Guides & resources
Care-leaver accommodation, funding and rights are full of jargon and grey areas. We are building a library of plain-English guides — for the commissioners who fund placements, the young people who live in them, and the landlords who make them possible.
10 guides published so far, with more released through 2026. If there is a topic you need now, tell us and we will prioritise it — and send you what we already have.
For commissioners & social workers
How Dynamic Purchasing Systems and the Light Touch Regime work for commissioning supported accommodation for 16–25s: the lots, how a provider joins, dynamic markets under the Procurement Act 2023, and what commissioners check before admitting a provider.
When a placement breaks down or a young person is leaving custody or hospital with nowhere to go, you need an answer now. Milestone's emergency and same-day supported accommodation pathway for care leavers 18+ — how it works, the safeguards, and how it is priced.
A step-by-step guide for social workers and Personal Advisers on referring a care leaver to supported accommodation — what to gather, what to send, how matching and gatekeeping work, and what a good provider does in return. Plus Milestone's two-hour written decision.
Since October 2024, supported accommodation for looked-after 16–17s must be Ofsted-registered. What that means, the four accommodation categories, the SCCIF 3-outcome inspection model, notifications, fees and timescales — and exactly what a commissioner should check before placing.
A plain-English commissioner's guide to how supported accommodation for care leavers is bought — spot purchase, block contract and Dynamic Purchasing System — with a cost, flexibility and risk comparison, the Light Touch Regime, and how rent and support are funded separately.
What the sufficiency duty, the 'suitable accommodation' duty and joint housing protocols require for care leavers — the statutory basis in the Children Act 1989, how councils plan local supply, and what the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 changes.
A readable, checklist-format summary of the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the four Quality Standards — Leadership & Management, Protection, Accommodation and Support — with the Statement of Purpose, policies, notifications and records a provider must hold.
Accommodation & service definitions
What semi-independent living means for care leavers aged 18 and over: a plain-English explanation, how much support you get, the support-hours bands, how it differs from a children's home and your own tenancy, and how move-on works. England.
A plain-English definition of supported accommodation for care leavers in England: what it is, how it differs from a children's home and from supported living, the 16–17 vs 18+ distinction, the models available, and the law behind it (Supported Accommodation Regulations 2023).
For young people
A dated, plain-English guide to every care-leaver entitlement in England for 2026 — the £3,000 Setting Up Home Allowance, council tax exemption to 25, the higher Housing Benefit rate, education bursaries, your Personal Adviser and the 2026 law changes. Updated August 2026.
Also on the way
Need one of these now? Ask us and we will send you what we have and prioritise it.
Tell us the question you are trying to answer. We will point you to the right guidance, send you what we have already written, and move your topic up the queue.