Supported Living: Insights from Amber Housing

To mark Starts at Home Day 2023, we discuss what good supported living looks like and how it is implemented at Ambient and Amber Housing.  

Starts at Home Day, which is in its seventh year, is a day for recognising the fantastic work that housing associations do to provide crucial care and support to residents, and is also a call for a better future for supported housing.

Amber Housing operates as a fully owned subsidiary of Ambient Support, and provides quality housing management, property development and facilities management across the UK specialising in providing homes and specialist support to our service users, including supported living.  

What is supported living? 

Ambient’s Supported Living services enable people to live as independently as possible in a home of their own. This usually means a small group of people sharing a house with their own secure tenancy, with care and support tailored to meet their individual needs. 

A move into a supported living service is designed specifically to meet an individual’s needs and aims to help people supported to build confidence, develop daily living skills and live as independently as possible. People are encouraged to engage within their local communities safe in the knowledge they have a safe and comfortable space to come home to at the end of the day. 

Ambient staff work with each person as an individual first and foremost using strengths-based approaches to increase self-esteem, and wellbeing of tenants meaning they have increased independence, choice and control. 

Supported Living with Amber Housing  

We spoke to Troy Henshall, Chief Executive at Amber Housing, about what supported living means at Amber and how they ensure successful supported housing for the people that Ambient support. 

How does Amber implement good supported living? What structures are in place to allow this?  

‘Our approach begins with the customer but involves a number of key partnerships. Starting with the customer we identify what they need for their home.  Location and layout are two key elements but there are other aspects we need to consider. 

Once we have identified their requirements we look to source a property that is suitable, this might be an existing property or a new property we will work with our partners to source.  We also work with our Local Authority partners to ensure they are engaged and finally with our contractors to ensure the home is safe and in good condition ready for move in.’

What does supported living look like from a housing association perspective? 

‘It’s so varied and always tailored to the tenants and their needs it’s difficult to give just one answer, but in general it’s a home that individuals or a group of individuals can live in together and call home.’

Why is it important that you provide specialised support to your residents? What does it mean to them?  

‘Providing specialised support means that residents are happy and can thrive in their homes.  We have seen first-hand the difference that good quality housing makes to individuals, as it provides a strong foundation for everything else.’

What do you love about working at Amber and in the social care housing industry?  

‘My favourite thing is the positive difference that our homes and services can help make to people’s lives.  When we get it right, we can make such an impact on people and help enable them to live meaningful, fulfilling lives.’

Amber Housing provide a full range of property management services, along with quality housing that enables individuals to lead valued and independent lives in their community. Their mission coincides with Ambient’s 5i values, which acts as guidance when building positive relationships with tenants, customers and suppliers.

Supported Living in Action 

Watch the video below to see the positive impact of supported living on people with a learning disability:

Find out more about Amber Housing and their services here. 

Learn more about how we ensure a smooth transition into our Supported Living services at Ambient and deliver person centred care. 

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