How to start a supported accommodation business in the UK

To start a supported accommodation business in England, first decide which of three routes you are taking: adult supported housing funded through Housing Benefit, supported living with personal care registered with the Care Quality Commission, or accommodation for 16 and 17-year-olds registered with Ofsted. Then talk to the council before you take on a property, set up the right legal structure, get the property, policies and staff in place, and keep complete records for every resident from day one. Adult supported housing will also need a licence from the council once the new licensing regime starts, expected from 2027.

This guide is for anyone setting up in supported housing, whether you call it supported accommodation, supported exempt accommodation, a supported living business, a hostel or move-on accommodation. It covers England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules.

The three routes into supported accommodation

Most guides to starting a supported living business only cover care. There are three different businesses here, each with its own regulator.

You can run more than one, but each needs its own registration and its own way of working. The rest of this guide focuses on the first route, adult supported housing, which is where most new providers start.

How supported exempt accommodation is funded

In supported exempt accommodation, residents claim Housing Benefit for their rent and eligible service charges, and the claim is exempt from the Local Housing Allowance limits that cap ordinary private rents. Housing Benefit is not paid at a higher rate: it can cover the full rent, which is usually higher than mainstream housing because of the extra cost of running supported housing. To qualify, two things must be true:

• The landlord is a not-for-profit body. A housing association, a registered charity, a non-profit voluntary organisation or a county council. A profit-making company cannot be the landlord of exempt accommodation.
• The landlord, or someone on its behalf, provides more than minimal care, support or supervision. Councils judge this claim by claim, on the support actually given. Housing Benefit pays for the housing, not the support itself.

Many new providers lease properties from private landlords and let them to residents as a not-for-profit provider. The Regulator of Social Housing has said it is concerned about some lease-based providers, and councils now look hard at new schemes, so build your model on support you can evidence, not on the rent.

How to start a supported accommodation business, step by step

1. Talk to the council first

Before you take on a property, talk to the council where it is: its Housing Benefit team, its supported housing or commissioning team, and its housing options service. Many councils now run a gateway or approval process for new supported exempt accommodation schemes, and some keep a list of approved providers. Ask what they need, which groups have the greatest unmet need, and what quality standards they expect.

2. Choose your legal structure

For exempt accommodation, your organisation must be not for profit. Providers commonly use a registered charity, a charitable company or a community interest company. Whether a structure counts as a non-profit voluntary organisation for Housing Benefit is decided by the council, so take legal advice and check with the council before you register anything.

Then register with Companies House and HMRC as needed, open a bank account, and register with the Information Commissioner's Office and pay the data protection fee, because you will hold sensitive information about every resident.

3. Find the right property

• Planning. A shared house where up to six residents live together as a single household may fall within use class C3. Larger or differently run schemes are usually treated as sui generis and need planning permission. Ask the council's planning team about your property before you sign.
• HMO licensing. A property shared by five or more people forming more than one household needs a mandatory HMO licence, and some councils license smaller HMOs too.
• Safety. Fire risk assessment, fire doors and alarms, a gas safety certificate and an electrical installation condition report, before anyone moves in.
• Lease terms. If you lease, make sure the lease length, repair duties and break clauses work for a supported housing scheme, and that the rent is one Housing Benefit can support.

4. Write your policies

At minimum: safeguarding, complaints, data protection and confidentiality, risk management, health and safety, lone working, fire safety, missing persons, incidents, and ending a licence or eviction. Commissioners and councils will ask to see them.

5. Recruit and train your staff

Support workers need safe recruitment, including DBS checks at the level their role allows, references and right to work. Train them in safeguarding, risk assessment, boundaries, recording and the needs of the people you house.

6. Set up your paperwork before your first resident

This is the step new providers most often leave too late. You need a complete set of forms and a way to keep them:

• At move-in: needs assessment, licence agreement, fire safety induction, Housing Benefit authorisation and declaration, service charge agreement, missing person profile and a statement of the resident's rights.
• For ongoing support: a support plan with reviews, a risk assessment with reviews, support session records and a contact log.
• When something happens: incident reports, missed appointment and warning letters.
• At move-out: an exit form.

Councils assess Housing Benefit claims on the support you actually provide, and these records are your evidence. Our guide to supported housing paperwork covers each document.

7. Build your referral routes

Referrals usually come from council housing options and homelessness teams, probation, mental health services, hospital discharge teams and other providers. Agree how referrals reach you, what information you need about risk, and how you decide whether a referral fits your scheme.

8. Get insurance

Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement once you employ staff. Public liability, professional indemnity and buildings or contents cover are usually needed too, and leases and commissioners often require them.

Licensing is coming: what new providers need to know

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 lets councils license supported housing in England, against new National Supported Housing Standards. The government published draft licensing regulations for consultation on 15 October 2026, for eight weeks. In the draft:

• Licences would apply to all supported housing under the Act's definition, not only exempt accommodation, with a short list of exemptions such as almshouses and refuges commissioned by councils.
• Each licence would last five years, with fees set locally to cover the council's costs.
• The support standards would become licence conditions. Residents would need a needs assessment when they move in or within four weeks.
• Existing providers would get a transition period before running supported housing without a licence becomes an offence.

