Accommodation

Our duty of care to young people is reflected in the way we source, furnish and maintain our properties – by ensuring only safe, high quality and suitable premises are used.

Leaving Care Solutions are a national provider; able to draw upon existing links across a range of localities to quickly source properties.

We remain abreast of local needs to identify target areas for obtaining properties. Our accommodation is fully compliant with all statutory regulations and health and safety checks.

Our duty of care to young people is reflected in the way we source, furnish and maintain our properties – by ensuring only safe, high quality and suitable premises are used.

Our dedicated Property Coordinator conducts thorough assessments and inspections of all potential accommodation prior to any lease agreement. All properties sourced will be approved by the young person’s Social Worker and will meet the Decent Homes Standard, ensuring they are compliant with minimum standards for health and safety, repair and access to facilities

At LCS, we will only place young people in accommodation that we and our family would be happy to live in.

In line with Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs), and LCS’s core values, all our properties are:

Clean, pleasantly decorated and maintained to a good standard (e.g. no damp/mould issues, carpet free from tears), ensuring they provide a comfortable, welcoming environment in line with PIEs
Fully compliant with all HMO and housing legislation and guidance
Safety – we carry out location risk assessments to identify any potentially detrimental networks in local communities where properties are located. This ensures that we do not secure properties in locations where we know clients have significant links to negative influences that pose a risk to their safety. We draw upon community intelligence to complete these risk assessments, linking into a wide network of local agencies (e.g. Police, Community Safety Teams, Local Safer Neighbourhood Teams, Youth Offending Teams) in order to obtain information regarding known risks to inform decision-making regarding a prospective property’s suitability
Amenities – including transport, local shops, health services, education providers, employment opportunities, community links (i.e. leisure & health, cultural/religious centres)

Property examples

Shared Accommodation Kitchen/Living Space

Bespoke Flat Living Area

Shared Accommodation Kitchen/Diner

Bathroom

Shared Accommodation Living Space

Shared Accommodation Kitchen/Living Space

Bespoke Flat Bedroom

Bespoke Flat Exterior

Shared Accommodation Bedroom

View from a shared house garden looking back at kitchen and bi-fold doors

Shared Accommodation Exterior

Shared Accommodation Bedroom

Shared Accommodation Garden

Health & Safety

All our properties are compliant with required housing standards, including Health and Safety requirements. This includes:

Only using established leasing agents with a proven track record of safe rentals
Gas safe, fire safety and electrical safety certificates, which will be shared with Placement Coordination prior to approving the property
A smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, fire blanket and access to fire extinguisher
All gas and electrical work carried out by industry-regulated suppliers (e.g. Gas Safe and NICEIC), ensuring compliance with Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 2018

Ensuring electrical equipment carries the British Standard Kitemark or BEAB Approved mark, with PAT testing every two years for small appliances and every four years for white goods (as a minimum).
Checking that no property contains any category 1 hazards, as defined by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System
All accommodation having relevant planning consents and permissions for its intended use.

For every approved property, we will obtain a Locality Risk Assessment (updated every 2 years), ensuring crime data, exploitation risk and land risks are considered when assessing suitability of accommodation. We have recently implemented further location risk assessments that are completed for each young person.

Health and safety inspections are undertaken on all properties at regular intervals, with findings and actions recorded. This includes:

A fire register with a record of routines for weekly fire tests, monthly fire evacuations and monthly emergency light testing
A water temperature register which records routines for checking water temperature weekly/monthly
A Health and Safety Risk Assessment.

A comprehensive record of each property is maintained and kept up-to-date, evidencing continued compliance.

Suitable for young people

Our properties are decorated and furnished to a good standard that offers a safe, comfortable home environment for young people. Individual bedrooms are lockable and have sufficient space for the young person’s personal belongings. Each room offers as a minimum a bed, wardrobes and chest of drawers, lockable cabinet for personal items, chair, TV, curtains and/or blinds, hygienic floor covering, desk and chair (this may be in a quiet, private area of the communal space where space does not permit). The shared areas comprise lockable bathroom facilities, well-equipped kitchen (including dining area with table and chairs), comfortable area with armchairs and/or sofas and TV, and laundry facilities. Shared properties also provide access to a computer, Wi-Fi, telephone, and facilities for group activities and entertainment (e.g. gaming devices, pool table, crafts, musical instruments).

Letting Agents

We have well-established relationships with a range of reputable letting agents, from whom we source and lease suitable properties. We conduct thorough checks to ensure full compliance with all obligations under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, Insolvency Act 1986, Fraud and money laundering legislation, Modern Slavery Act 2015, and other applicable legislation. We will provide the Council with landlord details for every approved property, enabling them to meet all legal and safeguarding obligations and conduct any necessary landlord checks.

Support & Independence

Personalised support planning identifies areas where young people will benefit most, ensuring individual plans are appropriate and targeted.

Young People's Views

LCS uses a range of innovative, proven techniques to engage young people in the design and delivery of individual support and overall service development.

Young Person Confiding In Support Worker

Safeguarding

LCS implements Safer Recruitment practices which ensure all staff are appropriately qualified and experienced to deliver a safe, high quality service.