A Home of Your Own: Moving from Community Residential Services to Supported Living for People with Learning Disabilities in the North West

The replacement of long‐stay hospitals by Care in the Community provides an opportunity to reflect on the quality of people's lives in the community and use of resources. New ways of assisting people with learning disabilities to live in their own homes are emerging. These ‘supported living’ arrangements do not offer a model but rather some guiding principles for finding out how people want to live, and the design, development and co‐ordination of informal and formal supports. The conditions working for and against developing supported living as a mainstream option are reviewed, and what is being learnt about person‐centred planning; supporting people with complex needs; managing costs and service effectiveness; and the enabling role of purchasers.