Redbridge Council's Housing Committee has discussed the development of a new Supported Housing Strategy, aiming to ensure residents have access to safe, high-quality homes and personalised support. The strategy, mandated by the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, is due to be finalised by March 2027.
Officers presented a draft strategy that categorises supported housing into three main types: short-term and transitional housing for those experiencing homelessness, care leavers, and victims of domestic abuse; accommodation for working-age disabled adults, including those with mental health issues, learning disabilities, or autism; and housing for older people, such as sheltered and extra care facilities.
The committee heard that the borough's population is projected to increase, with a significant rise in the older demographic, placing greater demand on supported housing services. Redbridge is also noted as a net importer
of supported housing placements, which can lead to residents being disconnected from their support networks. To address this, the strategy aims to ensure supported housing is provided in the right place so no particular ward is overburdened with it, that everybody has a range of options for supported housing settings close to their own home, where they live, their community support network.
The vision for residents is to have Stable and connected
accommodation where Health, relationships and community links are sustained.
The proposed strategy is built around four objectives: ensuring right housing in the right places,
promoting independence, prevention and positive move-on,
focusing on health, wellbeing and inclusion,
and emphasising partnerships, quality and co-production.
During the discussion, councillors raised concerns about ward-level data, the balance between local and out-of-borough demand, homelessness prevention, and engaging hard-to-reach groups. A multi-channel consultation approach is planned, including online platforms, focus groups, and targeted outreach, to ensure a wide range of voices are heard. Specifically, the plan is to seek to engage those residents through the services that they already access. So both council services by convening focus groups, drop-in sessions at providers, and also similarly with the voluntary and community sector that are operating in those areas.
The aim is to conduct outreach work essentially in order to make sure that we reach those people who otherwise couldn't engage us online.
Questions were also posed regarding the timescale for residents moving on from transitional housing and the availability of services. For short-term and transitional housing, there's no specific KPIs for the majority of them. Obviously, we'd seek to move people on as fast as possible, but when you're covering as varied circumstances from rough sleepers to people who may just be a hospital discharge and need work done to their home before they return to full independent living, that could be anything from weeks to months or years. So it really is done on a bespoke case-by-case basis.
The strategy aims to ensure Independence, prevention and positive move-on
by focusing on early help, clear pathways, and sustainable housing solutions.
Andrew Billany, Director of Housing, and Ben Tomlinson, Head of Housing Strategy, Quality and Assurance, led the presentation. They outlined that the strategy aims to prevent residents from entering more intensive care settings prematurely, which would also have a positive financial impact on the council.
A workshop is scheduled for November to further refine the consultation materials and the strategy itself. The next Housing Committee meeting is scheduled for January 2027.
See the Public reports pack for more details.
