Supported lodgings

It protects anyone who is leaving a local council's care or who is at risk of homelessness. By welcoming a young person into your home, you can provide emotional support and help them learn the everyday, practical skills they will need for adult life.

All you need is a spare room in your safe and supportive family home and the time to teach simple skills to a young person.

Everybody is different, but they may need help with:

• getting into education, training or work
• managing money
• learning to cook and do housework
• attending appointments
• building confidence
• finding a home

What qualities do you need?

You need to

• provide stability, emotional support and a nurturing environment to inspire a young person
• make time for a young person when they need it and help them feel safe
• be calm in a crisis, patient, trustworthy and reliable
• be non-judgmental and understanding
• create and build a mutually respectful relationship
• create a positive and fun environment
• encourage the young person to live independently
• provide opportunities for the young person to learn practical skills such as cooking, cleaning, shopping and learning to manage a budget
• provide support to help the young person develop social skills and integrate into their community

Who can be a supported lodgings carer?

Supported lodgings providers do not need any special qualifications, but you need to:

• be aged 21 or over with no upper age limit
• have a spare room
• go through a few initial checks before you are assessed
• have some experience of caring for young people

We will consider supported lodgings providers who are:

• of any sexual orientation or gender identity
• married, single, in a civil partnership, living with a partner, divorced or widowed
• a home-owner or renting
• of any religion or no religion
• employed or not working
• of any ethnicity
• disabled
• with or without children already

We'll provide:

• a placement worker to expertly match a young person to you
• weekly payments to cover the costs of hosting a young person
• ongoing training and support for the duration of the placement

How to apply

If you're interested in becoming a supported lodging provider for us, you can ask us a question and apply online.