Future of Supported and Sheltered Housing Welcome Emily Bird National Housing Federation

Supported and sheltered housing is important Health & independence Easing pressures on other services Save £££ Life chances & aspirations Housing associations: 422,000 homes Although I am talking about supported and sheltered housing – not just older people’s housing – it is important that we think in this broader context as this is how the Govt is viewing (and asking) the question Sheltered is seen as a bit of an after thought and a problem to be solved – but there is still hope that Govt will consider a slightly different approach for this type of housing Housing associations provide 422,000 specialist homes for older or vulnerable people who need extra support

Why a new funding framework? Universal Credit Controlling costs Local Housing Allowance cap Meanwhile… Shortfall of 29,053 by 2019/20 for working age people Nearly half of all older households are under-occupying Why are we talking about a new funding framework? What’s the context? The roll-out of UC, which will encompass housing costs, means that the HB system will be phased out and an alternative is required. Not how we might design a system from scratch…

September announcement “we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels” Key meetings: New DD John Hall. New unit at DCLG focussing just on supported housing. Key points from our meeting: Consultation not likely to be ready until November, and possibly towards the end of November Focussing on the “how” of the new system, not the what Potentially a two-stage consultation, with the first bit just a list of questions along with the WMS, and the second part to build on the first Keen to involve members in cross-departmental meetings Not sure timescale of any legislative process Feels that SH cap idea will not get any traction Potentially sees the case for sheltered housing Political meetings round table with Gavin Barwell at CPC . It was a Chatham House rule event. A sense of frustration around the room with the new model. Big pushback in particular on development certainty Suggestions made around SH cap, sheltered housing, and a pilot. Seems very keen on pilot idea. Made point of saying rent cut was deliberate, LHA cap was a mistake I met with Damian Green SH cap – we should make the case through the consultation No chance on rent cut, and this chimes with all other conversations we’ve had Interested to hear more about issues with direct payments and in particular how it impacts on things like interest cover Also: David Gauke, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Caroline Noakes,

Government announcement LHA cap will apply to all tenants from 2019 Housing costs paid through benefit system up to LHA level No Shared Accommodation Rate Ring-fenced local authority top-up fund Reason that DWP wants to apply the cap to all tenants at the start of the new system is that this is administratively much simpler than running two systems for new and existing tenants. This has come as a shock to many providers – people with long term services expected a much more gradual transition from the exiting system to the new one. Now all tenants are affected at once. No Shared Accommodation Rate - one-bedroom LHA rate for under 35s in supported housing Federation welcomes the use of the one bedroom rate of LHA for people under 35 DWP officials have said that the Government wants to see the ring fence in place to preserve public spending on supported housing. LGA has not opposed the ring fence. The shift from DWP spending to CLG achieves one of the Government aims in shifting this spending from Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) into Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL).

Government announcement A different solution for short-term transitional services Rent cut for supported and sheltered from April 2017 – except refuges, alms houses and co-ops The Government wants to look at a different solution for people living in shorter term services. It is harder for these people to fit into the existing rules for Universal Credit with monthly calculations of housing costs (e.g. there is no entitlement to help with housing costs if someone stays somewhere less than a month). It is expected that the consultation will look at how a separate system could work for these schemes. This could potentially be a wholly localised system with payments going through a block contract rather than based on individual entitlement. This could make supported housing more affordable for people working. Disadvantages could include the compete reliance on local decisions for the funding of schemes. Members need to work out what system would work best for your schemes and tenants? Government remains open minded on the solution for these schemes but at the moment sees the answer in a separate system rather than changing the rules of UC Rent cut – will apply for the final three years of the measure from April 2017. So providers will be obliged to reduce rents for all supported and sheltered schemes apart from refuges, alms houses and co-ops and the other exceptions set out in the regulations. These include Specialist Supported Housing. This is defined in the regulations as schemes that received no or little public funding and provide high levels of care and/or support. Further information on this is in the Federation briefing on the rent cut on the Fed website. HCA estimates that there are about 10,000 homes across England in this category. REMEMBER service charges are not included in the obligation to reduce rents – either fixed or variable charges.

