CQC Supported Living Registration: Requirements and Documents

Supported living is not registered simply because accommodation or general support is provided. CQC registration depends on whether the provider carries on a regulated activity, commonly Personal care, and on the true structure of the service.

Where Personal care is delivered in supported living, the care arrangement and the accommodation arrangement must be genuinely separate. The application should show choice, control and tenancy rights in practice, not only in document titles.

1. Decide whether the service is within CQC scope

A supported living service commonly needs registration when it provides Personal care to people who cannot provide it for themselves because of age, illness or disability. A service offering only housing or social support may fall outside that activity, depending on what it actually does.

• Map each planned support task against CQC's definition of Personal care.
• Separate regulated care from housing management and ordinary social support.
• Check whether any clinical work requires another regulated activity.
• Document the conclusion and apply only for activities the provider will genuinely carry on.

2. Demonstrate separation between care and accommodation

• Use separate care and tenancy or licence agreements.
• Avoid making residence conditional on buying care from one provider where that would undermine genuine separation.
• Show how people can exercise choice and control over their home and support.
• Make responsibilities for repairs, housing management and care delivery clear.
• Ensure marketing, contracts, policies and day-to-day practice tell the same story.

3. CQC supported living registration documents checklist

CQC's current service-specific list requires additional material for supported living applications alongside the documents everyone must send.

• Business plan and financial forecast.
• Evidence of legal occupancy for the management location.
• Service-user guides that are accessible and specific to the proposed service.
• Staff training plan matched to client groups, risks and support needs.
• The additional information form for providers of Personal care.
• Positive behaviour support and restraint policies where required for specialist services.

4. Show how the service will promote ordinary living

• Explain person-centred assessment, support planning and review with the person involved.
• Show how consent, capacity and best-interest decisions will be handled lawfully.
• Plan recruitment and training around communication, autism, learning disability or other relevant needs.
• Describe how staff will support community connection, relationships, employment and daily choices.
• Set out medicines, safeguarding, positive risk-taking and emergency arrangements.
• Demonstrate governance without turning people's homes into institutional settings.

5. Test the full model before submission

1. 1Check legal provider, regulated activities, location and manager requirements.
2. 2Review the care and housing agreements together for genuine separation.
3. 3Confirm the staffing, on-call, training and financial plans can deliver the proposed support.
4. 4Make the statement of purpose, business plan, service-user guide and policies consistent.
5. 5Prepare leaders to explain how rights, independence and safety will work in real scenarios.
6. 6Submit only when the people, premises, systems and complete evidence pack are ready.

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