Managing Housing Benefit Claims in Supported Housing | Part E: Tools and Appendices
This appendix is a model for recording the care, support or supervision, intensive housing management and maintenance that a scheme actually delivers. It puts Chapter 14 (14.6) and Chapter 15 into practice, and follows on from the support plan in Appendix 6. It has five parts:
- Part A: tenant activity log
- Part B: scheme logs for repairs, call-outs and checks
- Part C: summary activity record, which is the document usually sent to the council
- Part D: notes on keeping and using the logs
- Part E: a worked example, continuing the example in Appendix 6
Why records matter. Care, support or supervision must actually be provided; support that exists only on paper is not support (R(H) 6/08). Whether a landlord’s service is more than minimal is difficult to judge “without having close regard to what the landlord has actually done” (DW v Oxford CC [2012] UKUT 52 (AAC), para 79). Good records are the provider’s best evidence, and the council’s best assurance.
Status of the model. No particular format is required by law. Most providers already record this information in a case management system. The model shows what a good record contains; providers can use their own system where it captures the same information.
Three principles.
- Record what was done and why, not just how long it took. There is no minimum number of hours (DWP guidance, para 151). Time can be recorded where useful, for example for apportionment (Chapter 9, 9.3), but it is never the test (Chapter 15, 15.3).
- Link each entry to the plan. Each entry should refer to a need in the tenant’s support plan (Appendix 6, B1) and use the same type codes, so it is clear what is eligible.
- Summarise for the council. Councils usually need the summary in Part C, not the logs themselves. Full case notes, minute-by-minute logs and timesheets by tenant rarely add anything and raise data protection concerns (Chapter 12, 12.3 and 12.6).
Type codes (as in Appendix 6):
- HRS: housing-related support (eligible)
- IHM: intensive housing management and maintenance (eligible)
- SUP: supervision, including welfare checks and on-call cover (eligible)
- CPS: care or personal support (not eligible; recorded so it can be apportioned and its funding shown)
Part A: Tenant activity log
One log for each tenant. Record each planned session and each unplanned contact, with the need in the support plan it relates to.
| Date | Activity and plan need | Type | By | Outcome and follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Missed or refused contacts. Record these too, with what was done to re-engage the tenant. A pattern of refused support is relevant to whether support is in fact provided and needed, and should prompt a plan review.
Part B: Scheme logs
Some evidence relates to the whole scheme rather than one tenant. These logs are kept at scheme level and summarised in the scheme’s annual review (Appendix 4).
B1. Repairs and maintenance log
Record the cause of each repair, so that damage and extra work linked to tenants’ needs can be identified (Chapter 15, 15.4).
| Date reported | Property and room | Repair and cause | Linked to tenant need? | Response and date completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Linked to tenant need. Answer “yes” where the repair arises from a tenant’s needs or behaviour, or where the work was arranged in a special way because of those needs, such as timing, accompaniment or making safe. Ordinary wear and tear and statutory checks are “no” (Chorley BC v IT [2009] UKUT 107 (AAC), para 71).
B2. Call-out and intervention log
Record each out-of-hours call and each unplanned intervention by staff, whether or not a visit was needed (Chapter 15, 15.5).
| Date and time | Tenant or area | Nature of call or concern | Response | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
B3. Property and welfare checks log
Record checks that go beyond statutory duties, what they found and what was done. Statutory safety checks can be listed for completeness, but they add little on their own (Chorley BC v EM, para 155).
| Check date | Property or room | Type of check | Findings | Action taken |
|---|---|---|---|---|
B4. Cover arrangements
A short record, updated when it changes, of the supervision cover actually in place.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Staff visiting or on site: days and hours | |
| On-call cover: hours, who covers, how tenants reach them | |
| Expected response to a call | |
| Rota held and where |
Part C: Summary activity record
The summary activity record is the document usually sent to the council, on request or at review. It covers one tenant for a stated period, typically one to three months, and is drawn from the logs in Parts A and B.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Tenant reference and scheme | |
| Period covered | |
| Support plan date and last review | |
| Completed by, role and date |
| Type | What was done in the period | How often | Records held |
|---|---|---|---|
| HRS | |||
| IHM | |||
| SUP | |||
| CPS (ineligible; say who provides and funds it) |
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Contacts missed or refused, and action taken | |
| Changes in need or risk | |
| Plan changes made or due |
Part D: Notes on keeping and using the logs
For providers:
- Record promptly. Entries made at the time, or the same day, are more reliable than records written up later.
- Be factual and brief. Record what happened and what was done. Avoid sensitive detail that is not needed for the purpose.
- Use the same codes as the plan. Consistent codes make the summary quick to produce and support the apportionment in the rent build-up (Appendix 8).
- Record supervision even when nothing happens. A welfare check that finds nothing wrong is still supervision. The cover arrangements in B4, with the call-out log in B2, show that oversight is in place (Chapter 6, 6.6).
