Vulnerable individuals with care wants live in “beyond disgraceful” houses as a result of the federal government has to this point didn’t implement a brand new regulation, MPs and charities declare.
The Supported Housing Act was handed in June final yr to create requirements within the sector, after a choose committee discovered the dearth of regulation meant some landlords have been “profiting” from “unacceptably poor housing”.
But there has nonetheless been no session on the way it ought to work and an advisory panel on the sector has not but been arrange. The authorities blamed the delay on the election mentioned it was dedicated to the session and the panel.
Rhys Matthews, 26, instructed the BBC supported housing was “the worst place I’ve ever lived”.
Councils determine whether or not somebody with care wants, corresponding to a psychological or bodily well being drawback, qualifies for supported housing and who can present it, however in any other case there’s nearly no regulation.
The council pays the hire for people who find themselves susceptible on account of components corresponding to disabilities or expertise of homelessness, abuse and habit.
The new regulation provides the division for housing and native councils powers to set requirements for supported housing suppliers for the primary time, however no actual begin date has been set for a session into how the regulation will work.
A housing spokesperson mentioned it had “made a clear commitment…to consulting on further measures early next year”.
Meanwhile, the supported housing advisory panel, which is supposed to be made up of individuals from the sector who can present info to the federal government, has additionally not been arrange.
The regulation required it to have been arrange in June. The authorities mentioned it’s “committed to establishing” the panel.
‘The worst place I’ve ever lived’
Rhys grew up in foster care and moved into supported housing on account of well being issues.
He instructed the BBC the one furnishings in his room was a mattress and a small cupboard and he piled his possessions on the ground.
He mentioned he was evicted with simply an hour’s discover after one of many different residents threw a knife at him and he spent the subsequent two years dwelling on the streets.
“It almost felt like I was the issue, I was the problem, and they wanted to get rid of me,” he mentioned. “I had no idea what my rights were.”
Rhys now lives in supported housing supplied by charity Emmaus, the place he’s paid to work.
Charities and different non-profit teams traditionally supplied supported housing, however personal corporations have entered the sector over the past decade, with charities and MPs arguing many have exploited the dearth of regulation to make thousands and thousands whereas offering low-quality housing.
Rhys, just like the charities we now have spoken to, desires the brand new supported housing regulation to implement minimal requirements – larger rooms, secure shared areas and certified help employees.
He desires landlords that don’t meet these requirements to face prison convictions within the worst circumstances. “It needs to have bite,” he mentioned.
‘Unsafe and unregulated’
Jasmine Basran, head of coverage and campaigns at homeless charity Crisis, mentioned: “People who have already experienced significant disadvantage are being forced to live without adequate support in unsafe, unsanitary and frankly unliveable conditions.”
She mentioned it was promising the federal government can be consulting on tips on how to enhance supported housing “but we do need to see progress on this – urgently”.
Charlotte Talbott, chief government of Emmaus UK, mentioned there have been “far too many cases where individuals are let down by unscrupulous providers, with substandard support and accommodation having devastating consequences for those who depend on their services”.
The London Assembly described the sector as “unsafe and unregulated”.
Meanwhile, a 2022 BBC investigation discovered supported housing schemes throughout the West Midlands have been riddled with crime, medicine, and a loss of life in a single case.
Yet regardless of years of considerations, motion has been gradual, one thing which doesn’t shock Rhys.
“It’s so typical from the government,” he mentioned.
“Unfortunately, with supported accommodation and homelessness, it always seems to take a back [seat] in any government, Labour or Conservative.”
Bob Blackman MP, who drafted the Act, criticised the “snail’s pace” in implementing it, including motion was wanted urgently because the sector is a “ticking time bomb”.
The housing division mentioned “it was right that decisions on the consultation were paused during the general election”.
They added that members of the panel “will be appointed in due course” after interviews closed this month.
‘Pressure cooker’
Even if the regulation is enforced, the National Housing Federation (NHF) mentioned it will not remedy “extreme financial challenges caused by severe cuts to funding, combined with rocketing inflation and increasing operating costs”.
It calculates over a 3rd of supported housing suppliers shut down schemes final yr and 60% intend on closing websites in future.
At the identical time supported housing provide is falling, many charities say demand has soared on account of NHS cuts and rising homelessness.
Sophie Boobis, head of coverage and analysis at Homeless Link, mentioned the session was wanted in order that good suppliers might set an ordinary for what attractiveness like and take away the uncertainty created by the dearth of regulation.
“This is a sector at risk…It feels like a pressure cooker at the moment.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyv9mvvkd2o