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Background  The social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities presents a major challenge to services. As part of a 12‐year follow up of people resettled from long‐stay hospitals, the size of 213 individuals’ social networks and the types of social support they received were investigated, as viewed by people with intellectual disabilities themselves. The types of support received in four different kinds of community accommodation were compared.

Method  Individuals were interviewed and their social support networks mapped using a Social Network Guide developed for the study. Descriptive statistics were generated and comparisons made using generalized linear modelling.

Results  The sample comprised 117 men (average age 51 years) and 96 women (average age 56 years). All but seven were White British, 92% were single and they had in general, mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. The …