Proposed supported housing funding reform ‘could threaten’ people experiencing homelessness

The Salvation Army has warned that government plans to base supported housing allowance on private rates threaten over 90 per cent of its accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.

The charity found from its independent research that the majority of residents living in its supported housing might not be guaranteed sufficient financial support, which could have a detrimental effect on how The Salvation Army supports people experiencing homelessness.

Under the current funding system, a vulnerable person experiencing homelessness can claim the required rent to stay in a Salvation Army centre through an enhanced level of housing benefit.

By contrast, the government’s proposed reform means that a person would no longer have guaranteed access to funding to help meet their rental costs in full.

According to the new research, completed by independent consultant Frontier Economics, this may mean that the future of over 90 per cent of The Salvation Army’s Lifehouses could be placed at risk.

One of the main findings is that under the government’s proposed reform, residents in The Salvation Army’s supported housing would require an average ‘top up’ of around £78 per person per week for The Salvation Army to continue running its services in the same way. However, because the government is proposing to base the new funding system on the value of local private rented sector properties rather team what it actually costs to provide supported housing to vulnerable residents, the level of ‘top up’ required by residents varies from area to area.

While the possibility of ‘top up’ funding is included in the government’s proposed reform, it will be administered by local authorities on a discretionary basis. As a result, there can be no guarantee that The Salvation Army’s residents will receive access to it in every case. With no guidance access to ‘top up’ funding to cover any shortfall in rental costs, residents in over 90 per cent of Lifehouses would be unable to afford their rental costs, which in turn would jeopardise the financial viability of the church and charity’s supported housing services.

The Salvation Army is calling on the government to delay the introduction of any new funding system until 2022.

Mitch Menagh, Territorial Director of The Salvation Army’s Homelessness Services Unit, said: “Alongside many providers of supported housing, we became increasingly concerned about the proposed changes to funding.

“It was apparent that our Lifehouses could come under significant threat so we commissioned independent research to analyse the impact these changes could have on our supported housing services and, most importantly, on the people we support.

“We found evidence that the new system would place the financial viability of the vast majority of our supported housing services at immediate risk, jeopardising the homes of thousands of vulnerable people.

“Sadly we cannot operate our service on the basis of discretionary ‘top up’ funding, which offers our residents very little financial security. This change in funding would mean that we cannot effectively budget for the future and it also means that our service users would not be guaranteed the support they need for what are often extremely complex needs.

“Yet, despite these difficulties, The Salvation Army believes that if the government is serious about providing security and stability to vulnerable residents in all forms of supported housing, including those in short term, transitional services, that it offers them the opportunity to continue claiming help with their rental costs through the social security system.”