The future of supported housing is under threat

Last week, the papers reported that a proposed change to housing benefit will see 85 per cent of new supported housing scrapped. You may not be familiar with this term, supported housing, so here are a couple of things you should know about it.

First, it allows some of the most vulnerable people in the country to live fulfilling lives in their communities; somewhere near you, someone with a learning disability, poor mental health or fleeing domestic violence is able to go about their day thanks to the extra support they get at home.

The second thing you should know is that its future is under theat.

A survey of our housing association members—who provide three-quarters of all supported housing—found that plans to build more than 7,000 new homes had been dropped. The government consistently says that it supports this work and recognises how important it is. Indeed, it has set money aside and has committed in principle to providing the revenue support needed.

Frustratingly however, the government has come up with a means of getting the money to users and providers that simply won’t work. And it’s this that’s leaving plans for new homes dead in the water and putting existing services at risk.

Presently, supported housing relies on residents paying rent, which for many is covered by housing benefit. This system has worked well for 30 years and has meant that providers and users can plan with confidence. Now, the government proposes that housing benefit for supported housing be capped in line with the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), roughly 30 per cent of private sector rents—or the rents charged by the cheapest, least secure and poorest quality landlords in that sector.

Capping housing benefit in line with a measure that bears no relation to the service provided is not the way to help people who need support. A joint inquiry by the DWP and DCLG Select Committees agreed, and said that the LHA cap is an “inappropriate” basis to determine the rent element of supported housing. I went further in my evidence to that inquiry when I said it was incompetent.

The government has said that there will be a top up available from local authorities to plug the gap between the LHA cap and the actual rent charged. No one believes that this will work in every area, partly because there are no details of how the top up will be funded and managed, and partly because, in some areas, the LHA cap is so low that the top up required will be huge. Providers can’t take the risk of committing to large amounts of long-term debt unless they can be reasonably assured that the revenue charges will be met.

Housing associations, local councils and voluntary organisations all over the country work together to provide these homes. They often survive on very small budgets and very low margins. While the funding to deliver support and care has become much harder to source over the past few years, the commitment to their residents means that these projects keep on providing brilliant services.

They provide support for those who have served our country in the armed services and who may have PTSD or other challenges. We provide support for older people as they become increasingly frail in extra care villages. We have become much better—although still not yet good enough—at caring for people with dementia and providing support for young people who have been abused at home or are leaving care. And this all is just the start of what could be a very long list.

But the introduction of this cap may be the final straw.

Perhaps the last thing you should know is that there is an easy and achievable fix for this: a supported housing allowance—a level of support for rents that is appropriate for supported housing. This may take a little time to implement—but we have time. Housing benefit in its current form works well for supported housing. Surely, in this most critical area, it makes sense to take things a little slower to get this right. Failure to do so will blight the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Join the Start at Home celebration of supported housing on 1st September