Birmingham councillors have issued an urgent call for the Government to crack down on more than 12,000 supported 'exempt' hostels that have taken over entire streets and neighbourhoods. The fresh demand for tough measures was made by the new joint Greens-Liberal Democrats-Better Birmingham Independents coalition now running the city council, stating that Brummies can wait no longer for action.
Members agreed to write to the Government's Local Government, Housing and Communities Secretary, currently Steve Reed, to press for urgency as more properties open and more people are shipped into the city to live in them, many from other local authorities and prisons across the country. The city council has said it is largely powerless to act to stop more opening.
Exempt accommodation crisis in numbers
New data confirms that Birmingham is currently housing more than 32,000 people in over 12,000 'exempt' properties, all funded from housing benefits paid at a premium rate. The number has tripled since 2017, making Birmingham far and away the national hotspot. Most of the money paid out on behalf of exempt tenants ends up in the pockets of private firms and landlords, with the sector worth as much as £400 million a year in Birmingham alone.
Councillor Baz's motion
Cllr Baber Baz, the council's new cabinet member for housing and homelessness (Liberal Democrats), presented a motion to the full council meeting on Tuesday July 15, pressing for action. He said: "The current system is failing too many vulnerable people, and it is failing too many Birmingham communities. Supported Exempt Accommodation has an important purpose. When delivered properly, it provides a lifeline for people escaping homelessness, domestic abuse, addiction, poor mental health, and other significant challenges."
He noted that while there was some good provision, it is "increasingly being overshadowed by rogue operators who have turned Supported Exempt Accommodation into a business model, placing profit ahead of people while neglecting the very people they are supposed to support."
Since 2017, the sector has tripled in size, and that growth has happened without the planning controls, licensing powers and regulatory framework needed to manage it responsibly. "The consequences are now being felt across neighbourhoods throughout Birmingham. Family homes have disappeared from the housing market. Communities have become overwhelmed by high concentrations of poorly managed accommodation. Residents tell us they no longer recognise the streets they have lived in for decades," he added.
Complaints and non-compliance
The council has investigated more than 7,000 complaints relating to the sector, with almost half concerning crime and anti-social behaviour. The remainder relate to poor housing standards, safeguarding concerns, and failures to provide the support vulnerable residents deserve. Five out of Birmingham's six largest exempt providers have been found 'non compliant' by the Regulator for Social Housing, making the problems found more profound.
Cllr Baz also criticised other local authorities and agencies who send their troubled people to Birmingham. Local need for supported exempt accommodation beds is around 10,000 at most, yet there are now close to 33,000 live claims for residents living here. "That means thousands of vulnerable people are being placed here from other parts of England," he said.
Call for national support
He added: "If Birmingham is carrying a national responsibility, then Government must provide national support. That means additional funding for Birmingham City Council. It means recognising the increased demands placed on West Midlands Police. It means ensuring safeguarding services, environmental health, housing enforcement, and local communities are properly resourced. And it means acting now—not asking Birmingham's residents to wait until 2027 while communities continue to suffer the consequences every single day."
Councillors across the chamber backed the call to write to the Housing Secretary to demand tough new measures designed to drive rogue providers and dodgy firms out of the sector.
Specific demands
Their calls include:
- Introduce a dedicated planning use class for Supported Exempt Accommodation.
- Require planning permission for new Supported Exempt Accommodation on a par with HMO licensing rules, enabling councils to consider joint impact, community cohesion and neighbourhood sustainability.
- Grant stronger planning and enforcement powers to councils to manage and prevent the over-saturation of individual neighbourhoods.
- Ensure the new licensing regime works alongside stronger planning laws so high-quality supported housing is encouraged, rogue providers are removed, and vulnerable residents receive support.
- Continue to work with local authorities, including Birmingham City Council, to ensure regulatory reforms deliver safer communities, better outcomes for vulnerable residents and a fairer distribution across England.
- Call on the Government to reallocate funding to West Midlands Police to reflect the higher burden of policing areas with high concentrations of exempt accommodation.
- Support expanding Birmingham's existing Selective Licensing Scheme to all wards.
- Call on the government to allow councils to apply an additional locally retained Council Tax premium to HMOs and exempt properties that place disproportionate demands on local services, with revenue ring-fenced for waste collection, street cleansing, environmental enforcement, and neighbourhood management.
The Government is still consulting on new regulations set out in its Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. Critics say it is dragging its feet on implementing the new rules and that even when in place they do not go far enough.
