Vineyard Homes Limited

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 1 Vineyard Homes Limited Registered provider: Vineyard Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

Vineyard Homes Limited registered as a supported accommodation provider on 18 June 2024. The nominated individual is also the director. The registered service manager registered in December 2025.

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provider

The provider offers ring-fenced shared accommodation and can accommodate up to 33 children across 11 premises.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 18 children aged 16 to 17 were living across 10 of the premises.

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Inspection dates: 18 to 22 May 2026

The inspection was announced on 18 May 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 20 to 22 May 2026.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings. The next inspection will be within approximately 6 months.

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Summary of findings

The changes made by the leaders and managers have not been sufficiently embedded into staff practice to ensure improvements for children.

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Summary of findings

Staff’s lack of engagement with children continues. This impacts on their ability to provide safe, reliable support to children.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not fully appreciate the implications of low staff morale for children, staffing and service delivery. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children say that they continually see a lot of different staff working in their homes. This affects their ability to establish and sustain relationships with trusted persons, due to the extent of change and the lack of consistency.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children say they feel lonely and not listened to or asked about things that are important to them. One social worker said that the child they are working with sometimes feels like they are renting rooms. Staff do not do enough to notice, establish or maintain healthy, positive and supportive relationships with the children. One child had gone without their local authority allowance for 4 weeks before the staff noticed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children do not have confidence that the staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to support them. This compromises the children’s emotional stability and welfare because the staff miss relevant information about them. Staff lack professional curiosity. One child experienced a breakdown of family relationship, and another was concerned for family members caught up in war overseas. Children rely on support from others who do not live in the supported accommodation settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children miss important health appointments. The staff are not actively advocating for them with other professionals. One child had missed significant health appointments due to repeated rescheduling. This was not escalated as a concern or raised through advocating on the child’s behalf.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The staff over-rely on other agencies to lead in activities with the children that can be undertaken by staff. One child had been asking for consistent direct work from staff, which was delivered through additional commissioned services from the local authority. The commissioned work included going shopping, cooking and talking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff promote education, and most children are in education or employment. Staff support children not in education to consider alternative options, such as seeking apprenticeships. One child had successfully completed an apprenticeship, and another child has a conditional offer to go to university.

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How well children are helped and protected

There has been a high turnover of staff within the service, which impacts on their ability to provide consistent help to children in understanding how to stay safe, how to seek support and how to minimise any potential risk of harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

New staff joining the service do not understand their responsibilities or have the skills to safeguard children. For example, where children are missing for extended periods of time, the staff report the incident but do not do enough to understand the reasons for being missing and what can be done to reduce the likelihood of further incidents. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 3 Some staff do not have a good range of skills to be able to communicate and support children in a meaningful way. Staff miss vital information about the context of incidents and therefore opportunities to help individual children. The staff are not doing enough to prioritise the children’s needs or re-evaluate what the children might need from them. This leads to children not having the help they need to understand their own vulnerabilities and develop skills to help them to navigate and

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How well children are helped and protected

The practicalities of safer recruitment practices have improved, such as receiving and reviewing documents such as Disclosure and Barring Service checks, verifying references and identifying gaps in employment. However, the leaders and managers do not go far enough to ensure the staff they recruit are appropriately and suitably qualified staff with relevant experience and are competently matched to their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Since the first inspection in December 2025, the registered service manager has put measures in place to gain management oversight of the service and the incidents occurring across the service. Staff have attended additional training. The criteria for accepting new children to come to the service through the admissions process is clearer. The team leaders have regular meetings. However, the range of introduced changes has not yet led to improvement for the children in their day-to-day experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager does respond appropriately to requests from social workers for information about their child. The frequency and quality of reporting to social workers have improved. However, not all premises have embedded the changes being made to improve practice, creating a weakness in the service provided to children. The day-to-day engagement from staff with the children continues to be poor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers did not demonstrate that all staff have the appropriate skills and experience to identify children’s risks and vulnerabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual’s understanding is that the statement of purpose is prepared for the regulator. The staff turnover is high. Workforce morale is low. Some staff have not been paid. Further staff are being recruited at a time when some staff are being made redundant. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Statutory requirements

Requirement Due Date The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires, and leads a culture in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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Statutory requirements

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Statutory requirements

lead and manage the supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Statutory requirements

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform;

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Statutory requirements

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff;

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Statutory requirements

ensure that a business continuity plan is in place, outlining the actions the registered provider will take during unplanned disruption, covering all areas of the undertaking’s operation, including staffing, premises and emergency scenarios. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(c)(g)(k)) 8 July 2026

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Statutory requirements

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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Statutory requirements

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Statutory requirements

are familiar and act in accordance with child protection policies; 8 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 5 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or any other harm, and act to reduce such risk;

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Statutory requirements

Work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(f)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Statutory requirements

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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Statutory requirements

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Statutory requirements

ensure that plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child;

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Statutory requirements

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Statutory requirements

in the event that the registered person or a member of staff considers that an accommodating authority or relevant person is failing to provide the support set out in a child’s relevant plans, make representations, or, as the case may be, enable staff to make representations, to the accommodating authority or relevant person with a view to ensuring that the child’s needs are met. ( Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b)(c)(h)) 8 July 2026

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 6

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Vineyard Homes Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Tendai Kazingizi

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: gibson@vineyardhomeslimited.co.uk

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Inspectors

Phyllis Dyer, Social Care Inspector Daniela Ferrario, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Vineyard Homes Limited 7 and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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