The report is critical of the proposed approach and makes a number of recommendations. Homeless Link represents members on two of the four task and finish groups convened by MHCLG to help with the development of the funding proposals. Homeless Link sat on the group looking at short-term accommodation and also at fair access to funding. The final reports from all four task and finish groups are available on the Government website.
The Government runs a consultation on its proposals to apply the Local Housing Allowance cap to supported housing. Any shortfall between the LHA rate and the rent will be funded from a ring-fenced grant held at local authority level. Institutional investors can therefore be confident that investing in the development of supported housing for people with these additional needs who are consequently homeless is as secure as, for example, Specialised Supported Housing for people who need high levels of care.
Indeed, supported housing schemes for people who are homeless or at risk of it as a consequence of the additional needs described above will, in some cases, be Specialised Supported Housing. With this in mind we are pleased to say that we can now positively respond to providers and commissioners of services for people who, for whatever reason including those mentioned above, are homeless or at risk of it, irrespective of the additional needs that caused them to be so.
One of our capital finance partners has access to a capital fund specifically for the development of services for such people. Support Solutions can assist with local authority stakeholder communication and will secure the revenue required in order to support the scheme over the long term. We are very aware that provider agencies need access to good quality buildings in order to expand their work to meet the needs of people who are homeless or at risk of it for a variety of reasons, and for whom such services are currently in short supply.
Unfortunately, however, this excludes people with no access to public funds. Any and all supported housing developed by this model will be leased to a specialist Registered Provider. We have reviewed some detailed quantitative research [2] on the prevalence of homelessness across the UK. These are identified below. We may be able to help.
In such cases it is useful to look at recorded data on rough sleeping in addition to the use of bed and breakfast and temporary accommodation. Areas of the UK that have high incidences of rough sleeping and of the use of bed and breakfast and temporary accommodation are those areas to which the capital fund wishes to target its capital investment. With regard to rough sleeping the methods used to estimate the numbers of rough sleepers vary between the constituent nations of the UK.
Data for the numbers of people in bed and breakfast and temporary accommodation are obviously more reliable as local authorities place people in such facilities and keep records accordingly. However, we would be going beyond the scope of this Briefing if we were to replicate the figures here. Therefore, rather than giving a numerical figure, which we would immediately have to qualify as a consequence of the unsatisfactory nature of the rough sleeping component, it makes more sense to identify the areas where the incidence of rough sleeping and the use of bed and breakfast and temporary accommodation is highest.
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To help us improve GOV. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Cookies on GOV. UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Home Welfare Heating and housing benefits. Press release All supported housing funding to be retained in welfare system. Once a claim is accepted as an exempt accommodation claim, rent increases may be higher than for mainstream accommodation, however all landlords of supported housing need to be able to demonstrate to council housing benefit teams that both rents and service charges are reasonable and justifiable.
The council can restrict the level of the increase for existing tenants to those for similar accommodation in the relevant area if it can identify similar accommodation. However, in practice the evidence burden is so great that it is extremely difficult to do so. These are:. Table 1 sets out how these four categories are defined in relation to housing benefit in terms of the type of landlord that can provide these types of supported housing and whether or not care, support or supervision needs to be provided to the tenants by or on behalf of the landlord.
In essence, specified accommodation covers the categories of supported housing that are exempt from welfare reform provisions, such as the benefit cap, housing benefit no longer being paid direct to the landlord, and in some circumstances the removal of the spare room subsidy. This ensures that individuals living in such supported housing receive their full benefit entitlements and continue to have their housing costs covered by housing benefit, rather than through Universal Credit.
Worcestershire County Council has taken a mixed market approach to encouraging the development of supported housing, including for people with a learning disability and autistic people.
The council has developed partnerships with a mix of long-established stock owning registered providers whilst at the same time working a small number of lease-based registered providers providing specialised supported housing to develop a wide mix housing options.
This approach has enabled commissioners to support more than people to move into a wider range of housing options over the last three to four years. Kirklees Council has produced a clearly written guide to help families understand and navigate the housing options available for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Leicestershire County Council has undertaken extensive analysis of the future need for different types of supported accommodation based on quantitative and demographic data as well as engagement with local people.
In addition, commissioners are developing improved links with the more traditional place-based RPs in their area. This is creating strategic links to a greater range of RPs than otherwise would be case for individual commissioners. Email: info housinglin. A pdf version of the report is available to download. Home Publications. Specialised supported housing: guidance for local government and NHS commissioners. Housing, planning and homelessness.
Jump to section Summary Glossary Introduction Background and context Advice for commissioners Annexe A: Supported housing and housing benefit Annexe B: Commissioning supported housing Downloadable version of the report. Voids: Vacant un-let housing units.
It covers advice for commissioners regarding: how best to ensure the current SSH lease-based model works well for the people living there considerations about the sustainability of existing lease-based SSH schemes considerations about entering into new lease-based and other SSH arrangements. What is specialised supported housing? Checklist one For commissioners about ensuring that SSH, including the lease-based model of SSH, works well for people living in such supported housing.
To ensure that each SSH scheme genuinely falls within the definition. Meet with RPs providing lease-based SSH to review each scheme to ensure they fully meet the key SSH criteria: no, or negligible, public subsidy has been received, whether in the form of grant or free land. Is it clear what has been commissioned in relation to each SSH scheme? To be aware of how each SSH scheme has been commissioned and what housing and care has been commissioned.
Identify: how the housing has been specified and the arrangements or agreements that are in place. Rent and service charges To understand the rent and service charges being levied for SSH schemes.
From meeting with RPs providing lease-based SSH schemes and with housing benefit teams within the council: Establish the rent and service charges being levied by the RP for each lease-based SSH scheme. Determine what the rent and service charges are paying for and assess the extent to which the service charges levied reflect the actual services being provided to tenants. Housing benefit teams should be able to advise commissioners about this.
Commissioners may want to undertake this type of benchmarking with other local authorities that have SSH schemes where they have no or limited comparator supported housing schemes. Commissioners should use this range of evidence to ensure that they are in agreement with rent and service charges being levied. Housing benefit eligibility To be aware of how rents and service charges being levied for SSH schemes are eligible and treated under housing benefit regulations.
From meeting with RPs providing lease-based SSH schemes in the council area: Establish from the RPs for each lease-based SSH scheme the extent to which their rents and service charges are eligible for housing benefit.
Establish from the RPs for each lease-based SSH scheme whether their rents and service charges have been accepted by the council housing benefit team. Meet with housing benefit team colleagues: To corroborate the information and evidence provided by the RPs. Identify whether there are any concerns from the council housing benefit team regarding rent and service charges levels and eligibility.
Safeguarding To be aware of any safeguarding issues that appear to be specific to a SSH scheme. From council adult social care safeguarding leads: Identify whether there have been any safeguarding alerts regarding people living in lease-based SSH schemes in the council area. Identify whether there are any safeguarding issues that appear to be specific to lease-based SSH schemes. Tenancy agreements To be aware of the types of tenancy agreements being used. Determine whether tenants are being offered the greatest degree of security of tenure.
Housing and care provider arrangements To identify whether the housing and care services are provided by separate organisations.
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