Supported living is one of the most active areas of commissioning in UK health and social care right now. In 2026, local authorities and Integrated Care Boards are actively tendering for supported living services across the country, driven by the continued push to move people out of residential care and into more independent, community-based settings. For providers who are set up to deliver this kind of support, the opportunities are real and growing.

But here’s the honest truth: the competition for supported living tenders has never been fiercer. More providers are entering the market, commissioners are raising the bar on what they expect, and the days of winning a contract with a decent policy folder and a competitive price are well behind us. If you want to win supported living tenders in 2026, you need to understand what’s changed, what commissioners are actually looking for, and how to make your bid stand out from a crowded field.

If you’re new to bidding or want to sharpen your approach, our guide on how to read tender specifications, quality questions, and pricing schedules correctly will help you decode the tender pack before you start writing.

What Is Supported Living and Why Is It Being Commissioned So Heavily?

Supported living is a model of care where people live in their own home, whether that’s a shared house, a self-contained flat, or a purpose-built scheme, and receive tailored support to help them live as independently as possible. The key distinction from residential care is that the person holds their own tenancy. They’re a tenant first and a care recipient second.

This matters because it gives people more rights, more choice, and more control over their daily lives. And in 2026, that aligns perfectly with everything the government and the NHS are trying to achieve.

The Policy Drivers Behind Supported Living Growth

There are several forces pushing supported living to the top of the commissioning agenda. The Transforming Care programme, which aims to move people with learning disabilities and autism out of hospital settings, continues to drive demand for community-based alternatives. The “Home First” policy embedded in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan is pushing the same agenda for a wider range of service users. And the Care Act 2014 requirement to promote individual wellbeing and independence makes supported living the preferred model for many local authorities.

On top of that, supported living is often more cost-effective than residential care because it separates housing costs from care costs. For councils under intense financial pressure, that matters.

Who Are Supported Living Services For?

The people who live in supported living services in 2026 include adults with learning disabilities, adults with autism, people with severe and enduring mental health conditions, people with physical disabilities, young people transitioning from children’s services, and people moving on from forensic or hospital settings. The range is broad, and the commissioning landscape reflects that. You’ll see tenders for everything from high-acuity, 24-hour support for people with complex behavioural needs to low-level, visiting support for people who need a few hours a week to help them manage their tenancy.

What Supported Living Tenders Look Like in 2026

If you’ve been bidding for supported living contracts for a while, you’ll have noticed the tenders getting more detailed, more demanding, and harder to win with generic responses. Here’s what’s changed and what you need to be ready for.

Framework Agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Most local authorities commission supported living through framework agreements or Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). Getting onto these frameworks is essential because they’re the gateway to receiving referrals and spot-purchased placements. The application process for a framework is essentially a tender in itself, with scored quality questions, financial checks, and compliance requirements. If you’re not on the framework, you’re not in the game.

In 2026, many councils are refreshing their supported living frameworks, so if you missed the last round, keep an eye on your local authority’s procurement pipeline for upcoming opportunities.

Outcome-Based Specifications

The specifications for supported living tenders in 2026 are overwhelmingly outcome-focused. Commissioners don’t want to know how many hours of support you’ll provide. They want to know what difference that support will make. Will the person learn to manage their own medication? Will they develop the skills to maintain their tenancy independently? Will they reduce their reliance on crisis services?

Your tender response needs to demonstrate that you have a clear model for promoting independence and that you can evidence it with real data from your existing services.

The Focus on Personalisation and Co-Production

Supported living is built on the principle of personal choice, and commissioners expect your service model to reflect that. Your tender needs to show how you involve the people you support in every aspect of their care, from choosing their support workers to setting their own goals to having a genuine say in how the service is run day to day.

In 2026, co-production isn’t just a buzzword you drop into a bid. Evaluators want to see specific examples. Tell them about your tenant involvement groups, your accessible feedback systems, your person-centred planning tools. Show them that the people who use your service have a real voice, not just a complaints procedure.

Housing and Care Separation

This is a technical point, but it trips up a lot of providers. In supported living, the care provider and the housing provider are supposed to be separate, or at least operate at arm’s length. Commissioners in 2026 are scrutinising this more closely than ever, particularly in light of CQC concerns about providers having too much control over both someone’s home and their care.

Your tender needs to clearly explain your relationship with the housing provider, how you ensure the person’s tenancy rights are protected, and what happens if the care arrangement ends. Getting this wrong can cost you marks or even lead to disqualification.

What Commissioners Are Scoring Highest in Supported Living Bids

We write and review supported living tenders every week, and we’ve seen very clearly what separates the bids that win from the ones that don’t. Here are the areas where the marks are won and lost in 2026.

