What's next for the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act?

On 29 August, the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act became enshrined in law. This new legislation aims to introduce new regulations to tackle poor quality supported housing and protect residents.  

At the NHF, we support the aim of the Act to tackle poor quality exempt accommodation, whilst being committed to helping good quality providers of vital services have their voices heard and shape the details of the new regulations through the consultation process. 

The consultation process for the Act will begin in Autumn 2023. Ahead of the consultation period, we’ve put together a briefing to summarise what we know now about how the Act will affect supported and older person’s housing providers.  

As a named statutory consultee within this legislation, the NHF will make sure supported housing providers are represented and heard throughout the process of shaping the new system.  

How will the Act affect your organisation? 

Once implemented, the Act will have an impact on both supported and older person’s housing providers. Providers affected by the Act include:  

• Housing with care, e.g. extra care, supported living. 
• Homeless accommodation (but not Housing First or floating support). 
  Refuges.
• Housing with support for people with mental health problems, drug and alcohol addiction.
• Supported accommodation for offenders. 

Whilst the details of the new regulations will be shaped during the consultation period, taking place from Autumn 2023, the Act sets out the following changes affecting supported exempt accommodation: 

• New National Supported Housing Standards for England – the act enables DLUHC to create minimum standards for care and support services and the type and condition of premises used for supported exempt accommodation.  
• Appointment of a national advisory panel – within a year a new advisory panel will be appointed to represent the voices of residents, providers and local authorities.  
• New obligations for local authorities – the Act sets out new requirements for local housing authorities to publish a ‘supported housing strategy’.  
• Introduction of new licensing requirements – supported housing schemes will be required to apply for a licence granted by the local housing authority. The details and scope of this will be decided through the consultation process in Autumn 2023.  

Next steps

Alongside our members, we’ve been working closely with the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) through a period of informal consultation this summer.  

Moving towards the Autumn, the government will publish a formal consultation on the details of how the new system will be implemented. A first round of consultations will concentrate on the new provisions in the Act, as well as a review into the definition ‘care, support and supervision’.  A second public consultation will take place in 2024 to consult on the details of the new regulations.  

Ahead of the Autumn 2023 consultations, we’ve published a briefing on the implications of the Act at this stage. If you have any questions or feedback, please get in touch using the contact details below.