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Government ‘recognises problems’ with exempt accommodation sector
Ministers “recognise the problems” with exempt accommodation and are considering whether increased regulation of providers is required, a senior official has said.
Speaking at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ending Homelessness, Cathy Page from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the government is currently working to find “appropriate” and “proportionate” solutions for the under-fire sector.
Exempt accommodation is used to house people with support needs and is ‘exempt’ from the usual caps on Local Housing Allowance, meaning providers can charge high rents that the government covers via housing benefit.
The rules were brought into place in recognition of the increased costs associated with supported housing, however homelessness charity Crisis has said the sector is “dangerously under-regulated” and that some providers are “motivated only by money”.
Speaking at the APPG meeting yesterday, Matt Downie, director of policy at Crisis, said: “We are seeing unscrupulous agencies exploit the gaps in the regulatory regime to claim higher benefit levels while providing minimal levels of support.”
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Vicky McDermott, chief executive of exempt provider Prospect, said the model is “a prime target for criminality, sharp practice and making easy money at the expense of really vulnerable people”.
Ms McDermott is part of a new management team that was brought into Prospect after the Regulator of Social Housing found that it was non-compliant with regulatory standards.
This team is currently in the process of closing down the organisation after discovering that it could not provide the level of support expected while still remaining financially viable.
Ms Page said the government “recognises the problems” with exempt accommodation that were raised during the APPG meeting.
She pointed to the four pilots that the government is currently funding in a bid to improve standards within the supported housing sectors in Birmingham, Hull, Blackpool, Bristol and Blackburn.
“We have an active programme of work which we’re being asked to carry out by [rough sleeping minister Eddie Hughes] on looking not just at good practice, but whether or not things like regulation are required, what we want to do about support,” she said.
Ms Page said the government must take time to ensure its response is “thorough” and “proportionate”.
“We need to get this right, because when we get this wrong it really does impact lives,” she said.
Research released yesterday by Crisis to coincide with the APPG meeting found that 150,000 households are currently living in exempt accommodation, which is 62% higher than in 2016.
Meanwhile, research carried out by Prospect estimated that more than £816m in housing benefit went to exempt providers last year.
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