Associations blame situation on stagnant council fees - I/H Chloë Stothart 24/1/2010
Almost a quarter of supported housing providers are considering not bidding to provide some of their existing services when their contracts end.
A survey of 130 housing associations by the National Housing Federation found 24 per cent of those questioned had either decided or were considering not bidding to continue to provide existing services.
The survey said the amount councils paid housing associations to provide supported housing had not increased in line with their costs.
Over 30 per cent of associations said they had received no increase in contract price in 2007/08 compared with just over 21 per cent of organisations in 2008/9 and nearly 29 per cent in 2009/10.
Councils paid associations 2.2 per cent more in 2007/8, 1.9 per cent more in 2008/9 and associations expected a 1.9 per cent increase in 2009/10. However, average earnings rose by 3 per cent in 2007, 3.7 per cent in 2008 and 4.8 per cent in 2009, while retail price index inflation rose by 4.3 in 2007 and 4 per cent in 2008 and 0.3 per cent in the year to November 2009.
Nearly half of supported housing contacts will end this year and many will be retendered. More than a third of respondents said they had contracts in place for less than three years.
The National Housing Federation has written to Lord McKenzie, the minister responsible for the Supporting People programme, pressing him to continue to tell councils how much Supporting People funding they get - even though it is part of a lump-sum paid to councils covering a wide range of services. The NHF is concerned that councils could use the money to pay for other services.
Helen Williams, assistant director for neighbourhoods at the NHF, said a future concern was that housing associations might decide to build fewer new supported housing schemes because of uncertainties over whether they would get enough funding to run services within the buildings.
She said: ‘We have real concerns about achieving funding levels for vulnerable people that ensure the range and quality of services our sector wants to deliver.’