Supported housing strategies: An opportunity not to miss

As the National Housing Federation’s first ever Supported Housing Week (19-23 October) highlights, supported housing is under real pressure. Funding cuts have already led to service closures, while many more are at risk and demand continues to rise. Getting regulation and local planning right has never mattered more. 

Implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 (SHROA) continues to move forward, with the technical consultation on draft regulations now published. There is an opportunity to move at pace to established licencing to give clarity to both local authorities and providers firmly address the poor practice that led to the Act which continues to proliferate in the absence of licencing.

The consultation was published last week and closes on 10 December. 

One area that is moving at pace is the development of local supported housing strategies. Designed to replace a reactive oversight of housing with proactive, whole-system planning, these strategies make the link between housing provision and health, social care and homelessness services to help vulnerable people recover from crises or live independently. 

With every local housing authority in England required to publish their strategy by 31 March 2027, this presents a real opportunity for the future of supported housing, aligning need with commissioning and funding. 

We want to hear more about provider and local authority experiences of developing strategies across the country. If you have something to share, please get in touch. 

CIH has been actively engaging with the implementation of the Act. CIH Head of Policy and External Affairs Chloe Fletcher recently attended a roundtable at the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Ending Homelessness, with Sir David Pearson, chair of the Supported Housing Advisory Panel, and Bob Blackman MP, the APPG’s co-chair, who took the Act through Parliament.

Chloe underlined the urgency with which the government needs to move on implementing the SHROA, and stressed that new needs assessments must be followed by support to match the estimates for new supply. 

You can read the minutes from the round table here. 

A consultation on the draft regulations for the new supported housing licensing regime was recently published and closes on 10 December. 

Supported Housing Week has been created by the National Housing Federation to rally the sector call for a secure future for the supported housing sector. You can learn more and add your voice here.