Specified Supported Accommodation and Houses of Multiple Occupation
Council concerns with the provision of Supported Housing and support services
The Council has increasing concerns about the number of problems associated with the provision of Supported Housing and support services in the Hyndburn area and has set up a group of internal officers and other external partners to discuss the concerns raised. To consider what action needs to be taken to achieve the Council’s aim of eliminating, or at the very least, radically reducing these problems.
Concerns regarding the growth and exploitation of Supported Exempt Accommodation
The Council has increasing concerns over the growth of the numbers of Providers setting up housing schemes specifically to meet the definition of Supported Exempt Accommodation in order to obtain the higher levels of financial support available through Housing Benefit and exemptions from the wider welfare reforms.
There are concerns that some of these Providers are exploiting the Housing Benefit rules by setting up organisations that claim to be a not-for-profit but in practice operate as a for-profit entity, taking large amounts of money from the system whilst providing poor quality accommodation and poor levels of support to vulnerable tenants.
There are many Providers of good quality supported accommodation who provide good quality care, support or supervision. However, it has been found that some are providing accommodation that is not up to a good standard and where the care, support or supervision is inadequate or not provided at all.
There is also concern that rents in the sector are particularly high, even when taking into account the accepted higher costs of providing supported accommodation.
Concerns regarding the lack of regulation of Supported Exempt Accommodation
There is no single overall regulator of supported accommodation. Where the Provider is a registered Provider of social housing, the organisation / landlord will be registered with and regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (the Regulator) and subject to the associated regulatory framework.
However, in England there is no legal requirement to register with the Regulator and many choose not to do so.
Two main issues associated with regulation and avoiding the regulatory framework are causing most concern; provision of Supported Housing –
- leased from commercial property owners / investors; known as the lease-based model which is associated with investors looking to maximise returns from Housing Benefit; and
- not commissioned by the Council or NHS clinical commissioning groups, which is under-regulated without any official oversight of the quality and quantity of care, support or supervision provided by or on behalf of the landlord.
The growth of lease-based Providers of Supported Exempt Accommodation is of particular concern. Under this model the association leases accommodation with day-to-day management supplied through contracts with managing agents.
Concerns regarding anti-social behaviour on houses of multiple occupation
The Council is also concerned by the increase in problems experienced by local communities whose area includes accommodation known as houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), which includes some Specified Supported Accommodation.
The problems brought about by the increase in this type of accommodation includes, but is not limited to, an increase in crime and anti-social behaviours resulting in increasing support to help residents deal with this.
Concerns about reduced Government subsidy for Supported Exempt Accommodation provided by certain types of landlords
Housing Benefit is administered by the Council on behalf of Central Government who reimburse the Council via the Housing Benefit Subsidy Claim.
For Supported Exempt Accommodation that is provided by non-registered housing associations, registered charities and voluntary organisations, the rate of subsidy that the Council is entitled to claim is significantly reduced, creating a financial burden on the Council’s finances and the Council Tax Payer.
In the financial year 2023-2024 the subsidy shortfall amounted to almost £500,000; for 2024-2025 the projected loss is estimated to be approximately £1 Million.
This pattern of growth is unsustainable and impacts heavily on other services that the Council has a statutory duty to provide.