- Keep records secure, in line with the provider’s data protection and retention policies, and for long enough to deal with any review, appeal or overpayment question.
For councils:
- Ask for the summary first. Ask for the logs only where a specific question cannot be answered from the summary, and say why (Chapter 12, 12.4).
- Use sampling. At a scheme where tenants’ needs and support are broadly similar, a sample of summaries can show whether the scheme operates as described, without asking for records on every claim (CH/1289/2007, para 32; Chapter 14, 14.6).
- Read the record as a whole. A quiet month, or a low number of call-outs, does not show that support is not needed. Supervision that works may result in few incidents. But a service that is very rarely used over a long period may indicate that it is not more than minimal (R(H) 4/09; Chapter 15, 15.5).
- Do not apply an hours threshold (DWP guidance, para 151).
Part E: Worked example
This example is fictional. It continues the example in Appendix 6: a tenant in a five-bedroom shared house for single homeless adults, with weekday visiting staff and 24-hour on-call cover. It shows one month, the second month of the tenancy.
E1. Tenant activity log (extract)
| Date | Activity and plan need | Type | By | Outcome and follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 March | Weekly session: checked rent account; helped report a change in income to Housing Benefit (plan: arrears risk) | HRS | Support worker | Change reported; rent account clear |
| 2 March | Talked through cooking on a budget (plan: living skills) | CPS | Support worker | Tenant to try two meals this week |
| 5 March | Room and fire safety check; cigarette burns on carpet and clutter near heater; agreed plan to clear hazards (plan: upkeep and fire risk) | IHM | Housing officer | Hazards cleared same day; carpet repair ordered |
| 9 March | Weekly session: tenant missed; visited later and rearranged (plan: all needs) | HRS | Support worker | Session held 10 March |
| 10 March | Weekly session: anxiety about a letter from a creditor; explained it and agreed next steps (plan: arrears risk) | HRS | Support worker | Tenant to take the letter to an advice service |
| 12 March | Former associate visiting the house repeatedly; spoke to tenant and visitor; reminded of visitor rules (plan: exploitation risk) | SUP | Scheme staff | Visitor left; tenant agreed to tell staff if pressured |
| 14 March | Welfare check after the previous night’s incident (plan: relapse and crisis) | SUP | On-call worker | Tenant safe; relapse plan reviewed |
| 16 March | Weekly session: rent account; preparing for a GP appointment (plan: arrears risk; living skills) | HRS, CPS | Support worker | Rent clear; tenant attended GP |
| 19 March | Carpet repaired; tenant anxious, so contractor visit arranged for when the support worker was present (plan: anxiety about contractors) | IHM | Housing officer | Repair completed without distress |
| 23 March | Weekly session and fortnightly room check (plan: arrears risk; upkeep and fire risk) | HRS, IHM | Support worker, housing officer | Room safe; no new hazards |
| 30 March | Weekly session; talked about move-on goals (plan: move-on) | HRS | Support worker | Move-on discussed at next review |
E2. Call-out log (extract)
| Date and time | Tenant or area | Nature of call or concern | Response | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 March, 23:40 | Tenant, Room 3 | Another resident called on-call: tenant intoxicated and shouting in the hall | On-call worker spoke to tenant by phone, then attended | Tenant settled; no damage; welfare check booked for next day |
| 27 March, 02:15 | Communal area | Fire alarm activated by smoke from cooking | On-call worker attended and checked the house; alarm reset | No injury; reminder to residents about cooking safety |
E3. Summary activity record for March
| Type | What was done in the period | How often | Records held |
|---|---|---|---|
| HRS | Tenancy sustainment sessions; rent account checks; Housing Benefit change report; help with a creditor letter; move-on planning | Weekly (one rearranged) | Tenant activity log |
| IHM | Room and fire safety checks; hazard plan; carpet repair arranged around tenant’s anxiety | Fortnightly, and as needed | Tenant activity log; repairs log |
| SUP | Visitor intervention; on-call response at night; welfare check after incident; general weekday oversight of the house | As needed; on-call 24 hours | Tenant activity log; call-out log; rota |
| CPS (ineligible) | Living skills and confidence: cooking, preparing for GP appointment, delivered by the support worker and apportioned out of the service charge. Alcohol treatment by the drug and alcohol service, not by the landlord | About 30 minutes weekly | Tenant activity log |
This summary, with the support plan, would usually be enough for a council to see that support is being delivered, that it is linked to the tenant’s needs, and that the eligible and ineligible elements are separated. The logs themselves would only be needed to answer a specific question.
Previous: Appendix 6: Model Needs Assessment and Support Plan
Next: Appendix 8: Model Rent and Service Charge Build-Up
This template is licensed under CC BY 4.0: you can adapt it, with credit to SHP. See Rights and licence. Supported Housing People Ltd, Version 1.0, October 2026.