Twenty odd years ago our son said he wanted to leave home like our daughter had done. So, we thought about it and came up with a plan.

My husband was selling his business so we had some cash to invest. We decided to buy a property that could be converted for four people with a learning difficulty to share including our son.

The project is still going today with different residents except for one, and an extension we did five years in for our son which made the numbers up to five.

Our son was in hospital for nearly three years and we could not get accommodation and support. We decided to break the cycle and buy a property for him to live in alone and adapted it for him.

We then started working on the care package and within six months he was discharged. 

He was readmitted to hospital after three years but has now been back in his home with a different care package for four years.

The house is suitable for two people, but we are still looking for a suitable person to share.

We only get housing benefit for this property and our son rents it from us.

We could not find another way round it after a Housing Association said they would not be able to continue to manage the property with only one tenant.

Sam, we didn’t fully understand the statement above – could we clarify? In the version for SMT, we suggested instead: A Housing Association said they would not be able to continue to manage the property with only one tenant, so we get housing benefit for this property and our son rents it from us. Please do change to another wording if we have misunderstood the meaning.