Purpose

An award of grant is made according to the allocations (see below) and administration arrangements set out in the report for years 2026 - 2029.
To recognize the need to provide certainty on the 3 year envelope to Manchester to allow for sustainable commissioning of supported housing interventions.

Area 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29
Manchester City Council £2,014,573 £2,621,473 £3,380,099
80%
Remaining GM LA £503,643 £655,368 £845,025
20%
Total £2,518,216 £3,276,841 £4,225,124

Decision

This funding represents a last minute, unplanned addition to our integrated settlement, with tight time frames for deployment and limited ability to passport funding across financial years and specific instructions to prioritize Manchester City Council.

MHCLG have communicated to GMCA that £10,020,181 of new funding for supported housing would be devolved to GMCA through the Integrated Settlement, over the next three years.

Financial Year Additional funding for supported housing support services
2026/27 £2,518,216
2027/28 £3,276,841
2028/29 £4,225,124
Total Allocation 2026–29 £10,020,181

Recipients of this funding were identified nationally as the top 40 local authorities in terms of need, using the Single Homelessness and Rough Sleeping formula.

In GM, only Manchester City Council was identified as being eligible within the ‘top 40’ priority areas. Consequently, 80% of grant funding will be directly provided to Manchester City Council, with 20% reserved to progress regional work with the other GM local authorities to improve the supply of supported housing.
Manchester has identified the scheme that they wish to spend their allocation on supporting. We are required to minimize any delay in deploying this funding to enable this commissioning.

For the remaining 20% of the funding, the homeless leads of the remaining 9 LA have expressed a preference for two supported housing schemes, one in the north and one in central or south GM that target those most disadvantaged citizens who need supported housing. Both new and existing schemes in Rochdale and Salford have been suggested. The Homeless and Migration team are working up proposals from these that will be taken back to the GM Housing Need Group for agreement, before we proceed with further Grant Fund Agreements.

Alternative options considered

The rationale for this funding pot has been determined by MHCLG, GMCA considered ‘passporting’ the funding directly to MCC as the qualifying LA in GM. This approach was not pursued as Manchester proposed an 80/20 split of the funding recognizing the benefit of a share of the funding going to the wider GM area, as part of their commitment to a collaborative, GM approach.