Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 23
Third Report - Exempt Accommodation
Published 27 Oct 2022
Paragraph 108
Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Exempt Accommodation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We also recommend that action be taken to address this complex landscape, by making it compulsory for all providers to be registered. A mechanism is required to ensure that there is better quality provision and that standards are maintained. Good providers will have nothing to fear from registration, while the bad providers can have their 50 Exempt Accommodation registration removed. We heard some concerns that the cost and additional reporting requirements of being registered may impact on smaller providers, particularly those reliant on charitable and grant funding. We do not see why this is the case, or why it should continue to be so. Registering should not be unnecessarily onerous or expensive, and if it is that should change. Therefore, we call upon the Regulator of Social Housing to take action to make it easier for smaller providers of exempt accommodation to register with them.
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Third Report - Exempt Accommodation (HC 21), paragraph 108, 27 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 June 2023 (deadline 27 December 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it "strongly welcome[s]" the Committee's recommendations and is supporting the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill, which it believes, "subject to Royal Assent", will address many of the issues raised.
- On national standards and licensing, the government says it will "formally consult" with the sector to develop the licensing scheme and national standards for support "as soon as possible after Royal Assent".
- On mandatory registration of all providers with the Regulator of Social Housing, it gives its reasons, including the risk of reclassification of the sector as public, and considers the Bill's measures "better placed" to provide oversight.
- On rent caps, it says it "cannot effectively determine a standardised rent cap at this point", citing the complexity and range of housing models in the sector.
- On data, it says research on the size, cost and demand of the sector will be published "by the end of 2023".