Supported living
A home of
their own?
Its the question that lingers in the
background of the lives of many parents
of a child with learning disabilities: what
happens after Im gone? If you see your
childs future outside of residential care or
community living, how practical is it to buy
a home for them to live in with support?
Darren Devine explores the options
If youre the parent of a child
with autism who may, you think, be
able to live independently when
they grow up, the idea of trying to
buy a home for them may well
cross your mind.
Wouldnt it be great if your child
Tracy Hammond of had a flat in a nearby street? You
Learning Disability may dream of dropping in on your
England: buying to son or daughter, perhaps bringing
rent to a relative them some shopping and even
needs to be more staying a while for a cup of tea.
straightforward The idea of buying a property may
be particularly appealing if there
isnt an appropriate residential care
provider in your area.
But how practical is the idea? In
fact, it may well be highly
achievable. There is even more
than one way to make the dream
come true. Alicia Wood, head of
22 Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 2 7 2 0 1 7
public affairs with care firm
Dimensions, explains that there are
three main methods that someone
with a learning disability can use to
buy a home.
Key factor
The first is a straightforward family
purchase. There is also a UK
Government-run shared-ownership
scheme known as Home
Ownership for People with Long-
Term Disabilities (HOLD). The third
option is a family-funded shared
ownership scheme run by the
Oxfordshire-based Advance
housing association.
Wood says the key factor that
drives families to buy a home for a
loved one is control. Theres a
problem in even good residential
care, she says. You get quite a
low income most of your benefits
are taken away from you. You cant
choose who you live with and you
cant choose who supports you.
Also, if residential care doesnt
work the person is forced to move
out, whereas home ownership offers
security of tenure, says Wood.
Home ownership also works
where families want their loved one
to move in with others, but cant
find the right people in existing
community living settings. Owning
the property allows them to choose
who lives with their loved one.
Further, Wood admits that on
occasion families can fall out with
care providers in community living
set-ups and find themselves barred
from visiting.
www.autismeye.com
It does happen with some
places, she says, not with all
thats the important thing to say.
Paying rent
Where parents buy a property
outright for a son or daughter it has
to be via a commercial
arrangement, with the child paying
rent, through housing benefit, to
the family.
Available only in England, the
HOLD scheme is open to first-time
buyers, those who used to own
their own home but cant afford to
buy now, or existing shared owners
looking to move.The scheme
offers between 25 per cent and 75
per cent of the homes value. You
have to pay rent on the portion you
dont own.
www.autismeye.com
On occasion
families can fall
out with care providers
in community living
set-ups
Shared-ownership is meant to
be with a social landlord such as a
housing association.However, a
report in Inside Housing Magazine
last year suggested the HOLD
scheme has failed to offer a
solution because housing
associations are under no
obligation to take part.
At that time Advance was the
only social landlord involved in
providing HOLD. Also, Advance
was only involved in the HOLD
scheme in certain areas. While 516
homes were bought through HOLD
in England, excluding London,
between 1 April 2006 and 31
March 2011, after this period sales
fell off.
Between 2011 and 2016, there
were only 30 HOLD sales across
England, according to the Homes
and Communities Agency (HCA).
Mortgage availability after the credit
crunch is said to have dried up.
Instead of using UK Government
HCA money under Advances
family-funded shared ownership
scheme, the family loans the cash
to the housing association to buy a
property. On its website, Advance
details a number of shared
Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 2 7 2 0 1 7 23
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of ownership success stories,
including that of Sarah Cookson.
England. She says buying to rent
to a relative is an important option,

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but the process needs to be more
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families to buy a She has said of her flat: I like Another option is to buy property
home for a loved one having my own space, its nice to through a trust. The Mencap Trust
is control do things that you want to do. Company offers this facility.
Tracy Hammond is the director Under trust law when property is
of operations for Learning Disability passed on after death the trustee Sarah Cookson: her Surrey flat is
has ownership. For example, if the close to her parents home and she
Mencap Trust Company were the says I like having my own space
Were there for trustee (the body in control of the
the whole of the trust) they would become the the property and they can end up
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