Supported housing providers will have noticed recently that enhanced housing benefit claims are subject to more intense scrutiny than has historically been the case.
Tag: value generation
The Exempt Accommodation Inquiry Report
There is a saying that “hard cases make bad law” and I believe, unfortunately, that this is what we’re seeing here. With some exceptions, notably on domestic violence and abuse services, this Report is a missed opportunity based on an inadequate grasp of the supported housing ecosystem that it wishes to reform.
The Problems with Exempt Accommodation
This influx of the uninvited has led to significant pressure on local authorities and enhanced Housing Benefit. Alleged supported housing providers, whether connected to dubiously motivated private capital or not, have popped up all over the place, usually in the form of a CIC, and demanded enhanced Housing Benefit for alleged supported housing services that no one asked them to provide.
The Supported Housing (Regulation) Bill
In devising a system of regulation and oversight, we have the opportunity to either create a system that enables supported housing to generate value in a big way or one that is an albatross that starves supported housing of revenue and serves only to support the discredited system of public sector cost control within which the balance between cost and quality has become compromised.
The National Statement of Expectations for Supported Housing
It has been five years since the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review suggested changes to the regulation and oversight of supported housing. The National Statement of Expectations for Supported Housing published on 20th October 2020 is an underwhelming development after this five year wait.
Working Together to Develop New Supported Housing
I’m prompted to write about this having recently been in discussion with social investors and property developers who are looking for community housing associations and provider partners to work with in the development of new supported housing.
I’ve also been asked to help connect providers with people who fund and develop property for use of supported housing.
Please get in touch directly with me and I can put you in touch with my wide network of contacts in the provider, housing association, commissioning and investor/developer sectors.
The Oversight of Supported Housing
No one is responsible for the oversight of supported housing. Some might argue that there are plenty of regulators in the supported housing sector: the various national social housing regulators, the Charity Commission in England and Wales, the OSCR in Scotland. To a greater or lesser extent these agencies might regulate supported housing providers, but they don’t oversee supported housing or what it does, and they probably shouldn’t try.
Funding Supported Housing
I believe that the supported housing component of Universal Credit should be redesignated “Supported Housing Rent”, which should be payable to all supported housing providers regardless of legal identity, provided that they are properly regulated & they generate value.
What is “Supported Housing”? (Part 1)
Supported Housing: A Victim of its Own Misdescription As an advocate for supported housing I think it is important to think about what we actually mean when we think of “supported housing”. In my experience it is certainly the case that supported housing has been and remains a victim of its own misdescription. We have… Continue reading What is “Supported Housing”? (Part 1)