The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to boost spending on supported housing and consider a ring-fenced fund in next month’s Budget.
The association argued that supported housing, in which older people and people with a learning disability or mental health needs receive support, supervision or care, had ‘huge social value’ and could ease pressure on public spending elsewhere.
It found that one scheme in Bradford saved the NHS up to £47,000 per person.
But the LGA warned that years of cuts and the loss of ring-fenced funding in 2011 had left supported housing ‘on a knife edge’, with standards falling due to an increase in non-commissioned providers.
It said the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 would go some way in helping, but called for more spending on preventative services like supported housing in the Autumn Budget.
The LGA’s community wellbeing board chairman, David Fothergill, said: ‘High quality supported housing means astounding savings across other public services.
‘Councils need a sustainable, long-term funding regime for these projects, to allow councils to invest in solutions that deliver a net-good across local services and meet local need.’
