Original Summary

Watch: How private companies are cashing in on social housing Some private companies are making huge profits and exploiting the welfare system by receiving housing benefits on behalf of residents but failing to give them the support they're required to, BBC Panorama has found. Property agents are drawing people into the taxpayer-funded system using social media videos that offer free rooms, PlayStation consoles and even holidays. The system - called supported exempt accommodation (SEA) - is designed for people in the UK with additional needs, including former prisoners, people recovering from addiction and women fleeing domestic abuse. It provides housing along with care, support and supervision. For many residents it works well to help them get back on their feet, but charities, politicians and residents tell us parts of the system are being exploited. Many vulnerable people are being used as "cash cows to generate income" that goes from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) into "the back pocket of the landlords", said Patricia Coleman-Taylor, who runs Birmingham anti-poverty charity Narthex. Panorama has learned the DWP paid out £410m for SEA in Birmingham alone in the last financial year. The city is the epicentre of the sector, with more than 34,000 people living in SEA. For context, in London about 22,000 live in supported housing despite its population being more than seven times larger. Labour MP Jess Phillips, whose Birmingham constituency contains large numbers of these properties, said companies spending taxpayers' money while providing a poor standard of support was "an absolute catastrophe" and bad landlords "can make loads of money". But she added that there are some housing providers who "get this money who are absolutely providing supported accommodation". The leader of the city council, Liberal Democrat Councillor Roger Harmer, told us that "taxpayers' money is being wasted. It's a scandal." In Birmingham, BBC Panorama's investigation found: Vulnerable people are being left with little to no support in often unsuitable accommodation One big housing provider wrote off £1.8m because of payments to some former directors and companies they ran Evidence that some are willing to make benefit claims for people who do not live in their properties Supported accommodation was set up for people like Alysha. When she escaped a violent marriage, she returned to Birmingham seeking shelter. But her family did not have room so she had to look elsewhere. Michael Buchanan / BBC / Alysha became homeless after experiencing domestic abuse in her marriage Alysha lived in three different SEA properties, including a shared house managed by a company called Second City Support Ltd. Things soon started to unravel, she told us. Last December, residents of the house went eight days without any heating or hot water when the boiler broke, she says. "I was at my wits' end. I'd be begging [Second City] and they would just cut the call because they didn't want to deal with it." As a survivor of domestic abuse, she also wanted help to get her life on track, including looking for a job, but said there was no support from Second City. By law, the registered provider of the accommodation only needs to offer "more than minimal" care. "On the [social media] adverts, they will often say that you have weekly support sessions, help with GPs. It's not the case at all, they're not interested. They come, they want you to sign a paper to say, yes, Alysha's gone to support [sessions] this week." A closer examination of Alysha's shared house shows how taxpayers' money is used and how companies in the system can make money in other ways too. The registered provider of the supported exempt accommodation was Dawson Housing, a not-for-profit. Dawson Housing was being paid £443 a week in housing benefit from the DWP - which it received via Birmingham City Council - for Alysha's room and her support costs, equivalent to £23,000 a year. Dawson Housing hired Second City Support Ltd to manage it and deliver her support. Separately, a sister company, Second City Housing Properties, had bought and sold the house for a substantial profit. Land Registry records show it bought the property for £191,000 in 2024 and sold it a year later for £410,000. Both Second City companies are owned by Darren Davey. He told Panorama that his company had spent about £150,000 on renovation and other associated costs, prior to the sale. Davey has been very successful in profiting from housing vulnerable people in recent years, operating in both the supported exempt and temporary accommodation sectors. An analysis of his companies' records shows that over the past three financial years, Davey has paid himself £2.9m in dividends from his network of companies, as well as earning more than £900,000 in salary. Davey said his salary and dividends must be considered in the context of his wider group of businesses. Any suggestion his earnings came entirely from supported accommodation "would be misleading", he added. Lawyers for Dawson Housing denied Alysha's support was poor and say that regular in-person support was provided. They said there were unavoidable interruptions in the provision of a dedicated support worker and that Dawson Housing accepted communications with her fell below the standard expected. The lawyers added that Dawson Housing's records did not establish that there was an eight-day period without heating or hot water. They said there were several call-outs for a faulty boiler and remedial action was taken. 'Ghost tenants' There are hundreds of managing agents like Second City in Birmingham. Social media accounts, particularly on TikTok, are awash with companies trying to attract people on benefits into their properties, mainly clustered around Birmingham's poorest areas. Panorama has also been repeatedly told about "ghost tenants" - individuals listed as residents but not actually living in properties, for whom managing agents still

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  • 发布时间：2026/10/19 12:59:47