The Supported Housing Regulation Consultation - What Supported Housing Providers Need to Know

On 20 February 2025, the Government opened the Supported Housing Regulation Consultation (the Consultation) which seeks views on the implementation of measures in the Act.

On 29 June 2023, the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 (the Act) came into force.

The Act seeks to address a lack of regulation within the supported housing sector which has fallen victim to some providers placing profit before the needs of residents which has resulted in ineffective support.

Whilst the Consultation touches on a number of topics, here we focus on four key parts:

1. The proposed National Supported Housing Standards and Principles
2. The proposed Supported Housing Licensing Regime
3. Defining ‘care, support and supervision’
4. Linking Housing Benefit eligibility to the proposed licensing regime

The Consultation can be read in full here: Supported Housing regulation: consultation

What supported housing will be covered by the Consultation?

There are four categories of accommodation that are covered by the Consultation. These are:

1. ‘Exempt accommodation’ as defined in the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006. This is accommodation that is provided by a non-metropolitan county council in England, housing association, registered charity or voluntary body that is providing “care, support or supervision” to the resident.
2. ‘Managed accommodation’ which is accommodation which is provided by a county council, housing association, registered charity or voluntary body and the resident is receiving care, support and supervision in connection to living in the home and that is not provided by the landlord.
3. Domestic abuse refuses provided by a local authority housing association, registered charity or voluntary body.
4. Hostels for homeless people provided by a local authority

The new proposed regime will apply to all these types of accommodation.

National Supported Housing Standards and Principles

There are currently no universal or enforceable standards that govern supported housing in England. The Consultation seeks views on the five principles and seven standards that they have proposed and that will underpin the new licensing regime for the sector.

The Supported Housing Licensing Regime

The introduction of a Supported Housing Licensing Regime, supported by the National Supported Housing Standards and Principles, as it is currently proposed will ensure the regulation of all applicable supported housing in order to protect residents from rogue providers who exploit vulnerable members of society.

Local authorities will be given the power to operate the licensing scheme and it will require persons ‘having control of or managing’ supported housing to apply for and comply with the conditions of any licence that is granted. The Government have proposed a number of core conditions, such as the need for schemes to be suitable for supported housing and the need to have a process in place for carrying out needs assessments for residents.

Defining Care, Support and Supervision

The Care Quality Commission (the CQC) regulate the provision of personal care within England. The CQC does not, however, regulate the quality of accommodation or the supported provided. The Consultation proposed to define “care, support and supervision” for the purposes of specified accommodation in Housing Benefit Regulations.

It is suggested that ‘care’ will follow the definition as prescribed by the CQC in England, however, the Consultation poses the question, what would you define as ‘support’ and ‘supervision’ for the purposes of Housing Benefit?

Linking Housing Benefit Eligibility to Licenses Provision

Finally, the Consultation seeks views on the intention to link the licensing regime to eligibility for Housing Benefit. In circumstances where a provider fails to obtain a licence for their scheme, the unlicensed scheme will no longer be treated as specified accommodation under the Housing Benefit Regulations. This means that the accommodation would not be eligible for Housing Benefit.

The Consultation closes on 15 May 2025 and responses can be submitted here: Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act – Consultation

This article is part of our Supported Housing series, click here to read more from the series.