Valuing People - Introduction

Home

Valuing People Now

About the Team

Resources

Regional Pages

Housing and Support
Where you live, who you live with and how you are supported are very important to everybody. Valuing People wants to make sure that people with learning disabilities have more choice and control over these things.

This page says what Valuing People says and gives you some useful links (at the bottom of the page).

What does Valuing People say?
The Government wants more people with learning disabilities and their carers to have a greater choice and control over where and how they live. There is evidence that:

People with learning disabilities can live successfully in many different kinds of housing. They can cope with a full range of tenures, including owning their own homes.
Most people with learning disabilities live with their families. The reason they have to leave is often because of an emergency like the illness or death of a carer.
More and more people are living with older carers, so we need to get better at planning for the future.

Studies have shown that there are good and bad points about every type of housing. Things like staff training and management style are as important the type of housing you live in. Valuing People says that no types of housing should be counted out.

What does Valuing People say will happen?

Learning Disability Partnership Boards wrote local housing strategies for people with learning disabilities by the end of February 2003).
Some of the money from the 'Learning Disability Development Fund' will be spent on 'supported living' approaches for people living with older carers
People who are still living in long-stay hospitals will be helped to move to other kinds of housing. Some of the Learning Disability Development Fund will also be used for this.

Housing Options have written a document with support from the Housing & Support Partnership and Valuing People Support Team to help adults with learning disabilities who want to move home.

Format 1	Format 2	What the information is
		Finding a Place to live pdf version (1.52 MB)

Format	What the information is
	Choice Based Lettings Guide Choice Based Lettings Report Choice Based Lettings Providers Guide

Report from Taskforce meeting about housing
In June 2004 the Learning Disability Taskforce held a seminar about housing. This was to look at housing issues and Valuing People, here are the papers and the final report from the day.

Format	Format 2	What the information is
		Housing Needs paper - this is the same paper that is on the Housing Plans page of this website
		Presentation from Eric Emerson about the issues today

Links to more help about housing

Format	What the information is
	Reach (Standards in Supported Living) provides a clear definition of Supported Living together with a set of standards, best practice targets that can be applied to any service that says 'We do supported living'. Visit the Paradigm website to find out more.
	Housing Options are a housing advisory service for people with learning disabilities. Their website includes guides and frequently asked questions explaining many aspects of the choices available to people, including capacity in relation to contracts, different kinds of home ownership etc.
	The Housing and Support Partnership provide advice, consultancy and research on all aspects of housing related to care and support.
	Golden Lane Housing have started a scheme where people can put their money into 'Bond Issues' and it will be used to buy houses for people with learning disabilities. Find out more from their website: www.glh.org.uk
	The Federation of Supported Living is a charity based in the North West. They help groups led by families to make plans so that people with learning disabilities can live the lives they choose. Their website is at www.supported-living.org
	Housing Today is a weekly magazine for everyone involved in social housing in the UK. It has articles and briefings, but you have to register to see some of them.
	SITRA is a voluntary agency and registered charity offering policy advice, training, consultancy and support services on issues connected with the provision of supported housing and care. Visit their website at www.sitra.org.uk
	HACT (The Housing Associations Charitable Trust) raises and distributes funds to explore, develop and test solutions to issues affecting groups that are marginalised from mainstream housing provision.

We help to improve services and achieve better outcomes for children and families, adults and older people including those with mental health problems, physical or learning disabilities or people in the criminal justice system. We work with and are funded by