Invest In Prevention Support Solutions September 2014

Key Questions Exempt & Specified Accommodation Housing Benefit & Intensive Housing Management Tenancy Sustainment Welfare Reform & Vulnerability Social & Financial Return on Investment

Investing In Prevention: Context The purpose of this series of events is to update you with a number of developments relevant to providing preventative services for people with additional needs and to discuss them as examples of investment in prevention. We will be using social media throughout today & the series of events to promote investment in prevention. We’re using the hashtags #prevention & #SROI and we’re using Twitter, we’re Live Blogging and using Ustream (

Exempt Accommodation Introduced in 1995 to exempt certain social landlords from private sector rent level restrictions Definition: Landlord must be a non-metropolitan county council; voluntary organisation, charity or Registered Provider (housing association) Landlord must have legal interest in the properties concerned (ownership or lease) Tenants concerned must need “care, support & supervision” Additional services to meet those needs must be provided by the landlord or an agent on its behalf

Advantages of Exempt Accommodation Attracts enhanced levels of Housing Benefit to meet the additional needs of people who need “care, support & supervision” (more than “normal property management functions”), for example, supported & sheltered housing Has advantages under the Welfare Reform Act. Exempt Accommodation tenants are excluded from:  Spare Room Subsidy (“Bedroom Tax”)  Benefit Cap  Direct Payment of Rent Local Authorities can reclaim the enhanced HB they pay to Exempt Accommodation providers in full where a Registered Provider has a legal interest in the property

Exempt Accommodation Some schemes, often wrongly, deemed not to “meet the precise definition of Exempt Accommodation”  Agency-managed schemes  Schemes that provide insufficient “care, support & supervision” Means they can fall outside of Welfare Reform Act protections & not be entitled to enhanced levels of Housing Benefit DWP devised an additional definition: “Specified Accommodation” to cover such schemes

Exempt Accommodation & Investment in Prevention Exempt Accommodation is an excellent example of investing in prevention Enables people with additional needs to be provided with services to help them remain independent in relation to their accommodation Takes pressure off statutory services Saves a lot of money

Specified Accommodation There are 4 categories of “Specified Accommodation”  Exempt Accommodation (as described above)  Supported housing where the landlord does not provide the care, support or supervision  Refuges (Domestic Violence & Abuse)  Local authority non-self-contained supported housing (hostels)

Specified Accommodation Tenants entitled to enhanced levels of HB due to having additional needs Tenants excluded from:  Benefit Cap  Direct payment of rent  But NOT from Spare Room Subsidy (“Bedroom Tax”)

Specified Accommodation 2 nd Category Supported housing deemed not to be Exempt Accommodation because the landlord (or an agency on its behalf) doesn’t provide the “care support & supervision”. But actually it often IS Exempt Accommodation because:  the Landlord provides “more than normal property functions” (Intensive Housing Management)  Or an agency does this on behalf of the Landlord (usually in addition to support funded by a 3 rd party such as a local authority)  And where the Intensive Housing Management is funded by HB

Specified Accommodation 2 nd Category The person has to be “admitted” to the accommodation to receive the “care support & supervision”  Assessment The accommodation should be commissioned, designed or designated as supported housing by a statutory authority to qualify as Specified Accommodation  But we think ALL Specified Accommodation is, or could be made to be, Exempt Accommodation

Specified Accommodation: Refuges Intended to protect Refuges that are allegedly not Exempt Accommodation. Includes Local Authority refuges (Specified Accommodation of other types excludes LA accommodation except refuges and hostels) Includes “non-familial” domestic violence, e.g., landlord or neighbour We believe that most, if not all, refuges are or easily could be Exempt Accommodation

Specified Accommodation: LA Hostels Local Authority hostels providing “care, support & supervision” are deemed to be Specified Accommodation They could be deemed Exempt Accommodation if:  the LA is a County Council or  the LA is registered with the Homes & Communities Agency as a Registered Provider

Specified Accommodation Specified Accommodation, aside from Exempt Accommodation, isn’t necessarily entitled to enhanced HB if the LA deems the rents to be unreasonably high Where no Registered Provider is involved it will be restricted to Local Housing Allowance levels – not exactly an investment in prevention! Only Exempt Accommodation provides:  A guarantee of enhanced HB  Full exclusions from Welfare Reform Act provisions All too often schemes that are actually Exempt Accommodation are mistakenly seen as not Exempt

Intensive Housing Management General needs housing management more intensively applied Additional housing management tasks that reflect the additional needs of tenants with the objective of maintaining & developing independence in relation to accommodation sing_management_tasks.pdf sing_management_tasks.pdf

