Save supported housing: 70,000 homes at risk of closure

We’ve written to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer warning that it’s in crisis. Without government intervention, it could disappear.

Supported housing is a lifeline for thousands of vulnerable people in England. In Porchlight’s case this is for people who are homeless, but it can also be for people who are disabled, who have mental health problems, have experienced domestic abuse and more.

Funding cuts have led to the loss of many supported housing services around the country. Those remaining, including Porchlight housing, face an uncertain future.

Without properly funded supported housing:

• homelessness will rise
• there will be more pressure on NHS and prison services
• we’ll see increased reoffending
• there will be more violence against women and girls.

This is spelled out in the letter to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer which calls for:

• an increase in funding for housing-related support to at least £1.6bn per year
• a commitment to delivering more supported homes by 2040, with clear funding in the Affordable Homes Programme and supported homes a key part of the government’s 1.5m housebuilding target
• assurance that the long-term housing strategy and homelessness strategy encompass the vital role of supported housing in the housing system.

You can read the full letter here.

Without government intervention at the upcoming Spending Review, supported housing faces a worsening funding crisis. We can’t let this happen – lives are on the line.