Some people need help in their home to enable them to live independently.

If you need, or somebody you look after needs, housing-related support, you may be able to get assistance with things like:

• managing money and paying bills
• a community alarm service to call for help if it is needed
• help in managing finances and benefit claims
• supervising or monitoring medication
• emotional support, counselling and advice

You can get help if you are a Council tenant or if you live in your own home.

The aims of Supporting People

Supporting People is a network of agencies that offer housing-related support to vulnerable people.

The aim of the scheme is to allow people to live as independently as possible by funding agencies to supply assistance to cover the tasks that there is local demand for.

It is a nationwide scheme to improve the quality of housing-related support services for vulnerable people in England. It is run in partnership with local authorities, the probation service, health services, service providers, service users and other interested groups.

Types of support

The Supporting People fund covers three areas of support:

Floating support service

This type of service can help people who need temporary support to learn to live independently. Over time, as independence increases, the level of support is reduced until it 'floats away'.

An example of this would be a resettlement service. This type of service generally provides practical assistance in setting up and maintaining a home and assists with finding suitable accommodation and moving.

This type of support is attached to the person and not the property and can follow a service user if they move to another address.

Accommodation-based service

The accommodation service provides a higher level of support than floating support for people who need help with life skills and managing a tenancy. The support will only be available while the user is based at a specific address, as the support is attached to the property.

Community alarm services

This service provides an alarm to call for help whenever it is needed. An example of this would be sheltered housing or safe homes for victims of domestic violence.

Who can get help

Housing related support is available to council tenants and people who live in their own homes. There are different kinds of support available for different groups of people. Find where to get help here.

At the moment the scheme provides services for:

• older people
• people with learning disabilities
• people with mental health problems
• people with physical / sensory disabilities
• women fleeing domestic violence - refuge and move on support
• young people at risk
• young people leaving care
• teenage parents
• single homeless
• offenders
• people with drug and alcohol problems
• people with HIV / Aids
• refugees