duration

Location
Virtual

A practical session exploring the supported housing consultation – what it means for providers and local authority duties, what you need to do to prepare and how the HQN toolkit will help you. Hear from practitioners and experts.

  • Read more

    This practical session takes a close look at the government’s response to the recent supported housing consultation and what it means for social housing providers and the duties of local authorities.

    The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 lays out the changes in the consultation:

    • Mandatory licensing for most supported housing in England
    • Fit and Proper Person test for providers
    • National standards for accommodation, safety, and support
    • Stronger enforcement powers for councils (including fines)
    • Housing Benefit reforms linking payments to licensing and clarifying support definitions
    • Local authority duty to create supported housing strategies.

    We’ll break down these key changes, explore how they could affect your services and demonstrate how the new HQN supported housing toolkit can help. It’s available to members of our Housing Management, Strategic and Connect networks. If you’d like to access the toolkit – get in touch.

    You’ll hear from a large provider and a specialist smaller provider. They’ll share what they’ve done, offering practical ideas you can apply straight away.

    HQN experts will provide a wider view of the challenges and opportunities ahead, helping to strengthen your supported housing offer in a changing landscape.

    What we’ll cover:

    • Outline the strategic, wider perspective on the changes to supported housing
    • Introduce the new and updated HQN supported housing toolkit
    • Hear a practitioner perspective on what they’re doing in preparation.

    Delegates will leave with a clearer understanding of current best practice in supported housing – and Housing Management Network members will receive a copy of HQN’s Supported Housing Toolkit.

    If you are not a member and would like access to the toolkit, please contact us at [email protected].

  • Our speakers

    Emma Lindley, HQN Associate
    Emma is a lead associate for HQN’s Strategic Network and has been an HQN Associate since 2013 . She regularly writes briefings for HQN and has produced a toolkit on allocations and lettings. Emma has nine years’ experience of working in housing associations and a local authority in the East Midlands. She has worked in a variety of roles including managing a PRS portfolio, providing housing options advice, tenancy management and most recently strategic housing with responsibility for the homelessness service, affordable housing delivery and private sector renewal strategy.

    Mark Lake, HQN Associate
    Mark has 30+ years of expertise in the supported and social housing sector. He was director of housing with Hanover and then Anchor Hanover. More recently he worked for Housing 21 in a business development role. Mark also has direct experience of developing and leading services across specialist supported housing, including services for people experiencing mental ill health, young homeless people and rough sleepers.

    As a consultant, Mark has undertaken several large-scale service reviews with providers of housing and care including reviewing the service of the largest supported living provider in Northern Ireland as well as services provided by smaller specialist supported housing providers.

    Lee Buss-Blair, Director of Operations, Riverside Care and Support
    Lee is the Director of Operations for Riverside’s Care & Support function. The Riverside Group is a large national Registered Provider of social housing in England and Scotland, and one of the largest providers of supported housing in England. His role covers a broad range of services, including veterans, homelessness, Ofsted services, Mental Health and learning disability services, older people’s services, CQC registered extra care, and managed agents. This covers 16,000 customers, 12,500 units of accommodation, 1,600 colleagues, and an annual turnover of £191m.

    He has also played a key role in advising Government on a range of sector issues, including Covid guidance for supported housing, The Fairer Renting Bill, Regulatory Oversight (Supported Housing) Act and the subsequent Supported Housing Regulations Consultation, The Review of the Experiences of LGBT Veterans who Served During the Ban, and was a member of the Social Housing White Paper Professionalisation Review Working Group.

    He is currently a Member of the Homeless Link National Advisory Council and Regulatory Advisory Board, and the Co-Chair of the CIH Homelessness Policy group.

    Julie Howells, Quality, Competence & Conduct Assistant Director, Derventio Housing Trust
    Julie Howells is an experienced housing and support professional with over 15 years’ experience across contract management, quality assurance, training, development and employability services.

    In her role at Derventio Housing Trust, Julie supports the delivery of high-quality, person-centred housing and support services, with a focus on standards, continuous improvement and effective practice. She has also led employability programmes supporting people facing barriers to work to build confidence, develop skills and move towards their goals.

    Julie’s approach is rooted in compassion, inclusion and practical support. She is passionate about empowering both the people Derventio supports and the teams she leads, creating environments where people feel valued, encouraged, and able to succeed.

    Julie is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and holds qualifications in both housing and career development.

  • Programme

    9:30am Welcome and introductions

    9:40am Supported housing oversight: what the consultation means in practice

    Emma Lindley, HQN Associate
    • What the consultation response tells us about the direction of travel
    • The role of local supported housing strategies and why they matter
    • What providers and local authorities should be doing now to prepare for licensing.

    10:10am Preparing for implementation: The Riverside perspective

    Lee Buss-Blair, Director of Operations, Riverside Care and Support
    • Riverside’s approach to preparing for the supported housing oversight regime
    • Key workstreams, practical priorities and implementation planning
    • Residual risks, including managed agents, local authority engagement and lived experience.

    10:40am Break

    11:00am A practical walk through of the HQN supported housing toolkit

    Mark Lake, HQN Associate
    • How the toolkit helps providers assess services against the proposed standards
    • What evidence providers may need to gather and hold
    • How to use the toolkit to identify gaps, strengthen assurance and prepare for future requirements.

    11:30am Small provider readiness: learning from the SHIP experience

    Julie Howells, Assistant Director of Operations, Derventio Housing Trust
    Penny Wiltshire, Derventio Housing Trust
    • What supported housing oversight means for smaller and specialist providers
    • Learning from operating in a SHIP area and preparing for future licensing
    • Practical challenges, resident impact and a frontline case study.

    12:00pm Q&A and discussion

    12:15pm Wrap up and key takeaways

    12:30pm Close

  • Cancellations and substitutions

    If you are unable to attend an event or public training course, please let us know in writing (email is fine) at least 48 hours before. Please email [email protected]

    Otherwise, a cancellation fee of £60 plus VAT will be chargeable.

    If you are using a package place to attend and do not inform us within the agreed time frame, then a place will be taken to cover your non-attendance.

    Cancellations must be made in writing and will be acknowledged by HQN Limited.

  • Price and booking

    Bookings are closed for this event.

    If you experience any issues when submitting your booking, please email [email protected] with the name and date of the session along with the delegate name(s), email address(es) and job title(s) and we'll process the booking for you.

Dates



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