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Housing Needs Assessments
How robust assessments can be used to ensure supported and specialised housing is incorporated into housing and regeneration plans
HEALTH, CARE & SUPPORT
Liz Zacharias
Director, Campbell Tickell
Liz Zacharias
Director, Campbell Tickell
Issue 75| December 2024
Carrying out a supported and specialist Housing Needs Assessment is something that will increasingly be required – partly due to the impending guidance on the Supported Housing (Oversight) Act 2023 and more crucially, given the recent Budget’s focus on house building. Housing Needs Assessments will be needed to determine how much supported and specialised housing could be included as part of larger housebuilding schemes.
“One of the biggest areas of growth is the number of single homeless people that councils are accepting relief duties for.”
Spend to save
This isn’t just about expanding much-needed provision, but about how we can try to ensure that with all the proposed new housebuilding, we are able to create balanced and diverse communities.
It is also about how we can spend to save – in London, Local Authorities are spending £4 million a day on temporary accommodation for homeless households. We know that one of the biggest areas of growth is the number of single homeless people that councils are accepting relief duties for, some of whom have complex needs or may be either at risk from others or a risk to others. For these individuals, temporary accommodation with no support, or being placed in a B&B, is not a good option.
Therefore there is a spend-to-save argument to be made for increasing the availability of supported and specialised housing. Campbell Tickell has carried out a number of supported and specialised Housing Needs Assessment projects over the past few years. These have been for both councils and Integrated Commissioning Bodies (ICBs) and for a wide range of different client groups: older people, people with learning disability and/or autism, mental illness, single homeless people and those who are rough sleeping, as well as those with complex needs related to substance misuse, mental ill-health, offending, domestic abuse and young people/care leavers.
A robust approach to assessment
Our approach is a combination of robust case management and population based data analysis and evidenced prevalence information (or nearest best guess!); mapping of current supply of supported and specialised housing available and its use and void rates.
Using these areas to identify a gap in terms of the numbers of units required is then reality checked with practitioners, providers, people with lived experience, commissioners and other stakeholders to confirm or revise the numbers based on people’s experience and expertise, and then identifying the types of provision that will be needed to meet the gap. This gap can include dealing with the current need as well as any changes in need resulting from population changes, or from transitions, for example working-age adult to older person, or child to adult.
We have also then gone on to model the housing provision and the capital and revenue required to meet the gap. In some instances, we have also been able to make the case for the cost savings and cost avoidance to be achieved from investing in supported and specialised housing.
Supporting clients
A robust and well-informed Housing Needs Assessment has been crucial in supporting our clients in ICBs and Social Care to have conversations with colleagues in strategic housing and housing supply roles – using the same terms and language.
This has enabled supported housing and specialised housing needs to be incorporated into housing growth and regeneration plans – something that will presumably be increasing with the increased capital investment from Government. It has also enabled our clients to have good conversations with the market, setting out what is needed and what will be looked on favourably and what will not be supported. It helps planners in developing local planning strategies and approaches.
A Housing Needs Assessment is the first stage in addressing housing needs as it gives housing health and social care a common understanding of the gaps in provision and the evidence base to ensure supported and specialised housing is incorporated into housing development and regeneration plans.
