S.E.A.Q.A.S. explained

S.E.A.Q.A.S. is Birmingham’s quality award for supported exempt accommodation. BVSC (opens in a new tab), a Birmingham charity, runs it with Birmingham City Council. It is a local scheme, separate from national licensing. It matters now because it brings you referrals.

What does each S.E.A.Q.A.S. score get you?

• 70% or more: a gold, silver or bronze award and a place on the preferred provider list.
• 40% to 69%: “developing”, and you are not on the list.

Providers on the list are offered referrals first by the council, the services it pays for, voluntary services and West Midlands Probation. Only 15% of providers hold an award. Of the 23 award holders the council lists (opens in a new tab), 17 are managing agents.

What does the V6.2 Self-Assessment Form cover?

BVSC publishes a V6.2 Self-Assessment Form. It has 15 requirements (BVSC calls them criteria) and 195 evidence items, in three standards:

• leadership and management of staff
• leadership and management of housing, health and safety, data and quality assurance
• supporting residents

BVSC grades each requirement gold, silver, bronze, developing or poor. It does not publish weights or percentages for them.

Most of it is evidence of what you do, not of your policies: 61% of what S.E.A.Q.A.S. checks is records and practice. Assessors also interview residents.

What stops a S.E.A.Q.A.S. award?

A non-compliant judgement from the Regulator of Social Housing stops an award, whatever the score. It is also worth fixing expired safety certificates, and adopting any core policies you have not adopted yet, before you apply.

How much does S.E.A.Q.A.S. cost?

BVSC charges £620 including VAT (opens in a new tab) for a first S.E.A.Q.A.S. assessment at 1 to 100 units.

How does S.E.A.Q.A.S. relate to national licensing?

National licensing is expected in 2027 or 2028. It uses the National Supported Housing Standards under licence condition 3. The licence is pass or fail on each of five conditions. S.E.A.Q.A.S. is a separate, local scheme with a percentage score. Much of the evidence is the same, but an award is not a licence.

In Stedwise, S.E.A.Q.A.S. has the Council rule: what this meansCouncil ruleA council's own scheme. It only applies in that council's area. label. It is scored separately from the National Standards. The free check uses BVSC’s own V6.2 wording: the three standards, all 15 requirements and the 195 evidence items. You tick each item you can show.

The way we turn that into a score is ours, not BVSC’s. Every requirement has the same weight, because BVSC publishes no weights. Your Readiness score is our prediction against the 70% figure. It is not BVSC’s grading.

Independence

BVSC and the council do not endorse Stedwise. They assess and list providers, so they cannot sell help to prepare for their own assessment. Nothing in Stedwise suggests that they recommend it.