Glossary
Exempt accommodation: Supported exempt accommodation
A housing benefit term for supported housing where the landlord or provider also gives care, support or supervision.
Also searched for as specified accommodation.
What it means
Exempt accommodation is supported housing provided by a council, housing association, registered charity or voluntary organisation where the landlord, or someone on its behalf, provides care, support or supervision. It sits within a wider group called specified accommodation. Residents' housing costs in it are usually met through housing benefit rather than universal credit, and the rent is assessed differently from an ordinary tenancy, which is one reason a provider's lease rent can sit above the market rent for the same house. Councils can still challenge a rent they think is too high, and the rules are changing as councils gain powers under the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, so check the current position rather than relying on a rent continuing.
Worked example
ExampleA provider proposes a lease on a house whose market rent as a standard let is £900 a month, at a worked-example rent of £1,650 a month.
- Ask the provider
- How the rent is funded, and by which council
- Ask what happens
- If the council challenges the rent, or the funding changes
- Check
- The current position with the council and the GOV.UK guidance
The rent above market depends on the funding behind it. Test the deal at a lower rent and at the standard-let rent before you rely on it.
Information, not advice. Example figures are fictional and for illustration only.