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It’s time to end the scandal of poor-quality exempt accommodation

Shabana Mahmood has launched a petition calling for exempt accommodation to be properly regulated. She explains why

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Nearly 19,000 exempt accommodation units exist in Birmingham (picture: Getty)
Nearly 19,000 exempt accommodation units exist in Birmingham (picture: Getty)
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Birmingham, Ladywood MP @ShabanaMahmood has launched a petition calling for exempt accommodation to be properly regulated. She explains why

The proliferation of poorly managed exempt accommodation isn’t just a scandal waiting to happen – it’s a scandal already unfolding in communities across Birmingham. Nearly 19,000 exempt accommodation units exist in our city, each housing vulnerable residents, purporting to provide additional support and care.

The rapid growth of this type of accommodation has led to a situation where there are now large and concentrated numbers of vulnerable individuals living in shared properties. While there are some great providers that live up to their responsibilities to tenants and local communities, associated problems with organised crime and anti-social behaviour are rife, causing misery for tenants and local residents alike. It seems like everybody loses from weak regulation of the sector. Well, almost.

It’s a lucrative business proposition for the rogue landlords cramming unsafe properties with tenants. Each successful placement comes with enhanced housing benefit payments, supposedly to provide the additional care and supervisions vulnerable tenants need, but more often than not ending up in the pockets of cowboy operators obscured by ‘not-for-profit’ status.


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The Regulator of Social Housing lacks the teeth and the resource to investigate providers unless directly reported by concerned tenants and their representatives, defaulting to a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ form of regulation.

Local authorities, which have to handle the fall-out of the exponential growth of the sector, find themselves locked out of preventative measures, because no local authority powers or resources exist to tackle the problem beyond housing benefit regulations.

“My constituent had received no support or supervision during his time in the property, but the landlord and the agent reaped the rewards of enhanced housing benefit while he was there”

Beneath the numbers, there’s a human cost here. I’ve been contacted by a young couple in their 20s, who had no hot water or heating over the winter months, and no tenancy agreement to back them up.

When an agreement finally arrived after months of lobbying, the residents told me their signatures appeared forged. While my contact with them was ongoing, they were seriously assaulted by another tenant, who continues to live in a neighbouring flat. They fear for their safety.

Another constituent was housed in a property plainly not fit for purpose. Cold and damp contaminated the entire property, and large holes in the walls made it impossible to heat. When they raised these issues with the landlord, they were given 14 days to leave the property.

My constituent had received no support or supervision during his time in the property, but the landlord and the agent reaped the rewards of enhanced housing benefit while he was there. On its website, the agent still counts West Midlands Police and the Department for Work and Pensions as its partners.

A complete overhaul of the sector is now needed by a government that is intent on tinkering around the edges and is yet to face up to the scale of the problem.

Ultimately, a change in the definition of ‘support’ written into the law will begin to clean up the sector, where currently a loose definition of ‘more than minimal’ support is abused by rogue players.

A beefed-up regulator enforcing new standards, including a fit-and-proper-persons test, will drive out the cowboys taking advantage of vulnerable people and end the reign of the profiteers.

“It’s time for the government to step up and finally give tenants and residents the secure homes and safe communities they deserve”

I’ve launched a petition alongside Birmingham’s Labour Group, calling on the government to adopt five measures to end this scandal once and for all: a national charter of rights, new powers for the regulator, increased resource for local authorities, power to reject applications based on community impact, and a link between residents and areas to end the practice of ‘dumping’ from one city to another.

Doing nothing is not an option. It’s time for the government to step up and finally give tenants and residents the secure homes and safe communities they deserve.

Shabana Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham, Ladywood

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