Written evidence submitted by Grand Union Housing Group [EXA 017]
About Grand Union Housing Group:
Grand Union has been in business for over 25 years and provides 12,000 homes for more than 27,000 people across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. We’re a £75 million turnover social business with almost 400 staff.
Our mission is more homes, stronger communities, better lives. We build affordable homes, provide personal support, and help people to learn, work and be healthy.
We’re a financially stable and innovative not-for-profit organisation that believes in partnership and collaboration. We plan to build 2,160 more new homes in the coming years to play our part in ending the housing crisis.
We have a Partnerships team at Grand Union and their role is to provide specialist accommodation to meet the needs of customers who require additional support.
Supported living:
Many of our customers live in their own self-contained flats in new, purpose-built developments. We support our customers to deal with the everyday tasks involved in living in their own home, including paying the rent and bills, furnishing their home, finding out about the local area and making sure their home is secure.
For many of our customers this will be their first opportunity to live in a home of their own and to develop skills to live more independently.
Shared housing:
Some of our properties are shared homes, where customers have their own bedroom and share a living room, kitchen and bathroom.
In some houses there may also be staff available 24 hours a day to provide support to individuals. Properties can be adapted to suit the needs of individual customers.
We can arrange for the installation of specialist equipment and create wheelchair access. Our aim is to ensure that all our customers receive the care and support that best meets their needs.
We have submitted this evidence as we are passionate about providing supported living to those that need it and feel that with support from commissioners and regulations in place that suitable accommodation can continue to be provided.
Response to Inquiry:
In particular, the inquiry seeks answers to the following questions:
GUHG has a number of specialist supported housing schemes that fulfil the exempt accommodation criteria. As a registered housing provider, the quality of the housing is the same as other schemes funded through Homes England. We apply the same standard irrespective of the funding regime. We understand the needs of our customers living in our specialist supported housing services and we plan for any increased costs we may incur.
Yes, as long as the service has been fully commissioned by the local authority and the rent and service charge reflect the commissioning arrangements. Most of our properties have been purchased through our own borrowing or are on a long lease. The care and support provided to the customers is long term and is tailored to meet the needs of each individual customer By working on each individual housing solution closely with commissioners we can ensure the accommodation also meets the needs of the customer. When working in partnership with commissioners, the current model provides good value for money when compared to the alternative of someone remaining in an outdated model of long term institutional care.
Yes, there is evidence of some regions having a significant amount of this type of accommodation. This is likely to lead to non-registered providers seizing opportunities where registered providers are unable to fulfil the requirements due to lack of funding. This could result in non-registered providers charging higher rents and associated charges depending on their financial modelling. As a registered provider, we have developed our service responsibly and in accordance with our commissioning partners. They are often for people with complex needs, leaving long term institutional care.
LA response required.
Our exempt schemes have all been LA commissioned.
Evidence suggests that there are providers in the market who do not adhere to regulatory standards and for example, do not comply with their landlord repairing obligations. GUHG purchased a property for three young men with a learning disability who were living in poor accommodation. Their previous housing was provided by a private landlord and exempt. The quality of repairs, size of rooms and the staff sleep in facility (converted cupboard) was not of a good standard. As a recognised registered and trusted provider, we were commissioned by the LA to find a more suitable property.
It should be commissioned by the LA with appropriate care and support contracts in place. There needs to be a clear regulatory framework for Housing Benefit teams to work within. In our area of operation, we have different interpretations of what exempt accommodation is, with some restricting what they see as eligible for HB. This can cause confusion and has an impact on the customer who are already very vulnerable.
It should sit within the National Statement of Expectations and have a regulatory framework.
There should be a clear benchmark of what good looks like. Rents and service charges should be transparent and demonstrate value for money. The residents should have opportunity to feed into the process about the quality of the accommodation without fear of eviction. Where customers are unable to do this, themselves they should be entitled to nominate someone to do this on their behalf.
No. The National Statement of Expectations helps however there is still very little information available with LA’s publishing very little information and data on the subject. The legislation is complex and open to interpretation by local HB teams. We see this on a regular basis across our geographical patch. A framework and regulatory scrutiny would enable better consistency across the sector.
January 2022