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Saturday, 10 January 2009

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Home and community

Supported tenancies

If you're moving to a new council home or you're a council tenant already and not coping well on your own, your council may be able to help you through the Supported Tenancy Service.

Who is the service for?

This service is designed to help vulnerable people live as independently as possible and to improve their quality of life.

Under the Supported Tenancy Service there are two types of scheme:

floating support, where you stay in your home and a worker visits you (usually on a weekly basis), or
accommodation based where you move into a specially designed scheme with workers on site

What can the service do?

The Tenancy Support Service is provided to give you the help and support you need to live as independently as possible. They may be able to help you with some or all of the following:

setting up and running your home well eg dealing with issues such as turning on gas, electricity and water
finding furniture
sorting out rent and bills
managing money and claiming benefits
getting insurance and ensuring security
meeting your obligations as a tenant
making the most of your neighbourhood eg finding shops and services
looking for jobs
training or courses
making use of leisure time
getting in touch with extra help where this is needed eg talking about problems
getting expert advice on things like debt, mental health, drugs or alcohol, contacting social services or other organisations

What is available?

You may get your own support worker who'll talk through any problems with you. They would agree a 'support plan' with you that tells you what to expect and how often they'll visit.

Your council aims to help you get on your feet and live as independently as possible. After a time you may find that you do not need this type of support or that your needs for support lesson. However, should your needs change you are able to contact your council to request further help through this scheme.

The following link will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more.