#22: Making a Success of Supported Living, with guest Lisa Brown

In the third of four summer special episodes, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith speak to Lisa Brown, nurse turned property developer, who explains how landlords can make a success of leasing their properties to providers of supported living housing. In this episode, Lisa explains what supported living is, how it works, what type of properties are suitable, adaptations, choosing a provider and the advantages and risks for the landlord. You can also connect with Lisa on LinkedIn and find out more information on the Supported Living Property website, the Supported Living Property Podcast and the Supported Living Property YouTube Channel. >> Ask a question: Click here for question form What we cover in this episodeAbout Lisa BrownWhat is supported living?How does supported living work?What types of properties are suitable for supported living?Grants for adaptations for supported living propertiesWhat are the advantages of supported living for the landlord?What to look out for when choosing a supported living partnerCredits About Lisa Brown Lisa had nursing career of over twenty years working her way up to senior sister and emergency nurse practitioner in a busy East London A & E, and she also worked as a health visitor.  She saw firsthand a direct impact that poor quality housing or lack of housing has on people's health and well-being.  Lisa discovered supported living herself by chance and found it a natural fit with her experience as a nurse.  However, she also discovered that property investors  often struggled to let properties to supported living providers,  and providers struggled to find properties to let. So she came up with the idea to set up her Supported Living Property Network to provides training and a place for providers and property investors to connect.  Lisa also has a successful podcast (on Apple and on Spotify), plus a YouTube channel. What is supported living? Lisa Brown defines supported living as arrangement for accommodation for a tenant who has a support need. The support need may be long term. For instance, someone who has learning disabilities, autism, complex mental health, or maybe with physical disabilities, somebody for their for their whole lifetime is gonna require that level of support and input. It can also include people with support needs for a shorter term, for a few months or a few years. This may e people who are homeless, veterans with PTSD, people fleeing domestic abuse, or teenagers transitioning from the care service. There's a whole range of different people who need support in the short term. It's for people who need time to be able to support someone till they can move on and take their own tenancy.   There are people with support needs in every community, from small rural communities to big cities, across the country.  As there's a higher concentration of people in cities, demand is greater, but there are often requests for properties in a smaller towns and communities. y. How does supported living work? With supported living, the owner of a property enters into a lease with a supported living provider, which may be a housing association, community interest organisation, local authority, charity or care provider. That organisation either grants a tenancy or a licence to the people who will live in the property. The supported living provider provides accommodation to people with support needs ranging from a few hours support a week to members of staff on-site twenty four hours a day helping them access every part of their their life that they need the...