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MP launches bill to bring in tougher regulation for supported housing
A Bristol MP has launched a new bill aimed at bringing legislation that would improve the regulation of supported housing across the country.
Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, launched a 10-minute rule motion in parliament last week, which is aimed at tackling poor standards and lack of oversight in the sector.
The bill will be geared to tackling the lack of regulation in the exempt accommodation sector, as well as giving local authorities more powers to inspect and take action when the care and support being provided is substandard.
Exempt accommodation refers to a category of supported housing that is not commissioned under local authorities’ homelessness services or social care funding, but instead is funded directly by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Due to landlords providing loosely defined “care and support” services, they are exempt from housing benefit restrictions and as a result can charge much higher rents than regular social landlords.
There have been a number of concerns with the quality of housing and support being provided by landlords working in this sector, particularly in the city of Birmingham.
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Ms McCarthy said the bill would tackle the small minority of bad providers that are treating people as “cash cows” and not providing people the support and care they need.
Her action was launched following a high-profile issue in Wick House, a supported housing facility in her constituency, which saw several deaths in the space of a few years. Ms McCarthy said that this included the death of George Mahoney in 2016, who was found in a pool of blood, and Paul Way dying on 13 October 2017 but his body only being discovered three days later.
Last year, the Charity Commission sanctioned the company that ran the facility, Bristol Sheltered Accommodation & Support, after it failed to report the deaths of people under its care as well as instances of misconduct by former directors. A new charity is now running Wick House.
In its judgement, the Charity Commission said the case highlighted wider issues around the oversight of supported accommodation.
The legislation, which has yet to be written in detail, is also calling for greater local authority oversight and enforcement over standards of care and condition in supported housing properties and for the prohibition of placing children in care in unregulated accommodation.
The Children’s Commissioner unregulated report earlier this year revealed that 12,800 children in care spent some time in an unregulated placement, meaning not regulated by Ofsted, in 2018/19.
In a joint report on the future of supported housing published in 2017, the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and the DWP said the government should establish a set of national standards to enable the monitoring of of supervision in England and Wales.
It also said providers should be registered to a local authority, even if not commissioned by that authority, and that councils should undertake annual inspection of supported housing providers accommodation. However, these suggestions have yet to be put into action.
Last month the government published a document outlining the national statement of expectations regarding supported housing. The document set out guidelines for local authorities and supported housing providers detailing good practice for the housing management aspects of supported housing provision.
Last Wednesday saw the bill’s first reading in parliament, with the second reading now expected in January next year. It has a number of other backers including Clive Betts, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee; Conservative MP Bob Blackman; and Labour MP Shabana Mahmood.
A 10-minute rule motion is a type of private members’ bill that are introduced in the House of Commons by backbenchers. They must go through a series of readings before they can be made law and can be challenged at each stage.
