Sustain UK, one of the 'big five' supported exempt accommodation providers in Birmingham, is calling for urgent new regulations to tackle rogue landlords who treat vulnerable tenants as 'cash cows'. The firm's executives say licensing and tougher enforcement cannot come soon enough as community anger grows over the sector's impact on neighbourhoods.
Provider fights back amid sector scandals
Damning exposés and resident-led campaigns have linked the sector to tenant exploitation, criminal enterprises, and disregard for Birmingham communities. Neighbourhood residents, community leaders, and politicians have condemned the sector as a scourge on the city. Now some providers, including Sustain UK, are fighting back through the new Supported Exempt Accommodation Forum.
In a candid interview, Sustain's deputy chief executive Bill Flood and operations director Tom Barwell outlined their efforts to address major issues, including tackling anti-social behaviour with neighbourhood tenant liaison teams, not opening properties in areas where too many already exist, switching some properties back to family homes, and improving tenant satisfaction and outcomes. They also acknowledged damage done to the sector's reputation.
Regulator status and tenant satisfaction
Sustain currently oversees around 1,500 tenants in about 300 properties, most of which are former family homes. The firm is deemed 'non compliant' by the Regulator of Social Housing after failing to meet governance and financial viability standards. Mr Flood admitted Sustain had not always got it right and was working with the watchdog and Birmingham City Council to achieve compliance and meet new quality standards.
Despite this, the firm received a 92% score in independently validated tenant satisfaction measures, one of the highest in the country. Mr Flood said: "We are constantly making the case that there are those trying to do things properly and look after tenants and resolve problems, and those who are not. Those who are not are not helping the rest of us at all."
Intensive vetting and support plans
Mr Barwell said the firm carries out an intensive vetting and assessment process with new tenants, contrary to claims that companies move tenants in with few background checks. "Those wanting a place to live go through a fairly intensive 'onboarding' process including a full interview, assessment and review of where to place them where they will thrive," he said. "We spent years developing our referral process and we believe it makes us different."
The firm works with managing agents to produce clear support plans. "Tenants can present as having low level needs, but under the surface we sometimes find undisclosed addictions, long term mental health challenges and so on," Mr Barwell added. He stressed the need for "real actionable efforts and time going into the property", with evidence logs shared with inspectors and officials.
Service requests and eviction challenges
In the last year, Sustain received around 330 'service requests' relating to its 1,500 tenants—complaints or requests for intervention from tenants, neighbours, and agencies including the police. Around a quarter, or fewer than 100, were linked to anti-social behaviour. The vast majority were resolved within seven days. However, 17 cases were escalated to formal anti-social behaviour investigations, including issues related to bullying, drug or alcohol use, and persistent bad behaviour.
Eviction is a 'last resort', said Mr Flood. "We never like to evict and is a last option because we recognise it often doesn't help the situation to have tenants bouncing around from property to property," he said. "We do evict when we have to, but it is actually hard to do. The bar for eviction from this type of accommodation is set very very high." He noted that judges are "really loathe to give eviction orders" because they want to give tenants the best chance to stay housed, leaving providers "back to square one" in some cases.
More than 32,000 tenants, all deemed in need of 'more than minimal' support, are housed in over 12,000 exempt properties across Birmingham—a sector size unmatched by any other city. Sustain's executives say new regulations, due next year, are welcome and necessary to restore trust and drive out bad actors.
