“If I hadn’t been living at All Saints, I’d probably still be in a tent,” 43-year-old Mark Farmer says. We’re sitting on a sofa in a warm house just outside Nottingham City Centre, but until recently, Mark was not used to such comforts.
Mark, who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has also spent time in prison, spent more than a decade rough sleeping while suffering from long-term mental health issues. At one point, he lived in a tent on the edge of a golf course.
When he was helped by homelessness services, Mark struggled with the sort of shared accommodation that former rough sleepers are often placed in – hostels, B&Bs or shared houses with shared facilities.
He found the accommodation often exposed him to people with substance misuse issues or other complex mental health problems, which worsened his PTSD.
“It was so bad that I just didn’t want to be there,” he says. “I’d honestly rather have been on the streets. But, then, I was housed at All Saints, and I had control over my surroundings, and I’ve started to, slowly, get control of my mental health.”
All Saints, which was run by Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA), is what’s known as “supported housing” and has just been forced to close due to funding cuts, plunging residents like Mark back into uncertainty.
Supported housing is typically used to house people who have recently been released from prison, people with substance abuse issues or mental health problems and, people escaping domestic violence who require support to live independently.
According to exclusive figures shared with The i Paper by the National Housing Federation (NHF), more than 50,000 supported homes – that’s equivalent to 1 in 10 – are at imminent risk of closure.
All Saints, where Mark lived, was run by the NCHA and funded by Nottingham City Council. However the local authority, which declared itself bankrupt in 2023, has been forced to cut its funding along with a number of other similar facilities.
Vicky Spratt talking to Mark Farmer in Nottingham (Photo: Vicky Spratt/The i Paper)Mark told The i Paper that living in supported housing had “changed everything” for him, helping him to manage his PTSD as well as stay sober because he “fell into drugs and alcohol while homeless”.
He added: “I feel more at ease and I know there’s help here if I need it, whether that’s because it’s all feeling like too much or something simple like help writing a letter, but I want the Government to understand how much supported housing helps people get where they need to be.”
There are fewer supported homes today than there were in 2007 – nearly two decades ago – leading to a total shortfall of up to 325,000 homes, according to the Ministry of Housing’s own supported housing review.
Without these homes, the NHF – which represents social housing providers across England – are warning that an additional 71,000 people would be homeless or at risk of homelessness, and the country would need 14,000 more inpatient psychiatric places and 2,000 more prison places.
Mark has been rehoused in the short-term in homelessness support accommodation. Nottingham City Council told The i Paper that people like Mark, who had previously been allocated supported housing via the council’s adult social care budget, could now go back into homelessness services.
However, Colette O’Neill, assistant director for care and support at NCHA, warns alternative homelessness services may not be suitable for people with complex needs, because there is no wraparound support.
O’Neill said supported housing is “a vital preventative service for people leaving hospital” and warned that without it “people could be thrown into living alone without any support and end up back in hospital.”
Nottingham is one of 11 major councils to issue a section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy, in recent years as local authorities face a number of funding pressures, including rising homelessness, adult social care bills and special education needs and disabilities (SEND) costs.
People are referred for supported housing via Adult Social Care services, with many coming directly from hospitals where they’ve been treated for their physical or mental health.
Both NCHA and the NHF told The i Paper they fear that cuts to supported housing will increase homelessness – despite the Government announcing £124m of funding for supported housing in its homelessness strategy.
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the NHF, said: “When a supported housing scheme closes, it’s those who rely on its vital services who suffer most, but ultimately, we all lose out as other public services are forced to make crisis interventions at higher costs.
“Sadly, these closures are now happening across the country. Thousands of supported homes, with even more at risk, have been forced to close their doors over the last few years because funding cuts have meant they simply can’t run these services anymore.”
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “Nottingham City Council remains fully committed to meeting its statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014, promoting independence and wellbeing, and ensuring that commissioned services deliver the best possible outcomes for local residents, including value for money.”
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A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Spokesperson said: “We inherited a broken housing system which has failed vulnerable people who desperately need access to supported housing.”
“That’s why we’ve invested £3.5bn to tackle homelessness, including specialist funding for supported housing, and will leave no stone unturned to give everyone access to a safe and secure home.”
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