Managing Housing Benefit Claims in Supported Housing | Part E: Tools and Appendices
This appendix lists the main sources used in this manual, grouped by type, with the chapters they relate to. Case law is listed separately in Appendix 1, and the DWP guidance is cross-referenced paragraph by paragraph in Appendix 3. Links were checked in October 2026. Legislation links go to the latest version on legislation.gov.uk, which may not show amendments that are not yet in force; for exempt accommodation, the provisions preserved by Schedule 3 to the Consequential Provisions Regulations 2006 must be read alongside the current regulations (Chapter 2).
14.1 Supported Housing People resources
SHP publishes its views, updates and practice briefings at supportedhousing.blog. The posts below are the most relevant to this manual. Where a post and this manual differ, the manual reflects SHP’s current position.
Other SHP pages.
- Enhanced Housing Benefit: SHP’s overview of enhanced Housing Benefit for supported housing
- The Exempt Accommodation Project: SHP’s partnership model connecting council-approved supported housing providers with registered providers, to support sustainable funding, governance and compliance
- Supported Housing Consultancy: SHP’s consultancy services
14.2 Legislation
| Resource | What it covers | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 | The main rules, including liability (reg 9), eligible rent (reg 12), information (reg 86), decisions (regs 89 and 90) and payment (regs 92 to 96) | 2, 12, 18, 19 |
| Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, Schedule 1 | Ineligible service charges, including fuel | 9 |
| Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, Schedule 9 | Contents of decision notices | 19; Appendix 10 |
| Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006, Schedule 3 | Preserved rules for exempt accommodation, including alternative regulations 12 and 13 | 2, 10 |
| Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 | Persons affected, revisions, supersessions, suspension and statements of reasons | 18, 19, 20 |
| Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Social Entitlement Chamber) Rules 2008 | Appeals to the First-tier Tribunal | 20 |
| Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 | Appeals to the Upper Tribunal | 20 |
| Social Security Administration Act 1992 | Recovery of overpayments (s.75) and confidentiality of benefit information (s.123) | 13, 21; Appendix 13 |
| Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000, Schedule 7 | Housing Benefit decisions and appeals | 2, 20 |
| Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 | Supported housing strategies, standards, licensing and information sharing | 1, 17 |
| Housing Act 2004 | Housing conditions and powers of entry | 13, 22 |
| Care Act 2014, section 42 | Safeguarding enquiries | 22 |
| Data Protection Act 2018 | Data protection, including the conditions for special category data | 12; Appendix 13 |
| Welfare Reform Act 2012, section 131 | Information sharing for welfare services and Housing Benefit | Appendix 13 |
| Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36 | Landlords’ gas safety checks | 13 |
14.3 DWP guidance
| Resource | What it covers | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Housing Benefit guidance for supported housing claims | DWP’s main guidance on supported housing claims, updated 1 April 2026 | 3; Appendix 3 |
| Housing Benefit Guidance Manual, A4: Eligible rent | Eligible rent, service charges, council tax included in rent and water charges | 9, 10; Appendix 8 |
| Housing Benefit overpayments guide, Part 4 | Recovery of overpayments | 21 |
| Housing Benefit subsidy guidance manual 2025 to 2026 | Subsidy rules, including reduced subsidy where an eligible rent is restricted or above the subsidy limit | 10, 18 |
| Circular S11/2011: Risk-based verification | Different levels of checks according to risk | 12 |
| Local authority data sharing guide (withdrawn) | Use and sharing of social security information by councils | Appendix 13 |
14.4 Government policy and regulation
| Resource | What it covers | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Supported housing: National Statement of Expectations | Government expectations for planning, commissioning and oversight of supported housing | 14, 17 |
| Supported housing regulation consultation: government response | Plans for National Supported Housing Standards and licensing linked to Housing Benefit | 1, 17 |
| Exempt accommodation: government response to the Select Committee report (June 2023) | Government response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee inquiry | 1, 11 |
| Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, Exempt Accommodation report (October 2022) | Parliamentary inquiry into exempt accommodation | 1, 11 |
| Regulator of Social Housing, Lease-based providers of specialised supported housing (April 2025) | Governance and viability risks in lease-based provision | 5, 11 |
| Regulator of Social Housing, Safety and Quality Standard | Consumer standard for registered providers, in force from 1 April 2024 | 13 |
| Providing supported accommodation for children and young people | Regulation of supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17 | 13 |
| Electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors | Landlords’ electrical safety duties | 13 |
14.5 Research and evidence
| Resource | What it covers | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Supported Housing Review 2023 (Sheffield Hallam University) | National evidence on supported housing, including rents, service charges and the share eligible for Housing Benefit | 1, 10; Appendix 8 |
| Bristol City Council, written evidence EXA 115 (February 2022) | A council’s evidence to the exempt accommodation inquiry, including a rent breakdown | Appendix 8 |
| Risk, Safety and Wellbeing in Shared Exempt Accommodation in Birmingham: Summary (University of Birmingham, 2018) | Research on tenants’ experience of shared exempt accommodation | 1, 14; Appendix 6 |
14.6 Data protection
| Resource | What it covers | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| ICO, Data sharing: a code of practice, data sharing agreements | What a data sharing agreement should contain | Appendix 13 |
| ICO, A guide to the data protection exemptions | Exemptions, including for crime and taxation risk assessment systems | 12 |
14.7 Finding case law
| Resource | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Administrative Appeals Tribunal decisions | Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) decisions, searchable by subject, including Housing Benefit |
| Find Case Law, The National Archives | Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and other judgments |
| hbinfo | Housing Benefit case law and commentary, including older Commissioners’ decisions |
| Shelter Legal, Housing Benefit reconsiderations and appeals | A practitioner guide to challenging Housing Benefit decisions |
Keeping up to date. The law in this area is changing, particularly as the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 is brought into force and new Upper Tribunal decisions are published. SHP posts updates at supportedhousing.blog, and this manual will be updated as the licensing regulations, the National Supported Housing Standards and new case law take effect.
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This manual is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0: you can share it freely, with credit to SHP, without changes. See Rights and licence. Supported Housing People Ltd, Version 1.0, October 2026.
