Coventry’s standards for supported exempt accommodation
Updated 25 Sept 2026 · Sources
The short answer
Coventry City Council’s Guide to Standards for Supported Exempt Accommodation sets 49 measures it expects every provider in the city to meet. The council’s Exempt Accommodation Team audits every provider at least once a year, covering the quality of the support and the property. It is a local scheme, separate from national licensing.
Coventry City Council publishes a Guide to Standards for Supported Exempt Accommodation (opens in a new tab) for new and existing providers in the city. The guide says it is not a set of rules to follow strictly. But it says providers are expected to meet its standards “to be recognised by the local authority and its partners”. The council’s supported exempt accommodation page (opens in a new tab) says all new and existing providers “will be expected to implement and work in line with” the standards. Coventry was given £426,887 under the Supported Housing Improvement Programme (opens in a new tab).
How often is a scheme checked (audited)?
The guide says the council’s Exempt Accommodation Team audits every provider in the city at least once each year. An audit is a formal check. It covers:
- the quality of the support and of the property
- whether you meet the rules for HMOs (houses shared by several households) and HHSRS (the council’s check for hazards in a home)
- staffing and the facilities in the property
- feedback from staff and residents
- whether you meet the measures below
The council also uses the findings when it checks that Housing Benefit claims are value for money. The council publishes its audit templates (opens in a new tab): a property audit feedback form and a support audit checklist. Its 2024 strategic statement (opens in a new tab) says the inspection findings let it RAG rate providers (rate them red, amber or green).
What are the 49 measures, and how do they match?
The guide sets out 49 numbered measures. Providers are “required to and audited to ensure” them. But three of them (measures 8, 20 and 45) only encourage providers to use council services: the Pre-Eviction Panel, the Vulnerable Persons and Complex Needs Forum and the Stakeholder Planner.
The table shows where each section covers the same ground as the National Supported Housing Standards. We made this table; the council did not.
| Coventry section | Items | National Standards it matches (our table) |
|---|---|---|
| Referrals and allocations | Items 8 | National Standards it matches Environment (referrals, risk); Person-centred support; Staff and safeguarding (pre-eviction) |
| Safeguarding and risk management | Items 5 | National Standards it matches Staff and safeguarding; Environment (risk); Empowerment (complaints) |
| Support provisions | Items 9 | National Standards it matches Person-centred support; Empowerment (complaints) |
| Tackling anti-social behaviour | Items 3 | National Standards it matches Staff and safeguarding (anti-social behaviour); Local need; Statement of purpose |
| Health and safety | Items 10 | National Standards it matches Environment (repairs, condition); mostly property law with no National Standards equivalent |
| Adequate resources | Items 6 | National Standards it matches Staff and safeguarding (staffing); Empowerment; Environment; Person-centred support; Local need |
| Appropriately skilled and resourced workforce | Items 8 | National Standards it matches Staff and safeguarding; Empowerment; Local need |
Which policies are checked at audit?
The guide lists the policies the audit checks:
- referral and assessment procedures
- safeguarding vulnerable adults
- domestic abuse and sexual violence
- equality and diversity
- whistleblowing (how staff can report wrongdoing)
- substance misuse
- antisocial behaviour
- lone working
- confidentiality and data handling (GDPR, the data protection law)
In Stedwise
If you have an address in Coventry, you can score yourself against the 49 measures as their own rule set, labelled Council ruleA council's own scheme. It only applies in that council's area.. It is never mixed with the National Standards. Every requirement uses the council’s own words, copied from the guide. The weights are ours: the three “encouraged” measures count half. Stedwise is independent, and Coventry City Council does not endorse it.
Sources
- Coventry City Council: Guide to Standards for Supported Exempt Accommodation (opens in a new tab)
- Coventry City Council: Supported exempt accommodation (opens in a new tab)
- Coventry City Council: Existing provisions checklists and templates (opens in a new tab)
- Coventry City Council: Strategic statement 2024, supported exempt accommodation (opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Supported Housing Improvement Programme, funding awarded to local authorities (opens in a new tab)
This guide is not legal advice