Birmingham is facing a crisis in exempt accommodation, and now vital funding to tackle rogue providers is being withdrawn. Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives, Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington) has today written to Matthew Pennycook MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, urging the government to reverse this decision and to finally take the action needed to bring exempt accommodation under control.
Since 2018, supported exempt accommodation in Birmingham has tripled, with nearly 33,000 people now housed in around 11,200 properties, at a cost of almost £400 million a year to the public purse, accounting for roughly half of all exempt accommodation spending nationally.
What was intended to provide supported housing for vulnerable residents has instead become a system plagued by weak regulation and exploitation. Entire neighbourhoods have seen rapid concentrations of poorly managed properties, leading to rising antisocial behaviour, safety concerns, pressure on emergency services, and communities feeling as though their area has fundamentally changed.
To help tackle the problem, the previous Conservative Government provided funding for a specialist pilot team in Birmingham to crack down on rogue operators. That funding is now set to be withdrawn after March 2026.
The decision comes despite ongoing delays in fully implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 and despite longstanding calls to bring exempt accommodation within the planning system, measures widely seen as essential to restoring local oversight and preventing overconcentration in already stretched communities.
With funding being removed and regulation still incomplete, there are growing concerns that Birmingham will lose one of the few tools it has to get a grip on a problem that residents say is already out of control.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition & Birmingham Local Conservatives, said:
“This is yet another kick in the teeth for our great city from the Labour Government. Badly run exempt accommodation is tearing apart the social fabric of Birmingham, with the number of units growing exponentially. We have a Labour administration refusing to do everything in its power to tackle the issue, and now a Labour Government is withdrawing funding that the previous Conservative Government provided to help address these problems. We are writing to the minister to urge them to reconsider and reinstate this funding for Birmingham immediately.”
Robert added:
“Residents want and need tough action on exempt accommodation. Poorly run exempt accommodation can have a devastating impact on local communities, causing residents untold misery through noise, antisocial behaviour, crime, constant call-outs from emergency services, and even more serious incidents. This is why the Local Conservatives are pledging to crack down on badly run exempt accommodation and HMOs as part of our plan to clean up the city.”
