Background
CHPs support some of the most vulnerable members of the community to be housed and to sustain their housing. The term ‘Supportive Landlord’ is often intertwined with the role of a CHP, however, there is little shared understanding of what a CHP is meant to be doing when they are acting as a supportive landlord.
In early 2021, Shelter commissioned Focused Solutions to carry out consultation with CHP representatives to find out what they wanted or needed to understand about being a supportive landlord.
The outcome of this was that CHP staff said they wanted to understand the language, context, tools and approaches to being supportive landlords and ensuring tenant wellbeing and tenancy sustainment. They wanted to know when to refer tenants to support services and what the processes and protocols were.
They were clear that they were not, and never would be ‘social workers’, but they needed to understand the language, context and key elements of what constitutes good practice.