CQC Registration for Supported Living Services: What Actually Needs to Be Registered?

A supported living service does not need CQC registration simply because it provides accommodation or support to people with care needs. But if the provider carries on a regulated activity, particularly Personal care, registration is normally required before that activity starts.

The distinction matters because "supported living" describes a way people live and receive support. It is not itself one of CQC's regulated activities.

For a new provider, there are three questions to settle early: what care will be delivered, whether housing and care are genuinely separate, and where the regulated service will be managed from. Getting any of those wrong can change the application you need to make.

When does supported living need CQC registration?

Under CQC's Personal care guidance, the activity is regulated where a provider gives defined personal care to people who cannot provide it for themselves because of age, illness or disability, in the place where they are living.

This can include help with:

• Washing and bathing
• Dressing and toileting
• Eating and drinking
• Oral care and some other personal hygiene tasks

It can also include prompting and direct supervision where someone cannot decide to carry out those activities without that support. Merely reminding or encouraging someone is not automatically the same thing.

By contrast, a service that only offers housing support, companionship, help with shopping or other social support, without activities legally defined as Personal care, may be outside that regulated activity.

The key is the actual work delivered. Neither "24-hour support" nor "low-level support" determines the answer on its own. A service with staff on site around the clock may provide social support only, while a service visiting for a short period may carry out regulated personal care.

Use Registration Compare's Regulated or Unregulated checker for an initial scope check, then refer any uncertain facts to CQC's current guidance. The checker is not an official regulatory determination.

Why the separation between housing and care matters

Supported living is intended to allow people to live in their own homes while receiving care or support that is organised separately from their accommodation.

CQC distinguishes this from the regulated activity Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, which generally applies when accommodation and nursing or personal care are provided as a single package.

The critical question is whether the person can realistically retain their home while choosing or changing who provides their personal care.

Two contracts with different headings do not necessarily create a genuine separation. CQC may look at how the arrangements work in practice, including choice, control, contractual connections and who is responsible for the service.

This is particularly important when the same business, related companies or connected individuals are involved in both the property and the care. The structure is not automatically prohibited, but the separation must be real.

Which address is the CQC registration location?

This is a common source of confusion.

For a supported living service carrying on Personal care, the CQC location is usually the office or base from which the provider manages and coordinates the regulated care, not each house or flat where people live.

The tenant's home

• The house or flat where the person lives is not normally a separate CQC location

→Not the same address

A staff room or records cupboard in a person's home does not make that home the location. A postal or virtual office is not automatically an operational base.

The management base

• Usually the office where care is planned, staff are managed and the activity is coordinated

CQC's What is a location? guidance, updated in April 2026, identifies the premises where care is planned, staff are managed and activity is coordinated as the relevant location under its location rule 5.

A provider delivering personal care across several supported living houses may therefore have one registered office location. If it manages separate areas from several genuine operational branches, more than one location may be relevant.

There are exceptions. A substantial office inside a supported living property could itself be the location if it is separate from people's private living space and is the actual base from which the provider manages the service.

A staff room or records cupboard in a person's home does not automatically make that home a separate CQC location. Nor does a postal address or virtual office automatically qualify as an operational base.

The location shown in the application and Statement of Purpose must reflect how the service will genuinely be run.

Who must register: the landlord or the care provider?

CQC registers the legal entity responsible for carrying on the regulated activity, which may be a company, partnership or individual.

If a housing association or landlord provides accommodation while a separate organisation delivers and controls personal care, it is generally the care organisation that needs registration for Personal care.

If the same organisation supplies both housing and care, the provider needs to assess whether the arrangements are genuinely supported living or whether another regulated activity better describes the model.

Subcontracting, management agreements and connected companies can complicate the answer. Follow responsibility for directing the activity, not simply the name on a tenancy agreement.

What extra evidence does a supported living application need?

CQC's supported living application guidance lists additional documents alongside the general new-provider requirements. For supported living applications, these include:

• A business plan and financial forecast
• Evidence of legal occupancy
• Service user guides
• A staff training plan
• The additional application form for personal-care providers

A specialist supported living service for autistic people or people with a learning disability has further requirements, including a positive behaviour support policy, restraint policy and an additional service-specific form.

CQC may also request evidence such as sample care contracts and plans, risk assessments, staffing structures and rotas. Providers should have these ready rather than submitting every possible document without being asked.

The documents need to tell the same story: who will receive care, what support is within scope, who manages it, where it is coordinated and how people's choices and rights will be protected.

For the general document requirements, see CQC Registration Supporting Documents: What You Actually Need.

What about supported living for autistic people and people with a learning disability?

CQC's Right support, right care, right culture guidance is especially relevant where the proposed service is designed for autistic people or people with a learning disability.

It considers whether the model promotes choice, control, independence, community inclusion and genuinely person-centred care. CQC encourages early discussion of proposed specialist services before a registration application is submitted.

The size of a property alone does not determine whether the service is acceptable. Nor is it enough to describe a large or institution-like model as "supported living" without showing how the people living there would have ordinary rights and meaningful control over their support.

Read CQC's current guidance for services for autistic people and people with a learning disability alongside the registration guidance when that client group is central to the proposed service.

Three mistakes to avoid before applying

1. 01

   Assuming separate accommodation means no registration

   A person can have their own tenancy and still receive regulated Personal care. Housing separation helps identify the correct care model; it does not remove the need to register the care.

2. 02

   Registering every supported living house as a location

   The operational management base will normally be the relevant location for Personal care, with the specific exceptions described by CQC.

3. 03

   Building the service around the property before testing the care model

   The tenancy structure, assessed needs, staffing approach, legal provider and proposed regulated activity must fit together. A property that appears commercially attractive does not establish that the care model is appropriate or that there is local demand.

What should a new supported living provider do next?

Before paying for registration support, write a short description of the proposed service that answers:

If the service involves regulated care, use the step-by-step CQC registration guide to understand the application journey. Before committing to a location or staffing model, you can also explore the local market opportunity.

If you decide your service requires registration, Registration Compare can help you compare specially selected and verified CQC registration specialists with experience relevant to the supported-living service you intend to build.

The central point: CQC registration for supported living follows the care activity and the legal responsibility for it. The housing model and management location determine how the service should be described and registered. The label "supported living" is only the starting point.

Regulatory references reviewed: CQC Scope of registration (August 2026); Personal care (May 2026); Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care (May 2026); What is a location? (April 2026); Supported living supporting documents (June 2026); Right support, right care, right culture (August 2026). This is general guidance for England and does not replace CQC's determination of an individual service.