How will schemes be funded? Now 2019 - Other Support and/or care costs Support and/or care costs Ringfenced Local Rents and service charges Rents and service charges Government announced that it intended to consult on a new more localised system of funding supported and sheltered housing. The current system pays rents and HB eligible service charges through HB as long as the tenant is on a low income. The proposed system will pay the tenant housing costs up to the LHA cap level. This will be through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit and costs will have to be eligible according to the rules of these benefits. Funding for costs above the LHA cap level will be available locally. Money will be transferred from DWP budgets to local authorities to fund this gap. This money will be ring fenced to pay for supported housing. This is not to scale! The LHA cap will vary from area to area, and the amount of top up will vary from area to area and by scheme type. This is purely illustrative to show the various elements that make up the funding for a scheme. LHA Cap DWP

Concerns from housing providers Loss of certainty for future development Unequal impact of LHA cap as a measure Protecting existing tenants How (if) existing tenants will be protected Particular models: sheltered; short term Impact of the rent cut Fed response - We welcomed: No LHA cap until 2019 No Shared Accommodation Rate Pledge to fund housing costs to the same extent as they are currently The ring-fencing of funds Uncertainty for customers

Size, scope and cost of supported housing Headlines: 651,500 units of supported housing in GB 71% of the total are housing for older people Housing associations more than 70% of the total units. The cost of the sector in terms of Housing Benefit at £4.12bn per year Another £2.05bn of non-Housing Benefit expenditure on care and support services.

(*%) Source: Local authority survey. Base: 83 Commissioners. Fieldwork dates: 19 October – 2 December 2015

People with drug or alcohol misuse needs Source: Local authority survey. Base: 83 Commissioners. Fieldwork dates: 19 October – 2 December 2015

Q8/9. Still thinking about other sources of funding beyond rent and service charge for all the client types for whom you provide supported housing services as a whole, please indicate what percentage of this other funding comes from the following sources? Local Authority Adult social care Local Authority housing/ homelessness Health – NHS Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups - & Social Care Partnerships Fundraising and donations Local Authority Children’s services Substance misuse service (eg Drug Action Team/ Alcohol & Drugs Partnerships) Charitable grants Big Lottery funding Supporting People Home Office LA general funds Mixed Criminal justice – Youth Offending Team, Probation Employment & education (eg Jobcentre Plus, EFA, SFA) NHS organisations including Public Health Corporate/ Businesses Other Source: Provider survey. Base: 86 providers. Fieldwork dates: 17 February – 9 March 2016

Consultation launch Sets out rationale for change – Universal Credit and local focus Deadline Feb 13th Green Paper to follow Spring 2017 with more detail Autumn 2017 – detailed model announced Shadow year arrangements in place Commencement of new funding model Worth mentioning 4 task and finish groups too

5 key areas the consultation will cover General: the how, not the what fair access to funding, including the detailed design of the ring fence and any additional protections local roles and responsibilities arrangements to provide oversight and assurance the appropriate balance between local flexibility and stability developing a funding model for short term accommodation, including hostels and refuges the consultation focuses on the how of the new model, not the what

What will the local system look like? Issue: We were concerned about any localisation of housing spend. How do we achieve certainty through this approach? Can we? Key questions: Upper-tier or lower tier? Or other tier? And what local roles and responsibilities? Collaboration across different types of commissioning body? National or local commissioning framework? Statutory duties? What would they be? Oversight and assurance Would top-up follow the individual or scheme? How will the money flow, and how much, to where? On stat duties - Duty to measure stock and provision locally, and then define local need on a regular basis? Duties for certain groups? Is it possible to achieve the same level of certainty as through the benefits system? What about new supply?

A different approach for sheltered? Issue: Cost doesn’t greatly exceed LHA cap, risk sheltered won’t be prioritised. Also bureaucratic. Key questions: Is this the right case to make? How can we demonstrate sheltered needs to be funded differently, as opposed to any other form of supported housing? Does extra care form part of this case? If we make case for LHA + x%, do we close down access to local pot? What will your approach to sheltered be if we don’t succeed? Cost of r+sc doesn’t greatly exceed LHA cap, risk sheltered won’t be prioritised. Also bureaucratic.

What’s next? 15 Sep Government announcement Nov Consultation opens Dec/Jan Federation consults and forms views Autumn - Contact with local MPs and decision-makers Feb 2016 Consultation closes

Starts at Home campaign Campaign has been used to date to raise awareness of supported housing and to put pressure on the Government to put supported housing on a sustainable and secure financial footing. Please get involved in our festive actions

Ways to get involved and find out more Respond to the Government consultation here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/funding- for-supported-housing Federation proposals: https://www.housing.org.uk/resource- library/browse/proposal-for-a-strong-and-sustainable- future-for-supported-and-sheltered/ Email supportedhousing@housing.org.uk with ideas Visit the website: http://startsathome.org.uk/