Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding will be provided to Birmingham City Council to (a) establish the supported housing licensing regime and (b) recruit and retain staff to inspect properties, assess support provision and take enforcement action.

Supported housing provides a vital service, helping some of the most vulnerable people in society to live as independently as possible. The government is clear that all supported housing should be of good quality and provide the support residents need.

We are implementing the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act to raise standards and drive out the minority of poor providers taking advantage of the Housing Benefit system whilst providing little or no support to residents. On 15 October we took the next step in implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act by publishing a consultation on draft regulations, which will close on 10 December. The licensing regulations will be laid early next year following the analysis and consideration of consultation responses. We expect licensing to be fully implemented in 2027/28.

We will assess the requirement for new burdens funding for establishing local supported housing licensing schemes, and make an announcement in due course. This will be in addition to the £39 million new burdens funding already provided in respect of the new duty to develop local supported housing strategies.

Detail of the supported housing licensing regime is set out in the current consultation, and includes the enforcement of licensing conditions, offences and penalties that will be applied. The requirement to be licensed will apply to the person managing or in control of supported housing.

The government does not hold data on the prevalence of supported housing in individual areas. The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 places a requirement on all local authorities to conduct a review of supported housing provision, and funding for this to be carried out has been allocated. The government has set out in guidance what data we intend to collect.