MD2672 Mayor’s Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund

Since 2013/14, the GLA has been administering London’s share of Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund (MCSSHF) to provide homes for older and disabled Londoners. £111m of a £315m national budget has been assigned to London (approved by MD1073, MD1476 and MD2256). The GLA has secured an additional £30m of funding from DHSC, for the programme for starts on site up to 31 March 2021. This funding has been redirected to the GLA from Homes England’s indicative allocation for 2020/21 on the basis of each organisation’s pipeline for the year. This takes the total size of the capital programme in London to up to £141m, with £50m in 20/21.

The GLA has fully allocated the current £111m funding for the programme to deliver 1,700 starts on site by 31 March 2021. As of 31 March 2020, 1,440 of the allocated homes had started on site. Some allocations were made through specific bidding rounds and some through continuous bidding (MD1244, MD1292, MD1428). Additional projects will come forward through continuous bidding in 2020/21. As currently, providers will submit bids through the GLA’s Open Project System and bids will be assessed according to criteria set out in the Mayor’s Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund prospectus . Officers will assess bids and, following peer review, make recommendations for funding allocations. The Executive Director of Housing and Land and Deputy Executive Director of Housing and Land will approve, jointly or separately, funding allocations, in line with decision making processes for the affordable homes programmes, as set out in Mayoral Decision-Making in GLA.

The GLA and DHSC have an existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) that sets out the terms of the funding and the responsibilities of each of the parties.

The aim of the MCSSHF is to boost the delivery of a range of specialist housing provision with an element of care and support for older and disabled Londoners. This includes extra care, assisted living, dementia care, retirement housing, supported housing for disabled adults and people with mental health problems, wheelchair adapted homes and housing specifically designed for people with learning disabilities and autism. While it will mainly be grant-fund affordable housing (for rent and shared ownership), the programme can also provide loans to enable the development of private housing.

Potential benefits of the types of housing delivered through this programme include:

• peace of mind, safety and security for vulnerable older and disabled people;
• support to maintain independence;
• improved physical and mental health;
• delays and reductions in the need for primary care and social care interventions, including admission to long term care settings;
• prevention of hospital admissions;
• lower care costs;
• maintenance and development of links with the community;
• maximisation of incomes and reduced fuel poverty; and
• freeing up of family housing for the wider community.

Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and GLA are subject to a public sector equality duty and must have ‘due regard’ to the need to (i) eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (all except the last being “relevant” protected characteristics).

The funding is specifically designed to address the housing pressures and challenges faced by older people and those living with a physical or mental disability. Older people are the fastest growing population group in London. More than one in ten Londoners is aged 65 or over, with the number projected to rise by 24 per cent over the next decade. Older person households are more likely to under-occupy housing than their younger counterparts. 54 per cent of older homeowners in London and 16 per cent of older renters are under-occupying by at least two bedrooms. Disabled people account for around 14 per cent of London’s population.

The continuation of the programme will not only provide more suitable accommodation for older and disabled people in need of an affordable home but will also have an impact on the market, by enabling older home owners to downsize and free up larger properties into the market in return for a stake in or full ownership of a more appropriate home where care and support can be received.

a) Key risks and issues

The key risks are set out in the table below.

b) Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

Policy 5.2 of the London Housing Strategy includes the following proposals that are relevant to the MCSSHF:

Policy 5.2A The Mayor will work with councils, housing associations, Government and others to ensure that London’s homes and neighbourhoods support London’s diverse housing needs. This will include:

1. ensuring more of London’s new and existing homes are accessible and appropriate for disabled Londoners, older Londoners, and families with children, including requiring councils to provide guidance on the size mix of low cost rented homes;
2. increasing opportunities for older homeowners to move to accommodation more suitable for their needs, including benchmarks for older people’s housing requirements in the draft London Plan;

Policy 5.2B The Mayor will work with councils, housing associations, Government and others to ensure that Londoners who need it are provided with support so that they can live independently. This will include:

1. investing at least £100 million in supported housing for older and disabled Londoners; and
2. making the case to Government that the new funding arrangements should meet the support and housing costs of supported housing in London.

Policy H13 of the London Plan (Intend to Publish) states that “Boroughs should work positively and collaboratively with providers to identify sites which may be suitable for specialist older persons housing taking account of:

1. local housing needs information including data on the local type and tenure of demand, and the indicative benchmarks set out in Table 4.3
2. the need for sites to be well-connected in terms of contributing to an inclusive neighbourhood, having access to relevant facilities, social infrastructure and health care, and being well served by public transport
3. the increasing need for accommodation suitable for people with dementia.”

Table 4.3 of the London Plan (Intend to Publish) sets out annual borough benchmarks for the delivery of specialist older persons housing.

c) Impact assessments and consultations

The London Housing Strategy and the London Plan (Intend to Publish) set the strategic framework underpinning the MCSSHF. Consultation on the London Housing Strategy was undertaken between September and December 2017. Consultation on the London Plan (Intend to Publish) was undertaken between December 2017 and March 2018. Both have been subject to impact assessments.

The delivery of the MCSSHF since 2013/14 has involved extensive consultation with partners.

d) Conflicts of Interest

The drafting officers have no known conflicts of interest.

This decision is seeking approval for the GLA to accept an additional £30m capital funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The capital funding will be used to fund the development of homes for older and disabled people. The profile of spend of the additional £30m will be reported in the GLA’s revised capital programme.

The total value of the capital allocation to the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund in London has increased from £111m to £141m to reflect the additional £30m capital funding.

Revenue funding of up to £100k per annum is being reimbursed against spend on cost of administering the programme in 2020/21 (agreed for a three-year period 2018/19 to 2020/21 in March 2018 under MD2256).

Under section 30(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (as amended) (“GLA Act”), the GLA has the power to receive and distribute the funding as set out above providing it considers that doing so will further one or more of its principal purposes of: promoting economic development and wealth creation, social development, and the improvement of the environment in Greater London.

As set out above the funding will aid delivery of housing and affordable housing, and it is open to the GLA to take the view that funding them will promote both social and economic development, and is therefore within its powers, contained in section 30(1) of the GLA Act.

Further, the foregoing sections of this report indicate that in preparing the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

(i) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
(ii) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
(iii) consult with appropriate bodies.