The Government have today published their long-awaited response to the consultation on the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act that took place between February and May 2025.
We welcome that the response has been published, and supported housing providers and local authorities can begin to gain clarity about the Government’s intended direction of travel for the future and plan accordingly.
Homeless Link's Policy Team are digesting the detail and will provide a more detailed update shortly.
An initial review suggests that while it appears that the Government have sought to make a number of positive changes to their original proposals, and accepted several of our recommendations, areas of concern remain.
Most notably, the response makes no mention of providing additional funding to help existing supported housing providers meet the new costs of compliance, or to make improvements to long-underfunded services and buildings.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are now drafting regulations based on the response, and there will be further consultation on MHCLG’s regulations later this year. It’s not clear if DWP will be consulting on their new regulations.
Homeless Link will continue working to ensure that the new regulations successfully improve standards and protect residents, without jeopardising the supply of high quality supported accommodation for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
If you have any initial thoughts or feedback on the Government’s response, please contact Alex using the details below.
