Brighton & Hove City Council is asking for views on the city’s draft supported housing strategy – a 10-year plan for providing homes and support that help people recover from a crisis and live safely and more independently.
A new law, the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, says every council must publish a supported housing strategy by 31 March 2027.
In Brighton & Hove, the council has decided to plan over 10 years as changing the number and type of homes takes time. with a review and update by 2032, as the law requires.
Supported housing is a home that comes with care, support or supervision. The strategy covers 3 types of supported housing:
- housing for older people – sheltered housing, retirement housing and extra care housing
- long-term housing for working age adults who need support – for example people with a learning disability, autism, long-term mental health needs, a physical or sensory disability, or a brain injury
- short-term housing that people move through on the way to a settled home – for example housing for people who have been homeless, young people, people leaving hospital or prison, people recovering from drug or alcohol problems, and people who have left an abusive partner
The strategy also covers support that helps people stay in their own homes, ‘Shared Lives’ where people live with a trained host family and ‘Housing First’, which provides a home with intensive wraparound support.
The city currently has around 4,580 supported housing places – about 2,670 for older people, 1,440 places for people experiencing homelessness, in recovery or rehabilitation, and 470 long-term places for working-age adults.
For adults in transitional supported housing, the mix needs to change. We are likely to need more high-support places, more flexible housing-led approaches, better move-on and better use of what we already have.
For young people, we need to increase provision, with more family type provision, step down and high support options.
The city also needs more long-term supported living places for working age adults and more extra care and sheltered places for older people.
Councillor Gill Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We very much welcome the new legislation around supported housing and the additional focus it brings.
“Done well, it can help people avoid long-term homelessness, can help people out of hospital sooner and help keep people out of care homes.
“We know we need more high-quality supported housing in the city. The key strand of our draft strategy is making sure homes are available to provide people with the right support at the right time.
“We’re very keen to hear resident views on the draft strategy, so please do have your say.”
Residents can view the draft strategy and have their say in the council’s online consultation at https://yourvoice.brighton-
