DLUHC and DWP commission new research on supported housing

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have commissioned research led by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (at Sheffield Hallam University) to assess the size, cost and demand of the supported housing sector. This will update and build on the 2016 supported accommodation review.

This is vital research to ensure government has the best available data for making decisions on the future direction of supported housing policy, to ensure residents in supported housing receive good quality support and accommodation which represents value for money. In England, this is currently focused on the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill, and DLUHC is also working closely with DWP on Housing Benefit (HB) rules which apply across Great Britain.

The research will take a mixed method approach and includes an analysis of secondary data, as well as surveys of local authority Housing Benefit teams, supported housing commissioners, and supported housing providers. There will also be a series of in-depth case studies with supported housing providers, local authorities and county councils.

The research team at Sheffield Hallam University are keen to encourage all providers across the supported housing sector to take part in the research. Please respond to the Provider survey when it arrives at your organisation – likely to be early May. If you would like to make sure that the Provider survey gets sent to the most appropriate person in your organisation please send relevant contact details to Dave Leather (part of the Sheffield Hallam University research team) and he will be able to forward the details for the survey directly to the relevant person: d.leather@shu.ac.uk

If you are interested in contributing to this research, the deadline has been extended to 30 June 2023. 

The research team also want to speak to providers of supported housing in more depth, either via a discussion with a member of the team or by taking part in a case study.

This would give you a chance to give your perspective on the factors affecting supported housing providers and how this varies across different types of provision.  All information collected as part of the study will only be seen by the research team. All data collected will be anonymised and not attributed to any individual or organisation in reporting. 

If you are interested in learning more about the research, or to discuss what is involved in taking part in the research as a case study or via in-depth interview, then please contact Christina Beatty at: C.Beatty@shu.ac.uk 

The Sheffield Hallam research team are very grateful for the time given by respondents to complete the survey, to take part in the case studies research, or to take part in the in-depth interviews as it really makes a difference to the overall research and robustness of the findings.