Where you decide to live

One of the first things you need to think about as you grow up, is where you will live as an adult.

Many young people choose to stay at home. There are lots of good reasons to stay living at home: you get support from family and carers; it is cheaper to live at home; or you don’t want to move.

This can be good, but you still need to think about developing your independence at home. Talk to your family or whoever supports you about learning how to cook simple meals, learning to tidy up and use the equipment in the house. If you are disabled, there is a lot of equipment to help you and where you live can be changed so that you can be more independent at home. A referral via Onecall to the Occupational Therapy Service for equipment and adaptations may be useful.

As you get older you may want to start spending some time in your home alone. This may sound scary at first but there is lots of equipment, such as sensors that can monitor your home and let someone know if you might need, or alarms to detect if there is a problem such as smoke, gas and flood detectors. Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service do a free assessment and can offer advice about fire safety and prevention.

For more information about housing options and support available please click here​.

Moving to your own place

You may want to think about where you want to live in the future, or decide that you are ready to live independently. If you want to rent your own home then the first thing you need to register with Northumberland Homefinder so you can apply for a property. You can also consider renting privately. If you are planning on moving into your own home it is important that you have the following:

• Your own bank account
• Benefits in place
• Photo identification e.g. passport

We know that living with other people can be difficult and talking to others can help with this. If you are worried about losing your accommodation it is important that you contact Northumberland County Council Housing team.