On 21 April 2023, the second reading of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill is scheduled to take place in the House of Lords. It is a private member’s bill sponsored by Lord Best (Crossbench). The bill started in the House of Commons where it received broad cross-party support, including from the government.
Supported housing is accommodation provided alongside support, supervision or care to help people live as independently as possible in the community. Supported housing is available to groups such as older people, those with a learning or physical disability, or individuals or families who are homeless.
The purpose of the bill is to improve the regulation and oversight of ‘supported exempt’ housing. Supported exempt housing is a subset of supported housing which is exempt from the benefit cap and housing benefit limits in welfare regulations.
The bill has been introduced in response to concerns about poor quality accommodation and support from some providers of exempt housing. The bill would:
- require local authorities in England to review supported housing and develop strategies
- provide for the creation of a national expert advisory panel to advise on matters related to supported housing
- give the secretary of state power to introduce national supported housing standards
- give local authorities power to create local licensing schemes for exempt accommodation
During the bill’s House of Commons stages, the only amendments made to the bill were minor government amendments. The bill passed third reading without division.
