MHCLG consults on draft regulations for supported housing licensing in England

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has opened an eight-week consultation on draft regulations that would introduce supported housing licensing in every local housing authority area in England.

The consultation opened on 15 October 2026 and closes at 11:59pm on 10 December 2026. It accompanies the Draft Supported Housing (Licensing) (England) Regulations 2027, a 32-page statutory instrument published alongside it.

MHCLG said the exercise is intended to test whether the draft instrument will deliver the policy set out in the government's response to its earlier consultation on supported housing regulation. It covers the structure and operation of the regime, the scope of licensing and exemptions, application, decision-making and enforcement processes, and how the regime would work in practice.

The ministry said it welcomes responses from supported housing providers, landlords and managing agents, as well as councils, commissioners, residents and regulators.

How the regime would work

According to the consultation document, the Secretary of State intends to designate every local housing authority in England as a licensing district. Councils would then have six months to set up a licensing scheme once designated and written to by the Secretary of State.

The ministry said the regulations would not all come into force at once, with the rules on offences and banning orders starting later than the rest.

Fees and exemptions

Councils would set their own fee levels to recover costs, and MHCLG said the government is not mandating a set fee. Licensing authorities would have to charge both an application fee and an annual fee, and must send their proposed fees and an explanatory document to the Secretary of State.

The draft regulations allow certain categories of supported housing to apply to the licensing authority for an exemption. These include almshouses, local authority owned provision, domestic abuse refuges commissioned by local authorities, certain criminal justice accommodation commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, and some low-cost provision for older people.

Background

The regime stems from the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which MHCLG said established a new framework for regulating supported housing in England in response to longstanding concerns about quality, oversight and value for money, particularly in the exempt accommodation sector. The Act is described on legislation.gov.uk as making provision about the regulation of supported exempt accommodation.

The government said supported housing is home to more than half a million people who rely on support to live as independently as possible.

In 2025 the government consulted on the design of the licensing regime, the National Supported Housing Standards and changes to Housing Benefit. That consultation ran for 12 weeks between 20 February and 15 May 2025 and received 581 responses.

The government's response, which the consultation document says was published in April 2026, confirmed its intention to proceed with a locally led licensing regime in all local authority areas. The response carried a ministerial foreword from Alison McGovern MP, Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, and Sir Stephen Timms MP, Minister for Social Security and Disability.

The National Housing Federation, in its own briefing on the Act, said the government's April 2026 changes avoided proposals that could have caused more vital services to close.

What happens next

MHCLG said responses will inform the regulations to be laid before Parliament, and that implementation is subject to parliamentary approval and will be supported by guidance for councils and providers. An impact assessment will be published alongside the regulations when they are laid.

Responses can be submitted online, by email to supportedhousingconsultations@communities.gov.uk, or by post to the Supported Housing Team at 2 Marsham Street, London.

Separately, the same Act placed a duty on councils to publish a Local Supported Housing Strategy. MHCLG said its plan is for the first strategies to be due by 31 March 2027.