Supported Housing – future funding February 2017 – ‘Feeling at Home’ seminar www.sitra.org www.homeless.org.uk

Background 2015 Summer Budget: it was announced plans “to reduce rents paid by tenants in social housing in England by 1% a year for 4 years from 2016.” 2015 Spending Review/Autumn Statement: the government announced plans to “cap the amount of rent that Housing Benefit will cover in the social sector to the relevant Local Housing Allowance”, including “the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) for single claimants under 35” from April 2016. Early 2015: DWP and DCLG commissioned a piece of research from IPSOS Mori to determine “the scale, shape and cost of the supported housing sector”. There has been lots of lobbying from the sector to exempt supported housing from these policies, which resulted in: An exemption of supported housing from LHA cap until April 2019 Service charges were removed from the 1% rent reduction and introduction delayed until April 2017 November 2016 – February 2017: Launch of Government consultation www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Proposals Introduction of LHA caps From April 2019-20, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) caps will be introduced for supported housing as part of a new funding system Caps from 2019-20 will be at the LHA one bedroom rate not the Shared Accommodation Rate Rents and service charges up to the LHA rate will be paid for through Universal Credit/Housing Benefit Where the local LHA rate does not fully cover the costs of rent and service charges, a localised ring-fenced funding pot will be available to fund any gaps www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Proposals Localised top-up element The localised pot will be ring-fenced so it can only be spent on supported housing But the amount of top-up needed will vary greatly between services, client groups and geographical areas and there is currently no detail on how this will be determined LHA rates vary hugely across the country: Inner London = £255.50 Hull and East Riding = £69.23 In two-tier councils it is not clear which layer will receive this funding There has been a commitment that there will be no reduction from the overall amount currently spent on Housing Benefit for supported housing (£4.12 billion) www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Highlights from the Evidence Review The Size of the Supported Housing Sector 651,500 units of supported housing across Britain. (85% of these are in England) 71% of all supported housing is for older people 29% is for working age people (Single Homeless ,Young People, Disabled People, Mental Health Problems, Refuges, Others) 71% of supported housing is owned by Housing Associations. 7% by charities or other voluntary organisations 40% of supported housing is categorised as Specified Accommodation 89% of Specified Accommodation is also Exempt Accommodation www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Highlights from the Evidence Review The Costs of the Supported Housing Sector Housing Benefit - £4.12 billion (85% of this in England). This is 17% of total HB spend. Older people supported housing accounts for 58% of the HB costs. Working age supported housing accounts for 42% of the HB costs The average HB award for older persons accommodation is £137 The average award for working-age supported housing is £173 It is also estimated that support and care services add another £2.05 billion of public expenditure to the overall costs of supported housing. www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Timetable www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together Delivery phase Nov 2016 To Feb 2017 Consultation: consultation document Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb Stakeholder engagement and task and finish groups Spring 2017 Green Paper on detailed model(s) and funding distribution consideration Autumn 2017 Announce detailed funding model(s) and local authority funding allocations April 2018 Shadow year arrangements in place on detail and allocation of funding to allow full transition to new model April 2019 Commencement of new funding model(s) www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Task and Finish Groups What are they looking at? The Government is establishing a set of task and finish groups to support the development of the new model, focusing on four key areas: Fair access to funding (Sitra attends) Local roles and responsibilities, including ensuring value for money, quality and appropriate oversight Ensuring new supply of supported housing Short term accommodation (Sitra attends) “(they will) Include membership from key stakeholders and partners from across the sector and from across Government departments and the devolved administrations where appropriate” www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Wider policy landscape What are the key current and future issues? Housing White Paper Impact of 1% rent reduction Social care and NHS funding Local government funding Impact of Brexit www.homeless.org.uk Let’s end homelessness together

Feeling at Home Coffee Break