Choosing a location

Things to consider when looking for somewhere suitable for your young person with SEND to live independently:

• Are there shops nearby? Can your young person afford to shop there?
• Are there any local social opportunities like a cinema, pub or sports centre?
• Are the local streets well lit?
• Are there local opportunities for employment or to continue learning?
• Are there good local services like a library, bank, post office, doctor's surgery, chemist, an accessible church?
• Are there any incidences of disability hate crime locally?
• How good is the public transport, in terms of frequency, reliability, destination and first or last bus times?

Thinking about whether your young person wants to live alone, or with others, is important. Especially if they find it hard to make new friends. Opportunities to meet people and make friends, could become part of their housing plan. 

Holidays and short breaks can give your young person the chance to live with friends and other people, for short periods of time. Holidays and short breaks can help the group decide:

• If they would like to live together 
• Which household jobs they will need to share 
• What house rules they might like to put in place 
• What support they might need