Birmingham Supported Housing Strategy

Overview

We are consulting members of the public on the strategic vision, aims and priorities for our five year Supported Housing Strategy.  This is an important strategy which is linked to Birmingham's suite of housing strategies as well the city's Homelessness and Domestic Abuse Prevention strategies.  

Supported housing exists in many forms both for people with longer and short term needs serving a key role in linking together housing, health and social care and support. Good quality provision enables vulnerable people with care and support needs, to transition or progress out of care, hospital or homelessness to live independently in their local community.

This strategy is focussing specifically on short-term or transitional supported housing also known as 'exempt accommodation'. This includes lesser regulated provision which has increased in signifcant numbers over the last decade, through the private sale and leasing of traditional rented sector property across a number of local housing markets in the city.  

The data collected through the survey is anonymous, so you cannot be identified from what you have said. 

Why your views matter

Over the last 2 years Birmingham has been one of five local authority led national oversight pilots, working to identify, develop and test how greater local oversight could improve the quality, enforcement, and value for money in the supported housing sector, in particular the growing provision of accommodation not directly commissioned by local authorities.

This pilot work has both informed the strategy and two coinciding local and national inquiries on the subject of "exempt accommodation".  The first of these was a local council scrutiny inquiry in December 2021 which was later followed by a Parliamentary Select Commitee Inquiry launched in early 2022. 

This consultation will help provide a further opportunity to inform our final strategy which we will publish later this year.

What happens next

Your views will help us shape the final version of our strategy by helping inform and prioritise actions over the next five years, in response to local oversight of supported housing in Birmingham.  Alongside this online consultation, council officers will be meeting key community and service stakeholders including people with lived experience of rough sleeping. 

A report detailing the final outcome of this consultation will be availabe in January 2023.