Recommendation 7

Despite legislation designed to tackle well-established problems and gaps in regulation, MHCLG has made no progress in improving the oversight of the supported housing sector. Supported housing can provide much-needed homes for people transitioning from homelessness, or may stop people from becoming homeless in the first place. But this Committee has previously expressed concerns that gaps in regulation mean landlords can provide costly, sub-standard housing with little support, supervision or care. The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act came into force in August 2023. It brought forward national standards for support, and looked to give local authorities power to tackle poor quality supported housing in their area, yet by the end of 2024 the Act had not been implemented. MHCLG has applications open for membership of a supported housing advisory panel. It will be at least early 2025 before it issues a consultation on a proposed local authority licensing scheme for supported housing landlords. The consultation is likely to last for several months, after which MHCLG will need to evaluate the responses and lay the appropriate regulations, before finally implementing the scheme. We are not persuaded by MHCLG’s argument that it still cannot commit to any form of timetable for implementing the provisions of the Act. recommendation MHCLG should implement the provisions of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act as quickly as possible, and provide an update on its progress in its Treasury Minute response. 8 1 Support for people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness Introduction