Government must offer secure future funding for supported housing
3 min read
Former Cabinet minister Nick Brown writes ahead of his debate today on the future funding of supported housing which currently supports vulnerable young adults with disabilities and addictions.
After the Government’s U-turn on the cuts to Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb said that the Government has “no further plans to make welfare savings”. This statement was then repeated by the Chancellor the next day telling the House of Commons again “we have no further plans to make welfare savings”.
What then does this mean for the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap and supported housing? The LHA cap will mean that housing benefit paid to those in supported housing will be capped at the LHA rate for each local authority. This LHA rate is set based on a measurement of the bottom 30% of the rental market. For example in my local authority, Newcastle upon Tyne, the maximum amount for a room in a flat shared with others (the accommodation offered to anyone under 35 with no dependents) will be £60 per week.
Supported housing is social housing provided to those people who for whatever reason cannot live by themselves without an element of care. Often these people have mental health problems, have suffered from addiction, are ex-servicemen and women, or are young adults with severe learning difficulties.
Supported housing is more expensive than regular rented housing as the rent for the housing includes the element of care these people need. The housing is often run by charities and is paid for by the welfare support that residents receive. The support which the Government is about to cut.
In essence £60 per week will not be enough and many supported housing schemes will be forced to close. This cap on housing benefit will in practice act as a further cut in support for many vulnerable people.
What then is the alternative for these people? Many could become homeless, or end up seeking the medical care they need from the NHS. This has cost implications as the average cost of supported housing for someone with learning difficulties is £260 per week compared to a low low-level secure NHS service of £2,800 per bed, per week.
The Government is seeking to save £225 million from the LHA cap, however the knock on effects of supported housing closures could cost the NHS and police many times this. Home Group, a major supported housing provider, has estimated from figures taken from the Department of Work and Pensions that the cost implications of a losing supported housing could be as much as £2.5 billion.
This cap will act as further welfare cut for those in supported housing, the consequences of which may more than reverse the Government’s own savings objectives as well as causing serious harm to those in need of care.
The Government has delayed the implementation of the cap from 2016 to 2017 for supported housing tenancies and has promised to review the proposal. However the uncertainty created by the Government is damaging. Home Group have nearly 3000 beds whose contracts are up for renewal and as of yet don’t know whether their funding will be cut or not.
The Government should be clear with its plans, either it exempts supported housing from the cap, or details its full plans for the sector.
In my view supported housing is good value for money, providing good care to vulnerable people. It should be exempt from the LHA cap.
Rt Hon Nicholas Brown is the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East
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