Ben Goldstone, Housing worker and Socialist Party member
The supported housing sector is on the brink of a financial crisis that could leave tens of thousands of vulnerable people homeless, organisations including public bodies, charities, and housing associations, have warned.
In a letter delivered to the government, they called for swift action to save the sector, which houses 500,000 people with complex needs across England. Cuts to funding and increasing costs have meant that nearly one in five, or 70,000, of all supported homes are on the verge of closing. The National Housing Federation reported that a third of providers have said they may have to stop providing supported housing altogether due to the financial pressures. 32% have closed homes in the past 12 months.
Supported housing accommodates a range of vulnerable groups, including care leavers, older people, veterans, people with learning disabilities, domestic abuse survivors, and those who had been previously homeless.
The demand for supported housing is rising, but England has seen a net loss of 3,000 homes in the past three years, with an estimated shortfall of 325,000. Lack of supported housing is now the biggest reason for delayed discharges from mental health hospitals in England. Without supported housing, the country would need 14,000 more inpatient psychiatric places, 2,500 residential care places, and 2,000 prison places.
Impact of council cuts
Supported housing is commissioned by local councils based on need, but numbers have dropped since 2009, after their ring-fenced funding was taken away. Councillors faced with the massive cuts that came from successive Tory governments did not fight back and demand the money our communities need. As such, councils passed on the cuts, and supported housing was one of the many places the axe fell. Supported housing funding was cut by 75% between 2010 and 2020, according to the National Audit Office.
Socialist Party members fought throughout this period for councils to act. Councils should set no-cuts budgets so that they can continue to run housing and other necessary services. Councils should base their budgets on need, not what is deemed acceptable by the capitalist class and their representatives in Parliament, and fight for necessary funding from central government.
Local councils should take over and bring in-house any supported housing placement by charities or private providers that can no longer operate, so that residents can continue to receive the support they need and workers keep their jobs. And if councillors refuse to do this, or the government declines to provide the funding, this shows clearly that we need a new mass workers’ party that will fight for services and act in the interest of the working class!
