UK Inquiry Tracker

Supported housing

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 24 May 2023 Closed: 14 Feb 2024 Parliament page

Supported housing is accommodation that is provided alongside support, supervision or care to help people with specific needs to live as independently as possible in the community. This includes, for example, older people, people with a learning disability, people with a physical disability, people at risk of or who have … Read more Supported housing is accommodation that is provided alongside support, supervision or care to help people with specific needs to live as independently as possible in the community. This includes, for example, older people, people with a learning disability, people with a physical disability, people at risk of or who have experienced homelessness, or people recovering from drug or alcohol dependence. Supported housing can be short term or long-term, depending on a person’s needs. The National Audit Office has found in a recent investigation that gaps in data and regulation are – in some areas – allowing increasing numbers of landlords to profit by providing costly, sub-standard housing with little or no support, supervision or care. Commenting on the NAO’s findings PAC Chair Dame Meg Hillier MP said: “Vulnerable people deserve to live in housing that meets their needs. But gaps in regulation mean a concerning number live in sub-standard accommodation, at great expense to the taxpayer. Government must now capitalise on the work of its Supported Housing Programme Board and provide local authorities with the support they need, starting with meaningful data on the scale of the problem.” The Public Accounts Committee has an ongoing interest in housing related issues, including supported housing. Most recently the Committee’s Report into Affordable Homes (published in December 2022) found that the Department Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will struggle to meet its target for supported homes, and that the Department urgently needs to understand and quantify the savings that building more supported homes can make to local and central government spend on adult social care. The Committee also concluded that Department needs to work harder with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to overcome the barriers to delivery, particularly in London. In this inquiry, based on the NAO’s investigation, the Committee will look at issues including: responsibilities for supported housing; central and local oversight on supported housing; central and local government spending on supported housing; quality of the data available on supported housing; the regulation of supported housing; and the government’s current and proposed actions to improve supported housing. The Committee will question senior officials at the departments for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and Work & Pensions (W&P) on these issues. If you have evidence to inform their questioning please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 8 June 2023. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Show less

2 Recommendations

24 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 6 events

14 Feb
2024

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Seventy-seventh report from Session 2022-23

10 Jan
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sarah Healey CB CVO, Permanent Secretary, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, re Seventy-Seventh Repo…

10 Nov
2023

Report published

Seventy-Seventh Report - Supported housing

11 Jul
2023

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sarah Healey CB CV, Permanent Secretary, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, re question raised at th…

21 Jun
2023

Oral evidence

Supported housing

21 Jun
2023

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Supported housing

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

21 Jun 2023

View on parliament.uk

Supported housing

Emran Mian · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Peter Schofield CB · Department for Work and Pensions Sarah Healey · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Vikki Knight · Department of Work and Pensions

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Seventy-Seventh Report - Supported housing	HC 1330	10 Nov 2023	26	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

26 results

2 Conclusion Accepted

Seventy-Seventh Report - Supported…

Write to the Committee outlining consultation progress and supporting local authorities to implement the Act.

Exempt accommodation—an expanding sub-sector of short-term supported housing that can be of poor quality—has little regulation or oversight so leaving vulnerable people unprotected from unscrupulous providers. We echo the strength of feeling and view of the Levelling Up, Housing and … Read more

Government Response

DLUHC commits to supporting local authorities with new burdens funding (following a post-consultation assessment) and will publish guidance alongside new National Supported Housing Standards and licensing regime regulations. DLUHC has also written separately to the Committee.

HM Treasury

Supported housing

Activity timeline 6 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

Write to the Committee outlining consultation progress and supporting local authorities to implement the Act.

Summarise current and future plans to improve supported housing data, minimising burdens on local authorities.

Assess how local authorities can set licensing scheme fees to deter poor housing providers.

Inform the Committee how it will identify Housing Benefit fraud and support local authorities.

Implement solutions to reduce housing benefit subsidy loss experienced by local authorities.

Committee received evidence from DLUHC and DWP concerning supported housing provision.

Progress to improve supported housing supply remains poor, falling below targets.

Supported housing supply often fails to meet diverse local needs for vulnerable residents.

Lack of regulation in exempt accommodation leads to exploitation and disgraceful resident experiences.

Inadequate regulation of exempt accommodation permits widespread provision of substandard housing.

Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill has become an Act to improve sector standards.

New Supported Housing Act places significant unfunded burdens on local authorities.

DLUHC and DWP lack reliable national data on the supported housing sector.

DWP's current data improvements for supported housing claims only apply to new cases.

DLUHC and DWP commissioned research to improve understanding of the supported housing sector.

DLUHC's future data reliance on non-mandatory local schemes lacks clear timetable.

New Act grants local authorities non-mandatory powers to implement supported housing licensing schemes.

New supported housing licensing scheme risks unintended consequences for providers and residents.

Local authority licensing schemes rely on provider fees, posing significant funding challenges.

Lack of data hinders assessment of significant Housing Benefit fraud in supported housing

Many local authorities lack capacity to effectively tackle Housing Benefit fraud

DWP's current Housing Benefit fraud checks remain too limited at local level

DWP is taking steps to help local authorities challenge fraudulent Housing Benefit claims

Local authorities face increasing funding gaps for supported housing due to DWP regulations

Scale of supported housing subsidy loss is increasing significantly for local authorities

New Act and current measures will not sufficiently address supported housing subsidy loss

Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 2 classified

Correspondence 2 letters