. We've created it to better understand the scale, nature and cost of SSH, draw on examples of good practice and to provide evidence to inform the debate around funding for supported housing in the future. The report presents findings from research carried out by Housing LIN (Learning and Inclusion Network) into the scope and scale of the SSH sector.
There are different forms of supported living housing; people can either live by themselves with support or share an ordinary or purpose built home with a small number of other disabled people. Each person normally has their own bedroom.
The rest of the property is communal space and normally this will include at least a lounge, kitchen and dining area. There may be additional facilities like a sensory room, laundry, staff sleep-in room and some schemes will for example have ‘en suite’ bathrooms rather than a shared bathroom.
There will be an established and funded level of staff support, from visiting to 24-hour presence. Staff may or may not also live in the group home. Some supported housing provision is based purely on support with no personal care required.
People have their own individual tenancies, and if they don’t work, Housing Benefit will normally cover the costs of their rent. There may also be other funding arrangements in place. Tenants will also have access to a range of other benefits and will be able to choose how they spend them.
Supported living is when people live in their own home with staff support (usually in rented accommodation which has been identified for their needs along with a care package). This could include 24/7 support.
Personal support, sometimes called community support, is when people get regular visits from
support workers
Support workers are people who are paid to give care and support to people who need it.
in their own home but they don't necessarily need someone there all the time. For example someone might have their own flat, or still live with family, and still get personal support.
Supported housing is a specialist housing provision for people with a range of needs, including people with a learning disability.
Anyone with a learning disability wanting to live in supported housing will normally have been assessed by their local
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
department as needing this form of housing arrangement.
Local authorities A local authority is another name for your local council. It is a group of people whose job is to look after the area where you live. Local authorities means more than one local authority. will often have some preferred providers of supported housing, but individuals can also contact providers directly to see whether they can help.
Our 'Changing accommodation' page provides information about what you can do to support an adult relative or friend with a learning disability who wants, or needs, to move from their current accommodation.
When it comes to supporting people to live the best lives possible Mencap know that we are better together with the families and friends of the people we support. This is why we created our 'Better Together' pack.
The pack was developed for families of people we support and people who may be considering our services in future. It provides information about Mencap and our services; including how we work with the people we support, and the importance of building and maintaining strong
relationships
Relationships are about the people in your life. You might have different types of relationships like friendships, family relationships, or a boyfriend or girlfriend.
with their family and friends.