Written evidence submitted by Luton Homeless Partnership [EXA 094]

About Luton Homeless Partnership

The Luton Homeless Partnership was formed 3 years ago when it was recognised that as a group of local organisations committed to ending homelessness in Luton we could achieve more. We are committed to co-production and have created a number of effective services and projects over the past 3 years highlighting the issues faced by those experiencing homelessness. There are a number of exempt accommodation providers in the partnership and this is a joint response that has been signed off by all.

About this submission

This submission has been put together in collaboration with a range of partner organisations across Luton providing accommodation and support for vulnerable people experiencing homelessness across our town. Organisations were a mixture of registered providers and charities, delivering a mixture of commissioned and non-commissioned services.

Key points

• The ‘Exempt’ provisions within the Housing Benefit system provide a vital income stream without which many organisations would not be able to provide supported housing options for vulnerable people, such as care leavers and those experiencing homelessness. This is especially true in the light of reduced local authority budgets and unstable external funding streams such as grants and charitable funding. 
• We welcome better regulation of the exempt accommodation sector as a way of raising and upholding standards for residents and ensuring that providers are held to account.
• However, we are cautious of the additional burdens new regulations and oversight measures could have on providers, particularly smaller providers, and would want to ensure that any new measures are proportionate.
• We feel that across the country, there is a lack of consistent understanding and application of the current Housing Benefit rules and rules around exempt accommodation, and around the definition of what constitutes ‘more than minimal care, support and supervision’. We believe that clear and consistent national regulations could help address any regional differences which emerge and provide clarity to local authorities, providers, and residents.

Key recommendations

• The introduction of a local authority-managed accreditation system to ensure providers meet the necessary standards of housing quality, support and governance
• A comprehensive revision of the definition of “more than minimal care, support and supervision” that is a key condition of providing exempt accommodation as set out by the Department for Work and Pensions
• Ensuring the emerging consumer regulation for social housing - as outlined in the social housing white paper - includes specific standards relating to exempt accommodation, to meet the expectations over quality of standards that permit landlords to receive additional funds for delivery, and to better protect vulnerable residents

Direct response to the questions raised:

1. What is the quality of exempt housing provision?

Quality is variable, dependent on funding. There are concerns about some private landlord’s quality. However, there are also some smaller non-commissioned exempt accommodation providers who are committed to supporting and safeguarding residents and who provide quality accommodation.

2. Is the current model of exempt accommodation financially viable, and does it represent value for money?

The income from housing benefit under the exempt rules provides many providers with the funding they needed to keep services running, particularly considering reductions from other sources such as Supporting People and wider local authority budgets. We believe that maintaining funding for exempt accommodation through the benefits system (rather than through block grants to local authorities or personal budgets) does provide a level of stability for providers of services in some cases within excess of 30 years’ experience in the sector. Although we do appreciate that oversight is required to ensure that this approach is not open to abuse.

Where exempt accommodation is providing quality accommodation and support, we believe that it is providing value for money by significantly relieving pressures on wider public services and supporting residents’ development and independence. However, we agree that where providers are not providing a sufficient standard of accommodation and support but are receiving higher housing costs through the benefits system, this represents both poor value to the taxpayer as well as a failure to provide vulnerable individuals with the support they need.

3. Are there significant geographical and regional differences in the provision and the problems of exempt accommodation?

There are many factors which can affect the provision and quality of exempt accommodation, such as availability and size of local housing stock, level of need, and the provision of other services in a particular area. However, one factor leading to geographical differences is the difference in approach taken by local authorities. For example, one provider working across several different local authorities has highlighted inconsistencies in the approach to the application and monitoring of exempt accommodation, differentiation in the application approach and reporting functions to verify the value and need of exempt accommodations. A key concern is around the lack of uniformity or consistent approach to managing exempt accommodation or applying housing benefit regulations, and that this could lead to ‘less scrupulous’ landlords and providers looking to exploit areas where oversight was seen as more light-touch. 

With some LA’s requesting exempt providers to monitor continuously, based upon the costs and vulnerability categories, this can become a lengthy administration to smaller providers where others request annual reports and submissions. 

This is where clear and consistent national standards would be effective, providing a balanced framework surrounding this across all geographical areas would support both LA’s and providers to map resources to monitor value for money and good practice to all exempt providers.

4. What is the proportion of exempt accommodation that is provided by registered compared to non-registered providers and is an appropriate balance being struck?

We are not aware of the exact proportion of accommodation which is provided by registered versus non-registered providers, nor the proportion of commissioned versus non-commissioned services. Our partnership is comprised of registered providers, charitable organisations, commissioned and non-commissioned services. It is this rich variety in service provision that makes the Luton pathway of support so successful. However, local authorities along with officials within other statutory departments such as DWP and DLHUC may be better placed to provide this information.

5. How does whether a provider is registered or non-registered, or commissioned or non-commissioned, impact the quality of provision?

Regarding a providers’ status as registered or commissioned affecting the quality of provision, we feel that this status is not necessarily indicative of quality. Several partners have mentioned that barriers exist around becoming a registered provider, namely the costs and additional reporting requirements, and the fact that smaller providers reliant on charitable and grant funding may struggle to meet the financial viability requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing. For this reason, while the regulation of exempt accommodation may be overseen by the Regulator of Social Housing, we do not believe that becoming a registered provider should be a necessary precondition to the provision of exempt accommodation.

6. How should the regulatory oversight of exempt accommodation be organised?

A register of exempt accommodation providers, reviewed by local authorities. We believe that developing capacity within the Regulator of Social Housing to support local authorities to manage exempt accommodation locally would help provide national consistency in approach and delivery.

7. What should be the regulations governing exempt accommodation and how should these regulations be enforced?

We believe that the regulations governing exempt accommodation need to have that safety, wellbeing and development of exempt accommodation residents and clients at their heart. We believe that the current loose understanding of what constitutes more than minimal ‘care, support or supervision’ can often fail to consider the different support needs of individuals and client groups. We also believe that exempt accommodation should embrace the principles of Psychologically Informed Environments and Trauma Informed Care.

Any new regulations for exempt accommodation must also consider residents views and priorities, through effective consultation and the opportunity to feed into their development, delivery, and oversight. This is something local partnerships such as ours are well placed to support.

Oversight and enforcement should occur at a local level, by professionals and people with lived experience of our services who are aware of the local context and provision. Regulations could be enforced by local authorities, supported by a national regulator, with the opportunity for providers, residents, and advocacy groups to raise issues directly with the regulator.

8. Is there sufficient publicly available information about exempt accommodation?

We do not believe there is currently enough information about exempt accommodation. It is difficult for the public to access information and that many of the terms and definitions used in this area are highly technical.

January 2022