Background:
In Spring 2025, the UK Government held a public consultation on their proposals for supported housing regulation. This followed English legislation that aimed to improve standards in supported housing in England, following significant concerns raised in parliament and in the press about poor standards and risks to vulnerable people.
A substantial proportion of this consultation was focused on England-only proposals, including the licensing of supported accommodation in England. However, the second part of the consultation proposed changes to Housing Benefit in relation to supported accommodation in England, Scotland and Wales.
In advance of the consultation, Cymorth worked with the Welsh Government to inform the UK Government about the Housing Support Grant and associated quality assurance mechanisms in Wales, meeting with officials from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on several occasions. We also helped to facilitate engagement between the DWP and support providers in Wales.
During the consultation period, we organised engagement events for supported accommodation providers, landlords and local authority commissioners, to brief them on the relevant parts of the consultation and gather feedback to shape the responses from Cymorth, Community Housing Cymru, local authorities and the Welsh Government. We also developed a briefing for providers, landlords and local authority commissioners, to help them to respond to the consultation and encourage a consistent message from Welsh stakeholders to ensure the DWP had a clear understanding of the system in Wales. You can read our response here.
UK Government response to consultation
The UK Government has published its response to the consultation, which can be found here.
In England, they are continuing with plans to introduce licensing for supported accommodation through English local authorities. They will also introduce National Supported Housing Standards in England, with some amendments based on feedback received during the consultation.
(The Welsh Government has been leading work to develop National Supported Housing Standards for Wales, working with Cymorth, supported accommodation providers, HSG commissioners and HB officers in a task and finish group.)
Proposed changes to Housing Benefit (GB-wide)
As outlined above, the consultation included a number of proposals regarding the Housing Benefit system, which would have an impact on England, Scotland and Wales.
Linking Housing Benefit entitlement to regulatory and/or commissioning systems
- In England: Over 70% of consultation respondents agreed that Housing Benefit should be linked to licensing. The UK government will therefore amend Housing Benefit regulations to link the new licensing regime in England to Housing Benefit entitlement.
- In Scotland and Wales: The consultation proposed that entitlement to Housing Benefit could be linked to existing frameworks on Scotland and Wales (i.e. the Housing Support Grant guidance, commissioning and review processes, and outcomes). However, the UK Government has determined that there was insufficient support for this, and will therefore not pursue a link between Housing Benefit and statutory frameworks in Scotland and Wales.
Defining care, support and supervision
The UK Government consulted on better defining care, support and supervision in Housing Benefit regulations. However, consultation feedback on this measure was mixed with no clear consensus for this proposal. Their response to the consultation states:
“This is a complex area, and the government agrees with consultation feedback that this measure requires a person-centred approach as every resident in supported housing has different needs and these needs change overtime. In addition, the long-term future of Housing Benefit is uncertain as there is UK Government work underway to determine how best to provide housing support for people in both supported and temporary accommodation across Great Britain.
“The Government is mindful that it wants to keep good, supported housing providers in the system. It agrees with consultation feedback that any future definitions/thresholds of care, support and supervision need to utilise regulatory frameworks across Great Britain, be proportionate and workable. Therefore, it will not seek to introduce new definitions/thresholds for care, support and supervision.”
