This training equips commissioning teams with the housing literacy, legal clarity, and operational confidence needed to commission supported living safely, lawfully, and in line with the Renters’ Rights Act, SHROA, and Care Act duties. It is designed specifically for commissioners who want to strengthen decision‑making, reduce placement risk, and ensure providers deliver genuine supported living rather than unregulated care home equivalents.

The session builds a clear understanding of what supported living is, what it is not, and the commissioning responsibilities that sit around tenancy based models. Commissioners learn how to identify compliant practice, challenge unsafe or blended models, and apply consistent standards across providers. The training is practical, sector‑literate, and grounded in real‑world examples from local authority practice.

Key components include:

• Supported living fundamentals: tenancy rights, housing support separation, landlord vs provider roles, and the legal framework underpinning the model.

• Commissioning responsibilities: how to assess suitability, evidence need, specify support, and avoid commissioning de facto care homes.

• Legal compliance: Renters’ Rights Act access rules, SHROA direction of travel, Housing Benefit Specified Accommodation categories, and Care Act duties.

• Risk identification: spotting unsafe staffing models, unlawful access, blurred roles, poor governance, and tenancy‑linked safeguarding concerns.

• Operational clarity: night‑time support justification, shared hours, property standards, repairs pathways, and tenancy sustainment expectations.

• Provider assessment: how to evaluate policies, governance, partnership agreements, and evidence of separation between housing and support.

• Commissioning decisions: when supported living is appropriate, when it is not, and how to redirect providers or reshape unsuitable offers.

• Practical tools: checklists, decision frameworks, model specifications, and questions commissioners should ask providers.

By the end of the training, commissioning teams will be able to:

• Commission supported living confidently and consistently.

• Challenge non‑compliant or high‑risk provider models.

• Protect tenancy rights while ensuring safe, proportionate support.

• Apply clear standards that align with national expectations and emerging regulation.

• Strengthen market shaping and improve outcomes for people who rely on supported living.