Our expectations for Supported Exempt Accommodation (SEA) providers
Adur & Worthing Councils are dedicated to ensuring high-quality, value-for-money supported accommodation for our most vulnerable residents. Our mission is to provide good quality, well-managed accommodation and support that empowers vulnerable individuals to live more independently within their community.
Our collaborative approach
We've seen an increase in new providers entering the Supported Exempt Accommodation (SEA) sector. To ensure consistency and maintain high standards, Adur & Worthing Councils are working closely with West Sussex County Council, the NHS, and neighbouring authorities. This collaborative approach helps us respond effectively to new and existing accommodation and helps ensure it drives better outcomes for residents to meet their needs.
What is Supported Exempt Accommodation (SEA)?
Supported Exempt Accommodation (SEA) refers to housing that provides vulnerable individuals with a home alongside essential care, support, or supervision. This includes accommodation for a range of people experiencing homelessness, such as those affected by domestic abuse, mental health conditions, substance misuse, or learning disabilities.
For a property to qualify as 'exempt accommodation' for Housing Benefit purposes, the provider must be a housing association, registered charity, or voluntary organisation (or, in some cases, a non-profit organisation managing accommodation on behalf of such entities). Crucially, providers must provide more than minimal care, support, or supervision and have processes in place to record and evidence this as part of service delivery. This status exempts the accommodation from certain Housing Benefit caps, acknowledging the higher costs associated with providing these vital services.
Information for potential and current SEA providers
To ensure the best outcomes for residents and the responsible use of public funds, we are now asking for more comprehensive information from all SEA providers. This includes:
- More detailed Information: We will ask you to complete a thorough questionnaire and submit supporting documents. This must include your property lease, clear referral procedures, comprehensive support plans (including evidence regarding move on planning and how the service supports independence), risk assessments, contact logs demonstrating support provision, and a full, transparent breakdown of your rent and service charges.
(The form is available below). - Evidence of tenant needs: For all residents, you must provide clear evidence demonstrating their specific need for SEA. This evidence should confirm that they require significant care, support, or supervision that goes beyond minimal needs.
- Property visits: Our officers will conduct visits to your properties. During these visits, we expect to speak with your staff and, with the tenants’ consent, speak with residents to assess the quality of accommodation and the support being delivered is aligned to the needs of tenants and is progressively supporting independent living.
Our partnership with you as a provider
We want to work with all new and existing providers to help ensure good quality supported homes for local residents. Our strong preference is that providers in our area can and do meet local needs within Adur and Worthing. This is due to the extreme challenges that our residents are facing in finding suitable homes, including supported housing. New placements from outside Adur and Worthing reduce the availability of suitable properties for our own residents, exacerbating local homelessness challenges.
If you are not already, we strongly encourage you to register as a registered social landlord. This will help you with preparing for the forthcoming legislative changes - Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. This will also support Adur & Worthing Councils by preventing the loss of Housing Benefit subsidy, which we lose when providers are not registered landlords.
How we will assess your Housing Benefit claim
From April 2025 we have been asking new and existing providers to complete a form with a range of questions about you as a provider, along with the homes and support that you provide. This form will need to be completed before we can authorise any Housing Benefit (HB) claims:
If you have any questions please contact:
Appeals
Decisions regarding Housing Benefit claims are made based on the information and evidence provided, as well as findings from any service audits. If you receive a Housing Benefit decision that you wish to dispute, the appeal must be made by the tenant, not the SEA provider.
If you disagree with our decision you can appeal by emailing:
Information sharing
We are working in partnership with commissioners including West Sussex County Council and the NHS. To ensure coordinated support and to prevent duplication, we may share relevant information obtained from SEA providers with both of these bodies.
For further details on how we handle your data please see our:
We are committed to working collaboratively with providers who share our dedication to high standards and positive outcomes for vulnerable people in Adur and Worthing. If you have any comments or questions about any of this information please email the team at:
Page last updated: 09 July 2025