Supported Housing: The Missing Link in Social Care Reform

Resulting from a panel discussion at the National Children’s and Adult Social Care conference, this call to action argues that if social care is to become sustainable, preventative and person-centred, supported housing must move from the margins to the centre of policy, planning and investment.

With input from panellists from Cornwall CounciI, Harbour Housing, ADASS, Bristol City Council and Inner Circle, it finds that supported housing should be explicitly recognised as a foundational element of social care reform and that:

• Supported housing is essential social infrastructure, underpinning independence, prevention and better outcomes.

• Chronic underinvestment drives crisis spending, higher care costs and long-term system failure.

• Local delivery and partnerships show what works – but councils cannot scale solutions without national reform.

• Government needs to act now. The Casey Commission and National Housing Strategy must place supported housing at the heart social care reform, enable investment in supported housing as core social infrastructure, put people first in policy, funding and delivery and ground reform in what people need to live well.

The authors also see implementation of the Supported Housing Regulatory Oversight Act (SHROA) as a critical moment for the sector, noting that without adequate funding and support, there is a risk that regulation could shrink supply rather than strengthen it.