Workforce Quality and Retention Evidence

This comes up in every single supported living tender. Commissioners know that supported living relies on consistent, skilled staff who build real relationships with the people they support. High turnover kills quality. So your bid needs to show your actual retention rates, your recruitment strategy, your training programme beyond mandatory compliance, and your staff wellbeing initiatives. If you’ve got data showing your retention is above the sector average, make it impossible for the evaluator to miss it.

Safeguarding in Community Settings

Supported living presents unique safeguarding challenges because people are living in their own homes, often with less direct oversight than in a residential setting. Your bid must show that you’ve thought about this seriously. How do you identify and respond to risks of exploitation, self-neglect, or domestic abuse? How do you balance the person’s right to take risks and make their own choices with your duty of care? Commissioners want to see that you understand the tension and have practical systems in place to manage it.

Transition and Move-On Planning

One of the things that scores really well in 2026 is a clear approach to transition planning, both for people moving into your service and for people moving on to greater independence. If your service model includes a pathway that helps people develop the skills to eventually live without formal support, that’s incredibly attractive to commissioners because it demonstrates value for money and genuine commitment to outcomes.

Social Value That’s Rooted in the Local Community

Social value carries significant weight in supported living tenders, typically 15% to 25% of the total score. The strongest responses are the ones that connect social value directly to the service being delivered. Employing people with lived experience of the support you provide, partnering with local employers to create work placements for your tenants, or running community inclusion projects that benefit both your service users and the wider neighbourhood. These are the kinds of commitments that score highly because they feel genuine and achievable.

This is the kind of detailed, evidence-led approach that we help our clients build into every bid. As one provider shared, AssuredBID supported them with their tender, and the team was very supportive, professional, and understanding from day one to submission. They were successful with the tender. Read their story and others on our testimonials page.

Common Mistakes Providers Make in Supported Living Tenders

Even experienced providers make mistakes that cost them marks. Here are the ones we see most often.

Treating the Quality Response Like a Policy Document

Your tender response is not the place to paste your safeguarding policy or your training matrix. It’s the place to tell the story of how your service works in practice, backed by real examples and real data. Evaluators want narrative, not appendices.

Ignoring the Specification’s Local Context

Every supported living tender is rooted in a specific local area with specific demographics, challenges, and commissioning priorities. If your bid could be submitted to any council in the country without changing a word, it’s not targeted enough. Mention the local population data. Reference the council’s own strategies. Show that you’ve done the research.

Under-Pricing to Win

This is a trap that catches many providers. You submit a low price to beat the competition, win the contract, and then discover you can’t deliver the service sustainably at that rate. Commissioners in 2026 are wise to this. Many now use “abnormally low tender” flags and will score you down if your pricing doesn’t stack up against your quality commitments. Price to deliver well, not just to win.

To see how we helped a housing association in East London win a supported living tender through a combination of strong quality responses, realistic pricing, and genuine local knowledge, read the full case study here.

How to Stay Ahead of Supported Living Tender Opportunities

The supported living market moves quickly, and the best contracts don’t hang around. If you want to be in the right place at the right time, you need a system for tracking opportunities and a team that’s ready to respond.

Monitor Your Local Authority’s Procurement Pipeline

Most councils publish a procurement pipeline or forward plan that lists upcoming tenders. Check it regularly. If you see a supported living framework refresh coming up in six months, that gives you time to get your evidence in order, attend any market engagement events, and prepare your application before the deadline lands.

Use Tender Alert Services

If you don’t have the time to manually check every portal every day, a dedicated tender alert service can save you hours. Tools like BIDSuite aggregate supported living opportunities from across the UK and alert you the moment they go live, so you never miss a deadline.

Build Relationships Before the Tender Drops

Attend every market engagement event, provider forum, and commissioner briefing you can. These sessions give you direct insight into what the council is looking for, and they give the council a chance to see your organisation’s quality and commitment before the formal process begins.

Winning Supported Living Tenders Takes Preparation, Not Just Good Intentions

The supported living market in 2026 is full of opportunity, but it rewards providers who are prepared, specific, and honest about what they can deliver. If your bids are still built on generic templates and hopeful pricing, it’s time to rethink your approach. The contracts are there. The funding is there. The question is whether your organisation is ready to compete at the level commissioners now expect. If you’d like expert support in getting your supported living bids to that level, book a free consultation with our tender specialists.

Need support with tenders or compliance? AssuredBID helps UK social care providers prepare stronger bids and win the right opportunities. You can book a consultation with our tender experts, explore our services, and follow AssuredBID on social media for practical updates, insights, and guidance you can actually use.