- Published
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.
asserted
Panorama → publish → support
Property agents are drawing people into the taxpayer-funded system using social media videos that offer free rooms, PlayStation consoles and even holidays.
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that → draw → rooms
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.
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system → call → abuse
It provides housing along with care, support and supervision.
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It → provide → care
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.
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parts → work → system
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.
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who → use → charity
Panorama has learned the DWP paid out £410m for SEA in Birmingham alone in the last financial year.
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DWP → learn → year
The city is the epicentre of the sector, with more than 34,000 people living in SEA.
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people → live → SEA
For context, in London about 22,000 live in supported housing despite its population being more than seven times larger.
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population → live → housing
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".
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who → contain → accommodation
The leader of the city council, Liberal Democrat Councillor Roger Harmer, told us that "taxpayers' money is being wasted.
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money → tell → us
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.
uncertain
she → find → shelter
But her family did not have room so she had to look elsewhere.
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she → have → room
Alysha lived in three different SEA properties, including a shared house managed by a company called Second City Support Ltd.
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Alysha → live → company
Things soon started to unravel, she told us.
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she → start → us
Last December, residents of the house went eight days without any heating or hot water when the boiler broke, she says.
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she → go → heating
I'd be begging [Second City] and they would just cut the call because they didn't want to deal with it."
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they → beg → 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.
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she → want → City
By law, the registered provider of the accommodation only needs to offer "more than minimal" care.
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provider → register → care
"On the [social media] adverts, they will often say that you have weekly support sessions, help with GPs.
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you → say → GPs
They come, they want you to sign a paper to say, yes, Alysha's gone to support [sessions] this week."
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Alysha → come → sessions
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.
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companies → share → ways
The registered provider of the supported exempt accommodation was Dawson Housing, a not-for-profit.
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provider → register → 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.
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it → pay → 23,000
Dawson Housing hired Second City Support Ltd to manage it and deliver her support.
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Housing → hire → support
Separately, a sister company, Second City Housing Properties, had bought and sold the house for a substantial profit.
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company → buy → profit
Land Registry records show it bought the property for £191,000 in 2024 and sold it a year later for £410,000.
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it → show → 410,000
Both Second City companies are owned by Darren Davey.
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companies → own → Davey
He told Panorama that his company had spent about £150,000 on renovation and other associated costs, prior to the sale.
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company → tell → 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.
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Davey → profit → 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.
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Davey → show → salary
Davey said his salary and dividends must be considered in the context of his wider group of businesses.
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salary → say → businesses
Any suggestion his earnings came entirely from supported accommodation "would be misleading", he added.
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he → come → accommodation
Lawyers for Dawson Housing denied Alysha's support was poor and say that regular in-person support was provided.
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support → deny → person
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.
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communications → say → standard
The lawyers added that Dawson Housing's records did not establish that there was an eight-day period without heating or hot water.
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records → add → heating
They said there were several call-outs for a faulty boiler and remedial action was taken.
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action → say → boiler
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.
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companies → try → 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 claim housing benefit.
uncertain
agents → tell → benefit
A Facebook advert we saw had one man "looking for 7/8 ghost tenants in various houses of mine".
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man → see → mine
…and 43 more, not listed.
The Aporia
