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) runs it with Birmingham City Council. It is a local scheme, separate from national licensing, and it matters now because of what it unlocks: referrals.

What the score earns

• 70% or more: a gold, silver or bronze award and a place on the preferred provider list.
• 40% to 69%: “developing”, with no listing.

Listed providers get preferential referrals from the council, its commissioned services, 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 the V6.2 self-assessment covers

BVSC’s public V6.2 self-assessment form has 15 criteria and 195 evidence items across three standards: leadership and management of staff; leadership and management of housing, health and safety, data and quality assurance; and supporting residents. BVSC grades each criterion gold, silver, bronze, developing or poor, and does not publish weights or percentages for them.

Most of it is evidence of practice rather than policy: 61% of what S.E.A.Q.A.S. checks is records and practice, and residents are interviewed during the assessment.

What blocks an award

A live Regulator of Social Housing judgement blocks an award outright, whatever the score. Expired safety certificates and unadopted core policies are also worth fixing before you apply.

What it costs

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.

S.E.A.Q.A.S. and national licensing

National licensing, expected in 2027 or 2028, uses the National Supported Housing Standards under licence condition 3, and 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 overlaps, but an award is not a licence.

In Stedwise, S.E.A.Q.A.S. carries the Local scheme label and is scored separately from the National Standards. The free check uses BVSC’s own V6.2 wording: the three standards, all 15 criteria and the 195 evidence items, which you tick where you can show them. How that becomes a score is ours, not BVSC’s: every criterion carries equal weight because BVSC publishes none, and the Readiness Index is our prediction against the 70% figure, not BVSC’s grading.

Independence

Stedwise is not endorsed by BVSC or the council. They assess and list providers, and they cannot sell preparation for their own assessment; nothing in Stedwise implies they recommend it.