Over 50,000 supported homes at imminent risk of closure

Over 50,000 units of supported housing, which help people escape homelessness and domestic violence, are at imminent risk of closure due to government cuts.

A report by The iPaper has revealed that government cuts have just forced one supported housing provider to close. All Saints, which Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) operated, recently closed, leaving its residents with nowhere else to go.

The council had allocated supported housing to the people staying there via its adult social care budget. The closure has now forced them back into homelessness services.

However, this is not a standalone case. Figures from the National Housing Federation (NHF) indicate that more than 50,000 homes are at risk of closure or decommissioning across 71 housing associations.

Putting vulnerable people at risk by closing supported housing

Councils and housing associations use supported housing in a wide variety of situations. Many people benefit from it, including those who have mental health or substance abuse problems, those released from prison or hospital, or people fleeing domestic abuse or who are disabled. The wraparound support means a person can receive support tailored to their specific needs.

However, these important homes are no longer financially viable due to years of funding cuts. Last year, one in three supported housing providers had to close schemes because of funding issues. An additional 60% were planning to close schemes in the future.

In total, 22% of housing associations said that they would have to seriously consider ending their supported housing provision altogether without an immediate commitment to funding. Of course, this would put thousands of vulnerable people at risk.

Adding fuel to the fire

According to the Ministry of Housing’s supported housing review, UK councils now have a shortfall of 325,000 supported housing units.

The iPaper reported that:

Without these homes, the NHF – which represents social housing providers across England – are warning that an additional 71,000 people would be homeless or at risk of homelessness, and the country would need 14,000 more inpatient psychiatric places and 2,000 more prison places.

Back in August 2024, the NHF demanded the following:

We need the government to give supported housing providers a lifeline to stay afloat. We recommend that the government acts now and:

• Urgently commits to long-term, sustainable funding for support services in supported homes. This needs to be done at the Autumn Budget and in the forthcoming housing and homelessness strategies.
• Creates an emergency fund for supported-housing support services in the Autumn Budget to prevent more schemes from having to close their doors this year.
• Allocates enough of the new Affordable Homes Programme funding to the building of new supported and older persons’ housing and improve the conditions for bidding for small organisations.

Since then, the Labour government announced £124m of funding for supported housing in its homelessness strategy, which would:

reach over 2,500 people, both to prevent homelessness and to help people off the streets and into more stable housing.

It adds:

To both prevent and relieve rough sleeping and homelessness, we will invest £124 million over 2026/27 to 2028/29 in supported housing services for over 2,500 people, working with targeted local areas.

The UK has an estimated 634,000 supported living homes. This means that Labour’s £124m investment works out to around £195 per household over a two-year period.

When so many housing associations and councils are in such dire financial circumstances, £195 per household is unlikely to make a significant difference.

Both the NCHA and the NHF told The iPaper that, despite the government’s extra funding announcement, they fear cuts to supported housing will still lead to an increase in homelessness.

What is clear is that the government must take urgent action to ensure that vulnerable people are not thrown into homelessness, either again or for the first time.

Feature image via Centre for Homelessness Impact