Faq

Residential care homes are owned and managed by public, private sector or charitable bodies. They are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Care Standards Act 2000 and are regularly inspected. Providers of registered care homes since April 2015 also need to publicly provide information about their CQC rating.  Staff are required to be trained to a certain level and staffing ratios are laid down.

 

You can read all of the Care Quality Commission reports for Mencap’s services here.

The Adult Social Care department of the local authority undertakes an assessment of needs under the Care Act 2014 and places the individual in a suitable home when there is a vacancy. If placed by a local authority following an assessment in line with the national eligibility criteria, the authority will normally fund the place with the home provider. Better run homes will make some effort to ensure the person being placed is compatible with existing residents and vice versa, however there is always some pressure to fill empty rooms.

 

Self-funders or those with insurance settlements may find a place themselves.

The pros of residential care is that it:

• is regulated by CQC which gives some guarantee of quality in both building and services
• has meals provided and included in price
• includes activities that may be arranged on or off site
• has other people to befriend and share social activities with
• is an inclusive fee for accommodation, care and support and all household expenses – clear and simple
• can be purpose designed for disabled people and may include additional facilities such as a sensory room
• is seen as a secure environment.

The cons of residential care is that:

• it is an institutional setting; individuals will often have to do things at the same time as other residents
• you may have limited amount of your own spending money (personal expenses allowance/ DLA or PIP mobility component) 
• residents have little choice over who they live with
• some residents have limited living space and private space
• care provider and housing provider are one and the same – a good care provider may not be good at property management and maintenance and vice versa
• there are limits personal choice and control, little say over who live with, who staff are, life style
• there is no security of tenure
• there is limited choice over who is the care provider.

There are different forms of supported 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 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 department as needing this form of housing arrangement.

 

Local authorities will often have some preferred providers of supported housing, but individuals can also contact providers directly to see whether they can help. 

The pros of supported housing are that:

• it is more personal, less institutional
• residents have some say over who provides care, as care provider is not the same as the landlord
• residents also have a say as to how the building is run and who is offered a room when a room becomes available in the home
• rules are made by the residents, not the provider
• building and services can be designed to meet individual needs
• tenants have their own tenancy and with that some security of tenure and a certain level of control over their property
• tenants have access to a range of benefits and can spend the money as they wish (as long as they pay their rent)

 

The cons of supported housing is that there is an absence of individual inspections and monitoring of service by Care Quality Commission.

There are a number of ways people with a learning disability can also own a home. For example, people can enter a shared ownership agreement, either with investment from the family, help to buy or buy a home together with a number of other people.

 

They can also buy a home outright, should they have an inheritance or other money to do this with.

 

There are different types of home ownership, which are explained in the questions and answers below. 

Shared ownership normally means that rather than buying 100% of a home, the person buying the home buys a percentage of it. This can range from 25% to 75% of the home. The other part of the home is then normally owned by a housing association/ registered provider or other people. This is a tried and tested route for people with a learning disability to access home ownership.

If you buy part of a home, you are still legally considered the owner and have the benefits, as well as responsibilities, that come with that. However, there are ways of making sure that particularly the responsibilities of homeownership are minimised for disabled people to ensure that they are not suddenly faced with high maintenance costs. For example, the lease can be drawn so it places repair and maintenance responsibilities on the landlord.

Shared ownership is also known as ‘part-buy’, ‘part-rent’. The part that you don’t own, and which is owned by the housing association, is rented to the individual who owns the other part of the property. In the case of a disabled person, the part that is rented will, provided the individual qualifies, be eligible for Housing Benefit.

In most cases, shared-ownership properties are developed and sold by housing associations. There are also a number of shared ownership programmes promoted and financed by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The most relevant programme for people with a learning disability is the ‘Home Ownership for People with a Learning Disability’ programme. You may also be able to buy an existing shared-ownership property. There are also a small number of housing associations that develop and have shared ownership homes outside the HCA rules.

To find out more try contacting for example, Advance Housing or Progress Care, who are the leading organisations in this area. 

The pros of shared ownership are that it:

• offers all of the advantages of ownership for a disabled person at a fraction of the cost
• may be a route for a family who cannot afford to buy a property outright for a relative, but who nevertheless would like them to have all the advantages and security of owning a home
• can be combined with Support for Mortgage Interest to also make owning a suitable house possible without any family contribution
• provides security of tenure.

The cons of shared ownership are that:

• it is more complex than outright ownership
• leases may have restrictions, for example on sub-letting
• as with buying any property there are legal, survey and other expenses of buying to be met
• support for Mortgage Interest is not a guaranteed source of income and can be subject to change. It is important that further advice is taken from your benefit advisor and/or financial advisor.
• if the lease is not drawn up properly, repair and maintenance cost may fall on the individual, which may be difficult for them to manage, both financially or physically. 

A person may have inherited a lump sum and wants to put this into buying a place to live in.

 

This can be done via the shared ownership route.

 

For example, if a bungalow they have seen is £210,000 and the person has just inherited £70,000, they could buy a 30% share of the property, with the other part of the property being owned by a housing association.