The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act became law in August 2023. On this page, you will find an overview of the Act, consultations and our work on behalf of our members.

The government is consulting on how the Act will be implemented, and we have submitted a full sector response to the first government consultation, which NHF members can read at the bottom of this page.

The government has now published their response, and it is clear they have listened to the concerns and views of the sector and made significant amendments to proposals. Read more below.

What is the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act?

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 became law in August 2023. The Act gives the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government powers to:

Introduce National Supported Housing Standards for England, which will provide minimum standards for both the property and the care or support provided in supported homes.
Require English local authorities to create locally led supported accommodation licensing schemes.
Introduce a strategic planning duty for local authorities, which will include collecting data on the supply of homes, a forecast of future need, and a delivery plan.
Create a national expert advisory panel to monitor the sector, which will report to the Secretary of State.

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.

The consultation

On 20 February 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published the first consultation on the implementation of the Act.

Our response

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.

All residents should have a safe, good quality home and support service based on their needs. We support the aim of the Act to tackle any poor-quality exempt accommodation and improve standards for residents.

However, the proposed regulations come at a time when the supported housing sector is already struggling to provide a home to everyone with a support need, and demand is only rising. We called for more support from the government, alongside amendments to the proposals.

The NHF is a named statutory consultee for the Act alongside local authorities, and we have remained committed to using this position to ensure NHF members can help shape the new system.

NHF members can read our full response using the links below.

The government's response

In their response, published 16 April 2026, the government made changes that help realise the key aim of the Act – to make sure supported housing is safe and good quality. Without these key changes, the proposals could have caused vital services to close, and much-needed homes to be lost – at a time when supported housing is already under huge financial pressure.

Catch up on our webinar

The NHF hosted a webinar on 4 March which was attended by MHCLG and DWP.

Representatives from the government discussed the consultation, and NHF members had an opportunity to ask questions and give feedback on the consultation.

Watch here

Next steps

The government will be consulting again on the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act. We will be in touch with NHF members when we know more about the timelines for this.

NHF members can download our response, two briefings and the consultation questions using the links below.

If you have any questions or feedback on our consultation response or next steps in general, please email us.

Join the National Supported and Older Persons’ Housing Network

Join our National Supported and Older Persons’ Housing Network to feed into the NHF’s response and help shape our work. Please contact our admin team to join the mailing list.

Join the mailing list

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Supported Housing Advisory Panel

We're pleased the government announced the members and chair of the Supported Housing Advisory Panel in March 2026.

Brought in by the Act, the panel will advise on its implementation and on supported housing more generally.

As a statutory consultee for the Act, the NHF is looking forward to working closely with the panel.

Who to speak to

Victoria Shannon, Policy Leader

SHROAconsultation@housing.org.uk