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Explore Hosting

We know hosting can feel like a big commitment and it’s natural to have a few nerves about letting a young person share your home with you. Our model, developed over time, is carefully curated to ensure that hosting is a safe, supported and enriching experience for everyone involved.

Application process

Initial enquiry

Application

Home visits

Training

Host approval

Pairing

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Below are some FAQs about the role and responsibilities of a supported lodgings host. There is a lot more information, and a lot more FAQs, in our host brochure which you can download at the bottom of this page.

Anyone can apply to become a host and we encourage a diverse range of individuals, couples and families reflecting the diversity of the young people we support. Hosts should reside in the property full-time and need to be able to provide a bedroom, a safe environment, love, tolerance, support and guidance to a young person.

Supported lodgings will provide a small income for you to cover the additional costs of hosting a young person but hosts should be financially secure and not view this role as a source of additional income. Our weekly remittance is based on the benefits a young person receives and is usually between £150-£200 per week

You don’t necessarily need to own your own home to become a host. However, we will need to obtain written consent from your landlord stating that they are happy for you to provide supported lodgings at the property. The landlord must also confirm that they hold current building insurance on the property and that they have informed their insurer that the property will be used for supported lodgings.

Yes, in fact we would encourage you to continue to go about your usual routines including working, hobbies, holidays, weekends away etc.

Our pairing process is rigorous as we want to give every placement the best opportunity to succeed. As a part of this process we take into account your personal and family dynamics including your thoughts as to the type of young person who will fit best into your home. Before any pairing process begins you will be given a full profile of the proposed young person to confirm you are happy to proceed. You will also get to meet the young person with both parties needing to agree for a placement to commence.

We welcome applications from host families where there are children at home. As part of the application process we will work with you to ensure that becoming a host is a good fit for all your family. We will also take this into account when we consider a suitable young person to live in your home. All family members over the age of 16 will be asked to complete an enhanced DBS check.

The idea of supported lodgings is to prepare young people for independent living. Therefore, the young person will probably need a little support and guidance in developing the necessary skills including washing, cooking, managing finances etc. However, each young person is also supported by a youth worker who will particularly help them in the fields of education and work. The Concrete Rose core team will help a young person, where relevant, set-up benefits and, if desired, each young person can access additional adult mentoring through our ‘adults who care’ scheme.

Concrete Rose offers on-call, 24/7 support to host families from a core team who are

specialists in behaviour management, de-escalation and mediation. Our preference is to avoid issues before they become serious problems and therefore we will check-in with you on a weekly basis to see how things are going and also hold regular review meetings with hosts and young people. In these meeting we will help you to mediate any problems and resolve any issues.

Sometimes a young person just needs somewhere safe to stay for a few weeks or a few months. Nevertheless, the majority of our arrangements are longer term in nature (around 18-24 months). As part of the application and assessment process we will ask you if you would consider offering emergency ‘short-term’ placements for young people which generally last less than two weeks.

Dawn

“It’s really just not that scary once you get into it and it just feels normal. Just feels like we have somebody else living with us, but that’s really nice. I think being with Concrete Rose is a really good, it kind of feels like a cushion if you like, because I know that I’m not alone. I’ve got someone I can speak to and I know that there’s support there if I need it.”

Become a host

Interested in finding out more about hosting?  Check out our ‘Information for hosts‘