Service
CQC and supported living
Clear foundations for supported living, including whether personal care means CQC registration.
Supported living is a way of organising housing and support so that an adult can live in their own home. It is not automatically a CQC service. CQC regulates activities such as personal care. If your staff provide personal care, registration is likely to be required. If the service is housing-related support without personal care, it may sit outside CQC. The boundary is factual, and CQC decides it.
We help you describe the model honestly, prepare the application where registration is required, and build records that show the care you say you provide. We also help existing services whose evidence has drifted away from the model.
Who it is for
- New supported living providers who are unsure whether they need to register.
- Providers preparing a CQC application for personal care.
- Registered services that need the statement of purpose, policies and day-to-day evidence to agree with each other.
What it addresses
- The website says “supported living” and the rotas show personal care, or the reverse.
- Housing and care are tangled in the contracts, so nobody can explain who is responsible for what.
- Policies describe a care home, because they were copied from one.
- The nominated individual cannot explain the regulated activity.
How the work runs
- Describe the model What staff actually do in someone’s home, what is housing, and what is personal care.
- Identify the regulated activity We set out why registration is or is not indicated. Where there is doubt, the safe step is to ask CQC, not to guess.
- Prepare the application Where registration is required: statement of purpose, policies, and the fitness evidence for the proposed manager and nominated individual.
- Build the evidence Care records, consent, safeguarding and governance that match CQC’s current assessment framework, including the five key questions: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
What you need in place
- A plain description of what staff will do, including personal care tasks if any.
- Clarity about tenancies or licences, and who the landlord is. We do not replace your solicitor on those documents.
- Proposed registered manager and nominated individual, where an application is needed.
What you leave with
- A written view of the model and the likely regulated activity.
- Application support where CQC registration is required.
- Policies that describe supported living rather than a care home.
- A short evidence list mapped to the five key questions.
Time and fees
There is no standard duration. The regulator, the planning authority and the condition of the service all change the timetable. We will describe what we can see, and we will not promise a date.
The fee is agreed once we understand the work. A short review and a full registration are different assignments, so we do not publish one price for every enquiry.
Questions
Is supported living the same as a care home?
No. A care home provides accommodation together with nursing or personal care. In supported living the person usually has their own home, and personal care, if it is provided, is a separate regulated activity. The contracts should show that separation.
CQC is changing its framework. Which version do you use?
We use the framework that applies to your service at the time. The five key questions are the stable public language. Quality statements and any draft replacements should be checked against CQC’s current guidance, because the detail moves.
Do you guarantee registration?
No. CQC decides applications. We help you present a model that is true and complete.
Can you help a children’s home with CQC?
A children’s home is an Ofsted service. Use the Ofsted pages. This page is for adult supported living and CQC-regulated personal care.
Next step
Describe a typical week for someone you support, including any help with washing, dressing, medication or eating. That description tells us more than the name on the brochure.
Talk to FivewaysRelated
Fiveways Advisory is an independent consultancy. We are not Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission or a local planning authority, and this website is not legal, planning or regulatory advice. We cannot guarantee registration, an inspection judgement or planning permission.