Minister chairs Birmingham summit on crime linked to supported housing

Birmingham City Council has hosted a roundtable with national and local agencies on supported exempt accommodation, a form of housing it says has become a source of crime and anti-social behaviour in parts of the city.

The meeting on 9 July was chaired by Alison McGovern, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness. Local MPs, the police, the fire service, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice, HMRC, the Charity Commission and the Regulator of Social Housing also took part.

The largest concentration in England

Supported exempt accommodation is supported housing provided by not-for-profit housing associations, charities and community interest companies for people who need extra care and support. Birmingham has the largest concentration in England, with more than 33,000 units across 12,000 properties, three times as many units as in 2017.

The council has investigated 7,000 complaints about the sector. Nearly half related to anti-social behaviour and crime; the rest concerned poor property standards and a lack of support for residents.

"Five of Birmingham's six largest supported exempt accommodation providers have been found to be non-compliant by the regulator - this is unacceptable and cannot continue," said council leader Councillor Roger Harmer.

Call for licensing

Councillor Harmer said the rapid, unchecked growth of the sector had also contributed to the loss of thousands of family homes. While the roundtable had helped agencies coordinate and share information, he said many problems would continue until the law changed, and called on the Government to speed up the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 and bring in a mandatory, property-based licensing scheme.