Putting your future in your hands

We’re the biggest provider of homes with support in Luton and we take a different approach – rather than telling you where to live, we give you a number of options.

Our aim is to empower you to make the right decisions for you and provide a safe, secure place to live with the support of friendly, non-judgmental staff. So, you can overcome challenges and gain the confidence and life skills you need to make a positive new start.

Who we can support

We can provide homes with support to people who are homeless and aged between 16 and 75. This includes people suffering from mental health, drug or alcohol problems.

Your choice – a Squared hostel or shared home

We provide two types of homes that offer a wide variety of support:

  • Hostels (including the local area’s only mother and baby hostels)
  • Shared homes (houses in multiple occupation, known as HMOs)

If you need lots of support, a hostel might be best. If you’re ready for less support a shared home might suit you better. We’ll talk through your options with you to see what’s best for you.

Our hostels

Our range of hostels cater for people with a variety of different support needs and include:

  • A 7-bed hostel for 16-64 year old women
  • A 10-bed hostel for 16-64 year old men
  • A 7-bed stage 2 hostel for 16-64 year old men and women
  • Pathways for 16-25 year olds (7 rooms, including a crash pad, plus 13 transitional flats)
  • Betty McKean stage 1 and Betty McKean stage 2 for 16-25 year old mothers with babies
  • Our UASC houses for unaccompanied children seeking asylum

Our shared homes (HMOs)

Our 29 shared properties provide rooms across:

  • 8 high-needs (stage 1) houses
  • 4 high-needs (stage 2) houses
  • 14 medium-needs houses
  • 3 low-needs houses

The great support available

We have a brilliant team of experts managing both our hostels and shared homes. They’ll offer support tailored to you and your goals and challenges.

In our hostels

You’ll meet someone who’ll work with you on a coaching plan that outlines the steps to take to move towards your goals. They’ll then help you follow it through.

You’ll also have the reassurance of hostel staff being on site most days and available 24 hours a day.

At our hostels, you can get help with:

  • Independent living skills such as cooking, cleaning, managing a home and personal hygiene
  • Training and finding paid or voluntary employment
  • Your education – including gaining qualifications and vocational training
  • Healthy living – from healthy eating to dental hygiene, sexual health, addressing drug and alcohol problems and using our Open Minds cognitive behavioural therapy service
  • Vulnerabilities and identifying risks to you and others
  • Social activities, including building relationships with family and friends and getting involved in hobbies and other activities
  • Community links such as doctors, health visitors, Community Psychiatric Nurse, social workers, advocacy and legal advice

In our shared homes (HMOs)

Our HMO Co-ordinators visit our HMO properties weekly and you’ll get personalised care, support and supervision for two hours a week. We’ll work with you to help you identify your personal goals and achieve them.

HMO Co-ordinators also:

  • Hold house meetings to resolve any issues
  • Run a drop-in session every Friday
  • Provide vocational and educational workshops
  • Refer residents to our Time to Talk therapy service
  • Meet you individually to give advice on housing-related topics
  • Deal with management services such as disputes, resident involvement and managing anti-social behaviour
  • Help you maintain your tenancy
  • Support you to move forward

To ensure the personal needs identified in the risk assessment are met, we also provide general counselling and support which includes:

  • Emotional wellbeing
  • Claiming benefit entitlements
  • Personal health & hygiene
  • Alcohol & substance misuse
  • Risk of re-offending
  • Personal safety & security
  • Domestic violence
  • Sexual health
  • Independent living

Time to Talk

All Homes with Support residents are also exclusively eligible for our in-house therapy service called Time to Talk. The service is based at the Homes with Support Hub, offering you either individual or group sessions with a trained therapist.

How to get a place in a Squared home with support

We accept referrals from social services, voluntary agencies, Luton Borough Council’s homeless department and probation services. You can also contact us yourself if you need a home with support.

How the application process works

If we have spaces available, we’ll invite you in to talk through the options and help you fill out an application and risk assessment form. We’ll let you (or your referral agency) know whether or not we can give you your choice of accommodation and if so when. As long as we have all the information we need, we can usually give you an answer on the day you visit us.

How long you can stay with us

  • Pathways hostel – 28 days (we’ll help you move on to longer-term accommodation)
  • Transitional flats – two years
  • Our other hostels – two years in a first-stage hostel and/or two years in a second-stage (more independent) hostel
  • Shared homes – up to two years
  • Move-on accommodation – as long as it suits you!

When it’s time to move on

We aim for everyone living in our Homes with Support to eventually move on to lead a happy, independent life. We’ll support you in gathering the right information to make the best choices for your future. This might involve referring you to other agencies or helping you to find a home to rent privately or bid for a home with the council.

Do you, or does someone you know, need housing with support in the Luton area?

Contact us