Children's Home run by House & Home Living Ltd in Enfield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 1 Registered provider: House & Home Living Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in July 2025 and is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to 3 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in the home. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 4 February 2026

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/02/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 3

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Summary of findings

The child has built positive relationships with staff. The child has been unwell and is currently in hospital. The child receives frequent visits from the staff and there is strong multi-agency work taking place to ensure that the child is well prepared for their return to the home. Leadership and management in the home require improvement. There is no registered manager, oversight is not yet effective, and not all staff have the relevant training. Despite this, staff enjoy working in the home and feedback from external professionals is positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made progress with relationship building while at the home. Their social worker notes that the child has formed close bonds with the staff. Other external professionals say that the staff use patience and consistency to nurture the child and, in response, the child has begun to trust them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is currently in hospital, receiving support for their emotional health, and there are plans for the child to transition back to the home. During the child’s hospital stay, staff are supporting them to attend their routine health appointments. The child now regularly engages with the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), having previously not been accessing this support. Their CAMHS worker commends the staff for supporting the child in a ‘child-centred and trauma-informed manner’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported regular contact between the child and their mother, including driving the child to their mother’s home, which is some considerable distance away. Staff have advocated for additional family time, as this helps the child to feel more settled. The child’s social worker is positive about the staff commitment to maintaining contact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child does not consistently engage with education. However, professionals acknowledge staff efforts to support the child with their learning. The staff organised a work placement for the child at a nursery, and there are plans to help the child complete their functional skills exams once they return to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the child’s interests and ensure that the planned activities take these into account. For example, the child would like to be a police officer and staff arranged for the child to attend police cadets. The child also enjoys activities such as theatre, bowling and shopping trips.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are plans for the child to move into supported accommodation. Before the child was in hospital, staff were supporting them to develop their independence skills. The child learned about budgeting, cleanliness, social skills and achieving objectives. The child was also receiving mentoring support on topics such as self-confidence and trust. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 4 The home is tidy, the child’s bedroom is personalised to their taste, and the living area has artwork selected by the child. However, the home needs updating in some areas to make it more homely. Currently, the garden is not an inviting space and there is a broken fence. Managers are aware of this.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Leaders and staff understand the child’s vulnerabilities. Staff have completed the necessary referrals to ensure that the child receives additional support from external agencies. For example, the child is working with the fire service and substance abuse professionals. The child’s risk assessment outlines strategies to help staff to reduce the risks. However, this document is not completely up to date.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have reflective discussions with the child about the importance of their safety. For example, several discussions have taken place regarding the risks associated with smoking, vaping and alcohol misuse. During these discussions, staff set targets for the child, to aid their understanding.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Before being in hospital, the child often went missing from the home. Staff would contact the child, look for them and notify professionals and the family. The police say that the child was always located very quickly. The child has a close relationship with their return home interviewer, who says that staff ‘work creatively to reduce missing episodes’.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand how to support the child with their feelings and behaviour. On one occasion, a physical hold was used to manage a situation. Leaders are aware that their record of the incident lacks detail about the debrief that was held with the staff and the child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Leaders have ensured that there is an external fire risk assessment. However, some of the actions have not been completed by the given deadline.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been several changes to the leadership and management team and there is currently no registered manager. There are two home managers who have management responsibilities and they work closely with the child. One of the managers is the child’s key worker. However, this creates additional pressure for the senior team in terms of completing managerial tasks and supporting the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home managers have oversight systems in place. However, the systems are not yet effective, and this results in delayed management oversight. The child’s records do not accurately reflect their time in the hospital, and their care plan lacks details about family time arrangements. Some missing-from-care and incident records lack detail about staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 5 practice and how staff can improve. The responsible individual plans to have oversight of written records to strengthen this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Not all staff have the training that is mandatory or specific to the child’s needs. The responsible individual confirmed that a new approach is being used to support the child. Not all staff are trained in this area, and the workforce plan and statement of purpose do not detail this new approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Some staff do not demonstrate a clear understanding of the local authority designated officer’s (LADO) role regarding safeguarding concerns. This lack of awareness creates a risk of delay in notifying the appropriate external agencies about serious incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers demonstrate some strengths. All staff are safely recruited before working with the children. Team meetings are reflective and child focused. Supervisions take place regularly and staff find these discussions supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are proud of how they are supporting the child, and one external professional noted that they go ‘above and beyond’ for the child. Leaders, managers and staff clearly care for the child. The social worker commends the staff for their excellent communication and their ability to escalate issues quickly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 6

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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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 3 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires, and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h)) 3 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 7 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive support and training that is mandatory and specific to the child’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must also ensure that staff are trained in the new approach that the home uses to support the child.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that records include details of the action required to prevent similar situations in the future and/or to address gaps in staff’s practice.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must maintain effective oversight of staff practice, in particular missing-from-home, safeguarding, and records.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1) (a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the child’s records include all the relevant information. This includes care plans, risk assessments, incident and missing-from-home records. 3 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they continue to improve the interior and exterior of the home. The broken fence in the garden should be repaired. The registered person should ensure that all actions in the fire risk assessment are completed by the given deadline. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce plan and statement of purpose are up to date and reflect the approach the home uses to support the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 8  The registered person should ensure that all staff are aware of safeguarding procedures and of external services they can contact. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: House & Home Living Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 80 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE

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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2836395 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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