Supported housing in Bradford

Supported housing is accommodation that is provided alongside support, supervision or care, to help people with specific needs to live as independently as possible in the community. This includes, for example, older people, people with a learning disability, people with a physical disability, people at risk of or who have experienced homelessness, or people recovering from drug or alcohol dependence. Supported housing can be short term or long term, depending on a person’s needs.

If you are thinking of providing supported housing in Bradford, please complete our new provider form, so that we can contact you for an initial discussion

What is the Supported Housing Improvement Programme?

The Supported Housing Improvement Programme (SHIP) is a government funded initiative to encourage local councils to improve supported housing generally by

• Creating an easy access route for new providers, to ensure that they understand what they need to do
• Assisting new and existing providers to meet requirements, improve standards and deal with problems through training and advice
• Ensuring that accommodation standards are met
• Examining the support provided, to check that it meets the needs of the residents and – for short term supported housing – helps them to move towards independent living
• Monitoring any impacts caused by supported housing provision in a particular area

Schemes which meet the standards for accommodation and support and are eligible for Housing Benefit can receive a rating on our quality scheme. Depending on the type of needs you support you will be eligible to go on the list used by Housing Options for referrals of customers whose needs match the support you offer.

The project will be contacting current providers over the next two years to arrange visits and inspections.

If you are a current provider and have a query about the Supported Housing Improvement Programme please contact supportedhousing@bradford.gov.uk.

If you have a query about a current Housing Benefit claim please use the benefits online form.

New legislation

In addition to SHIP, the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 has recently passed into law. Over the next two years the government will be developing national standards for Supported Housing as part of a licensing scheme which will require some or all types of supported housing to have a licence in order to operate. Early indications are that having been inspected and received a good rating by local authorities as part of a SHIP or some other scheme may simplify the process of applying for a license.

You can sign up for the Council’s Stay Connected service to receive emails updating you about SHIP, legislation and other housing matters.

What sort of supported housing do we currently have in the District?

Bradford Council has supported housing commissions for short term needs including

• Temporary accommodation under a housing duty
• Accommodation for ex-offenders – particularly those with multiple needs
• Accommodation for young people and care leavers
• Accommodation for people who have experienced domestic violence
• Accommodation for those with complex needs is also provided by Housing First

The main route into commissioned short term supported housing is via the Gateway; this is administered by Housing Options and was introduced to ensure better control and fairer access to commissioned supported housing.

If you are interested in bidding for any supported housing commission in the District, more information is on the commissioning adult health and social care services page.

There are also a range of non-commissioned providers in the District providing supported housing for those with short term needs. While some provide specialist services tailored to a particular group – for example move on from substance misuse – others provide mainly medium-low needs accommodation.

What are the needs of the District in terms of supported housing?

Bradford Council commissioned some research on supported housing need. You can read the full report on supported housing (PDF).

It concluded that at that time the District needed more supported housing for people with medium-high needs, particularly

• Young people
• Support for substance misuse
• Housing for people with mental health issues
• Ex-offenders

From this the Council then developed its Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy (PDF) which has the vision that 'across our partnership we will strive towards ending homelessness and rough sleeping once and for all - homelessness is everyone's business'. This vision is to be achieved through 5 themes:

• Early intervention and prevention of homelessness
• Deliver support in the right way at the right time to people who are homeless
• Tackle rough sleeping
• Improve access to housing for people who are homeless
• Work better together