Intensive Housing Management Providers of Exempt & Specified Accommodation can include IHM tasks in HB claims Local Authorities can pay enhanced HB claims to meet additional needs of tenants requiring “more than normal property management functions” Local Authorities can reclaim the enhanced HB they pay via their annual subsidy claim Intensive Housing Management qualifies as “care, support & supervision” for the purposes of qualifying for Exempt or Specified Accommodation It is another form of investment in prevention

Intensive Housing Management We believe that the total amount of the annual HB UK budget of £17bn ( ) paid to Exempt/Specified Accommodation is 6-7% The DWP is currently quantifying it at local level It funds Intensive Housing Management as well as rent and it’s the only part of the HB budget on which we get both a social and financial return as an investment in prevention It is likely to be “localised” Probably means a fixed pot & maybe a finite list of eligible tasks

Intensive Housing Management Another “Platinum Cut” as per Supporting People? Probably. Whether or not that happens, but especially if it does, it is important to ensure that you have access to that revenue now. Trying to get it after the “cut” may not be possible That’s what we’ve been helping people to do since 2005helping people to do If it is localised it may be restricted/cash-limited, which means the service charge may not be sufficient to meet all additional needs In which case it can be allocated to rent. Plan B!

Click here to expand this graphichere

Intensive Housing Management Ensuring tenant’s rent is paid regularly and on time. Explaining the tenancy agreement and assisting tenants abide by it. Organising inspections of tenant’s property and arranging for any repairs or improvements to be carried out, including the replacement of furniture. Ensuring that tenants are aware of their rights under their tenancy agreement. Offering tenants advice and guidance on keeping their property to a reasonable standard of hygiene

Intensive Housing Management Assisting tenants to access other support providers as required. Liaising with all relevant agencies, both statutory and voluntary, on tenant’s behalf. Assisting tenants to reduce rent arrears. Dealing with nuisance issues. Ensuring that tenants know how to use equipment safely. Providing tenants with advice and facilitating a move to alternative accommodation as required.

Intensive Housing Management Assisting tenants to claim Housing Benefit and other welfare benefits. Helping to keep tenants safe by monitoring visitors, including contractors and professionals, and by carrying out health and safety and risk assessments of property. Providing communication, CCTV, door entry, fire and other safety systems as a consequence of tenants’ additional needs. Depreciating furniture, fixtures, fittings & white goods over a shorter period of time than would otherwise be the case.

Exempt & Specified Accommodation ystem/uploads/attachment_data/file/ /a pdf ystem/uploads/attachment_data/file/ /a pdf Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Supported Housing) (Amendment) Regulations

Exempt Accommodation Resources Please talk to us!  xempt_accommodation.html xempt_accommodation.html  cihm.html cihm.html  tensive_housing_management_.html tensive_housing_management_.html

Tenancy Sustainment Often people think that Exempt Accommodation involves only multiply-occupied buildings: but see the qualifying criteria on slide 4. It doesn’t mention the type of property and anyway, it should be about the needs of the person A large number of “general needs” tenants in social housing have additional needs: elders, mental health, learning disability, chaotic lifestyles, substance misuse… Without short-term and long-term interventions many of these tenants would be unable to stay put and would require more expensive & less independent accommodation

Tenancy Sustainment Tenancy sustainment is an investment in prevention. It prevents:  Evictions/homelessness  Arrears  The need for more expensive supported/sheltered housing It maximises independence It’s Exempt Accommodation: LAs can reclaim the enhanced HB they pay to fund it & take pressure off themselves & statutory sector colleagues We have already worked with providers to develop tenancy sustainment services funded by HB.

Social (& Financial) Return on Investment

We are in a process of paradigm shift in the way that services for people with additional needs are funded There is an emphasis of prevention ….and on Social Return on Investment (SROI) This helps to move us towards a focus on value before cost

Social (& Financial) Return on Investment SROI is a methodology pioneered by the SROI NetworkSROI Network It is interested in changing the way that society accounts for value In methodological terms it puts value before cost, rather like investment in prevention It’s the theoretical side of the infographic we saw on slide 26 There is a debate about whether SROI should measure monetary as well as social value

Social (& Financial) Return on Investment We think it’s important for SROI to calculate a monetary value (cost-benefit) – for now Because Commissioners work from cash-limited pots and want to know how much money a preventative intervention will save their budget We have therefore developed our SFROI methodology accordingly so that providers can assess social outcomes and cost-benefit when providing preventative services This is a hugely important approach to funding services for people with additional needs.

Our Contact Details Media House 3 Drayton Road Birmingham B14 7LP Ltd/ ?ref=hl 31