Legal status explained

Ownership

Individual ownership through inheritance or purchase

Inherited ownership does not require mental capacity, although entering a contract for the
purchase and management of a property does.

Joint ownership or leasing by several families and/or individuals

In joint ownership a group of families pool their resources to buy a property between them for their children to share. Commonly, the people who will live in it already know each other and will be friends. Also family members may buy a property jointly with their son or daughter to overcome queries about their having capacity to enter into a mortgage.

Shared ownership between an individual(s) and a housing association or other eligible organisation

The property is purchased by a housing association and sells a percentage back to the
shared owner. The share of the property owned by the individual or purchased on a mortgage can range from 25% to 75%, with the rest being rented from the housing association.

Assisted Homebuy

In 2005 the Welsh Assembly started to explore Assisted Homebuy through a Social Housing Management Grant project. It is the intention of this project to develop supports for people who need extra support to purchase their own home through the existing Homebuy programme. This scheme also set out to find ways of providing ongoing support to manage and maintain their own home into the future. The scheme brings together the Welsh Assembly Government, commissioning Local Authorities, interested landlords and support providers to try this model out and to decide whether it can be rolled out on an ongoing basis.

Company ownership

Families and/or individuals form a company to own a home for a particular individual(s)

Ownership through an Industrial and Provident Society

A special society can be formed to own a home for a particular individual(s)

Ownership by a family trust(s)

A family trust or a joint family trust dedicated to an individual(s) can be set up to own and
manage a home

Buy to let mortgage

This can be arranged through a housing association

Tenancies and licences

In addition to the type of ownership of the property a person with learning disabilities
lives in, there may well be different types of arrangement for renting a property.  Authorities should consider the following options for people with learning disabilities seeking a home of their own and make information available about them:

• Renting from the family. There are complexlegal issues in this type of tenancy, especially in the parental home, although it is possible in a family owned property.
• Private renting from independent landlords
• Private renting from companies specialising in vulnerable people
• Renting from a housing association
• Renting through a tenancy or licence from a charitable trust or a local authority
• Renting from a private landlord

A tenancy provides the individual with a legal right to reside in a property and a licence only gives permission to reside.

Other types of status

Residential care

This is usually organised through a payment from a local authority to a private residential
home or charitable trust and the home will be registered under the Care Standards Act 2000.

Adult placement

This can also take the form of supported lodging