Exempt housing system 'a complete mess'

Vulnerable people have faced rape and exploitation by landlord "gangsters" in England's "complete mess" of an exempt housing system, a report says.

The provision - a type of shared accommodation free from local licensing regulations - has been probed by MPs amid concerns over standards.

The inquiry has revealed residents living in squalor, with some reporting sexual abuse under threat of eviction.

The government said it was looking to stop rogue operators "in their tracks".

The cross-party committee of MPs, which says some providers make excessive profits by using loopholes, has urged the government to set national standards.

The model is a form of supported housing in which landlords charge rent but also, via benefits, claim for help meant to be put in place depending on the specific needs of residents.

The scheme is designed for, and accessed by, people including refugees, care leavers, people with disabilities, people who have previously been homeless, former addicts, recent prison leavers and victims of crime such as domestic abuse and modern slavery.

However, as properties are exempt from local licensing regulations, councils and police have few powers to act, leading to MPs' scrutiny of the system over claims it fails to look after some of the country's most vulnerable people.

The BBC has previously heard stories of some landlords in Birmingham claiming more than £200 in benefits a week and offering bonuses for staff who bring in new residents, despite providing little to no support.

The committee said the scale of the issues was unclear due to a lack of data. UK-wide, about 600,000 people rely on supported housing at any one time.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) committee inquiry was launched in December last year.

During a visit to Birmingham, MPs were told of residents being raped or sexually harassed by their landlords under threat of eviction, or forced to undertake renovations for small amounts of money.

They also heard of female survivors of domestic abuse living in mixed-sex accommodation or alongside perpetrators, or recovering drug addicts living with drug dealers.

"It was a large place managed by what could possibly be called gangsters, who would scare tenants at various times for various reasons, often for no reason," said a resident whose testimony was quoted in MPs' report.

The resident added: "They were sometimes drunk and they were untrained for their roles. They were abusive, intimidating and preyed on the vulnerable.

"They would collect money with intimidating tactics, only letting people out on certain evenings, ie the days the tenants had received payments."

Pilot schemes looking to improve standards have taken place in Birmingham along with Hull, Blackburn, Blackpool and Bristol.

Committee chairman Clive Betts, Labour MP for Sheffield South East, said there were many good providers but in the worst cases, vulnerable residents had "little more than a loaf of bread left on the table or a support worker shouting at the bottom of the stairs" to check on them.

He said: "The current system of exempt accommodation is a complete mess which lets down residents and local communities and which rips off the taxpayer."

Mr Betts called on the government to "get a grip" on the amount of money being paid out "without effective oversight".

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesman said: "It is unacceptable that unscrupulous landlords are trying to profit at the expense of vulnerable people and we are bringing forward a package of measures to stop them in their tracks.

"This is backed by a £20m investment to drive up quality in the supported housing sector and protect the most vulnerable in society."

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