Supported living in own home but shared with others with similar LD needs?

[wazzy22]

I'm looking for advice, ideas, resources or recent experiences - any help really.

The situation is that we have a 23 year old daughter with Down syndrome who we think would be a suitable candidate for supported living. Like many parents, we would like to know that she is settled and happy before we shuffle from our mortal coils. To this end we are in the process of downsizing and moving to another town in North Northamptonshire (which is in a different LA to the one we are in now) where we know there is a good community and where we (I include my daughter) have many friends. We have found a house which we think will be suitable (after some improvements) for my daughter to live in with appropriate support. We think she would thrive best if she was able to share the accommodation with 1 or 2 friends from her peer group who are similarly disabled. My wife and I would aim to buy a smaller house near to this one to move to for our retirement years. We would still be involved with our daughter but by reducing her dependence on us she will become more confidant and better able to adapt when we are no longer around to support her. We also feel she would genuinely be more happy living with her peers than with a couple of old codgers!

Our thinking is that we should maybe put the house in trust on her behalf so that housing benefits etc are unaffected. There may be other models which we haven't thought about though. So, we would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who has been through a similar situation recently, any pitfalls you can think of, and any suggestions, advice or knowledge of any helpful organisations would all be appreciated.

[Tiffin123]

Hi, yes I feel we are in a very similar situation. Our son is 22 and has autism. Living at home with us at the moment but would love to live independently and in a shared house with peer group with similar needs. I reckon he can absolutely manage this with the right support. So he would gradually become less dependent on us. Sorry, no answers to your question but I would like to know more about putting a house in a trust for him

[Staffielover3]

Hi, this is like reading a Mirror image of our situation. So no need to expand on that part. Yes if you have not already done so look into taking out a deputee ship out for your daughter in conjunction with a trust will and appointed trustees, obviously these will need to be people you trust implicitly to carry out your wishes.

[Tiffin123 in reply to Staffielover3]

Thanks for that advice. Who should we ask to find out more? A solicitor? Citizens advice bureau?

[wazzy22 in reply to Staffielover3]

Thanks for replies so far. LPA’s and trustees are already sorted out. She has a small amount of money in a trust fund set up by her uncle some time ago. It’s the practicality of adding a property to the trust and then getting social services to agree to provision for supported living with one or two peers that we would like to hear about. We don’t want to reinvent a wheel that’s already been invented!

[Eeviee]

Hi there. Giving any advice in this area is extremely difficult as the devil is in the detail. I would approach mencap wills and trust services for advice on the trust side of things however you will also need personal tax advice. Mencap have a list of approved solicitors but I and others have used Longmores in Hertford fir the trust set up and advice. If you want supported living in your own home you will need to agree this with the local council and that is not an easy job. They won’t pay housing benefit without a fight as the rules are a lot tighter now. I would approach Golden Lane which is the supported living arm of Mencap. Good luck

[wazzy22]

Thanks for your response Eeviee.