The commencement date is not yet set, and full licensing is not expected before 2027. If you start now, set up as though licensing already applies: needs assessments for every resident within four weeks, support plans and risk assessments reviewed on time, and signed records of the support you give. Our guide to the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 covers the Act in full.

Mistakes new supported accommodation providers make

• Taking on property before talking to the council. Then finding the council will not approve the scheme or the rent.
• Treating the rent as the business. Councils and regulators are looking for support they can see, not housing with a support label.
• Leaving paperwork until the first audit. Missing needs assessments and unsigned session records are the most common findings, and they are hard to fix after the event.
• Writing every form from scratch. New providers spend weeks designing forms that already exist.
• No system for reviews. Support plans and risk assessments drift past their review dates when nobody books them.

How Residoc helps new supported accommodation providers

Residoc is supported housing software for providers in England. A new provider can start with every record set up properly from the first resident.

• More than 20 supported housing forms, ready. The move-in forms, support plan, risk assessment, support session record, contact log, incident report, missed meeting and warning letters and the exit form, so you are not designing forms from scratch.
• Each form as a guided conversation. Support workers answer one question at a time, typed or spoken, and every field is covered, so records are complete and consistent from day one.
• Signed on screen and filed. The resident and worker sign on the phone, tablet or laptop, and the PDF is filed to the resident's record.
• Reviews booked for you. Finishing a support plan books its reviews at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Finishing a risk assessment books its reviews at 3, 6 and 9 months and the next full assessment at 12.
• See what is outstanding. Missing move-in documents and reviews due or overdue, for every current resident.
• Evidence in one download. A resident's whole file, or everything from a period, as one ZIP file when the council asks.
• Grows with you. Priced per resident per week, with your whole team included, so it costs little while you have your first few residents. See pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to register to start a supported accommodation business?

It depends on the route. Supported living with personal care must register with the Care Quality Commission, and supported accommodation for 16 and 17-year-olds must register with Ofsted. Adult supported housing has no national registration today, but councils approve schemes for Housing Benefit and licensing is expected from 2027.

Can a limited company run exempt accommodation?

Not as a profit-making company. The landlord of supported exempt accommodation must be a housing association, a registered charity, a non-profit voluntary organisation or a county council. Many providers use a charitable company or a community interest company. Check with the council and take legal advice before you register.

Is supported accommodation profitable?

Exempt accommodation must be run by a not-for-profit landlord, so any surplus goes back into the organisation, not to owners. Supported living care providers can be profit-making. Councils and the Regulator of Social Housing are wary of schemes built around the rent, so plan around support you can deliver and evidence.

What is the difference between supported living and supported accommodation?

Supported living usually means adults living in their own tenancy with care and support, often including personal care regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Supported accommodation, or supported housing, usually means a provider's property where residents get housing support to live more independently. The terms overlap, so check which regulator applies to what you will actually do.

Do I need CQC registration for supported housing?

Only if you provide personal care, such as help with washing, dressing or eating. Housing support without personal care does not need CQC registration. Under the draft licensing regulations, any personal care in licensed supported housing would have to be given by a registered care provider.

Do I need an HMO licence for supported accommodation?

Often, yes. A property shared by five or more people forming more than one household needs a mandatory HMO licence, and some councils license smaller shared houses too. The draft supported housing licensing regulations would give HMO licence holders transitional protection and avoid two licences for the same property.

How long does it take to start a supported accommodation business?

Allow several months. Council conversations and approval, legal structure, property, planning and safety work, policies and recruitment all take time. Ofsted and CQC registration add their own timescales.

What paperwork do I need to start a supported accommodation service?

For every resident: a needs assessment, licence or tenancy, fire safety induction, Housing Benefit forms, service charge agreement, missing person profile, statement of rights, support plan, risk assessment, support session records and a contact log. Have the whole set ready before your first resident moves in.

When does supported housing licensing start?

Not yet. The government consulted on draft licensing regulations from 15 October 2026, and full licensing is not expected before 2027. Councils will then have time to set up their schemes, followed by a transition period for existing providers.

What software do new supported accommodation providers use?

Most start with Word documents and spreadsheets, and move to software when reviews start slipping or a council asks for a resident's whole file. Starting with supported housing software means your records are complete from the first resident. Residoc includes your whole team on every plan, with a free trial. Try it for free.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Supported housing licensing regime: consultation on draft regulations (15 October 2026)
• legislation.gov.uk: Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023
• Ofsted: Registering a supported accommodation service
• Department for Work and Pensions: Housing Benefit guidance for supported housing claims
• Wolverhampton Council: Supported exempt accommodation
• Bristol City Council: Supported shared housing guidance
• Information Commissioner's Office: Data protection fee