This strategy sets out the vision and priorities to shape how the council responds to homelessness over the next five years. It has been designed to work with other council key strategy documents that focus on improving health and wellbeing and addressing inequalities.

The Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy identifies the following five strategic priority objectives, which are set within the fundamental principles of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

The key priorities are:

1. Prioritise early intervention and prevention of homelessness.
2. Work to end rough sleeping.
3. Develop and improve access to a suitable range of affordable settled, supported and temporary accommodation solutions.
4. Deliver an efficient, effective and accessible homelessness prevention and housing support service tailored to meet diverse needs.
5. Tackle systematic housing insecurity.

The Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy evidences the need for supported housing for vulnerable client groups. One of the priorities of this Housing Strategy outlines how we will work towards providing a sufficient supply of affordable general needs housing and a range of specialist supported housing pathways to allow the Council to discharge its statutory duties around homelessness prevention and relief.

Details of how the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeper Strategy meets the strategic aims of Cumberland Council are in that strategy. The strategy is available at The Homeless Prevention and Rough Sleeper Strategy.

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 places a requirement on local authorities to develop strategic supported housing plans which take account of existing supply and local need . The council has completed a Supported Housing Needs Study, and the outcome of this work will support the development of Cumberland’s Supported Housing Strategy, due to be complete by December 2025. In addition, the Cumbria Housing Market Position Statement will complement the Needs Study to enable to council to strategically plan and deliver supported housing in the future. The findings from the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy provides an additional evidence base of the need for supported accommodation, particularly for those experiencing mental health issues, young people and those on a criminal justice pathway.

The Supported Housing Needs Study 2025 to 2040 identifies the following points, which will form the basis of the strategic priorities.

Housing and accommodation for older people

• extra care housing development programme over 15 to 20 years
• focus on under-served key service centres
• encourage market sector providers where this is viable
• ensure that the council controls the mix of care needs so that people with high or complex care needs can be accommodated
• consider co-location of extra care housing with new care home provision
• in smaller towns or communities, consider lowering the age threshold for extra care housing to meet wider range of needs
• work with registered providers and market housing developers to encourage development of new generation of contemporary 'retirement housing' that is aspirational and supports ageing in place
• work with registered providers to upgrade existing sheltered housing
• work with the care home sector to encourage and reshape the market towards nursing care provision and provision for people living with dementia and other complex care needs

Housing for people with learning disabilities or autistic people or people with mental health needs

• supported housing development programme over 15 years
• encourage a mix of 'mainstream' and specialist not for profit registered providers
• review the needs of people currently in care home placements to assess their suitability for a move to a supported housing alternative
• review the purpose and suitability of existing shared supported housing
• there is a need for people to have better access to mainstream general needs housing with support
• some older people with learning disabilities or autistic people or mental health needs will benefit from access to age designated supported accommodation, such as retirement or sheltered housing and extra care housing

Housing for people with physical disabilities or long term conditions

• use the evidence of need for fully wheelchair adapted homes and accessible homes to influence social and market housing developers
• anticipate increased demand for financial support from lower income households, in the owner-occupied sector in particular for Disabled Facilities Grant funding for home adaptations
• make use of the delivery of additional supported or specialist housing for older people, particularly additional extra care housing, to meet some of this need
• develop specialist housing for smaller number of working age adults with complex physical and related health and care needs and people who may have an acquired brain injury, which means that their housing and care needs cannot be appropriately met in their existing homes

Supported housing for young people

• develop an additional 70 units of supported housing over next 5 years
• Workington is a key geographic 'gap'
• secure an additional 35 move on housing places per annum

It is important to remember that not all residents with additional support needs require specialist supported accommodation. Many of those with identified needs will be capable of living in general needs housing with an appropriate care or support package. 

The Supported Housing Needs Study evidences the need for supported housing for vulnerable client groups, and this will be reflected in the Supported Housing Strategy. One of the priorities of this Housing Strategy outlines how we will work towards providing a sufficient supply of affordable general needs housing to allow those with additional support needs to live as independently as possible.