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Impact case study – Living with housing insecurity
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Background

In the UK today, many children live in insecure housing – they have either experienced or are at risk of multiple house moves that are i) not through choice and ii) related to poverty. Insecure housing and poverty can affect access to employment, education and services and have a direct impact on children’s health and life chances. There are currently 131, 140 households living in temporary accommodation in the UK (March, 2025), representing an increase of nearly 12% (from March 2024) and numbers are expected to keep rising.

Identifying families at risk of housing insecurity and providing appropriate support is one way local councils can help families in greatest need. Research has shown that policies which reduce housing insecurity for young children (like housing subsidies or energy assistance) can help to improve their emotional health. Successful strategies can potentially reduce negative outcomes for children, for example, emotional and behavioural problems, lower academic attainment and poor adult health and wellbeing.

However, there has been limited research into how parents and children experience housing insecurity, and how it impacts their health and wellbeing and other aspects of their lives (e.g., education, play). There has also been very little research exploring people’s experiences of how local authorities try to reduce housing insecurity. Yet developing a detailed picture of current experiences, the factors that drive housing insecurity and local authority strategies, and approaches to reducing housing insecurity for families with children is key in trying to tackle the issue.

Our research and why it is useful

In this project, we worked with children, parents and professionals in local councils across three regions of England: North West, South Yorkshire and London. Our aim was to find out what information would help local authorities to provide better support to families at risk of housing insecurity, and to establish how we can assess how well current strategies are working.

We carried out 81 interviews with:

  • Professionals working in local authorities to understand the factors driving housing insecurity in their local area, the local strategies in place to reduce housing insecurity, and how well they are working or what could be improved.
  • Children, young people, and parents/carers to hear their experiences of housing insecurity, how this impacts their health and wellbeing, and their views about the support they have received from their local authority.

We also analysed publicly available data to build a picture of housing insecurity for each small area (areas with 1500 homes on average, as per the Office for National Statistics definition). For example we looked at housing spending, percentage of families living in social housing or the private rented sector, and receipt of housing and other benefits. We then used an expert panel of housing practitioners to rank the data most pertinent to housing insecurity for families with children. This ranking process allowed us to create an openly accessible “Families at Risk of Housing Insecurity” and to then map the data for each small area in England. This index is accessible and data may be downloaded to help the local councils to identify ways to improve the housing security data collected and the index can be used to understand which areas have more potentially at risk families. The council can then concentrate resources where they are most needed.

Key findings
  1. Local authorities highlighted an increased prevalence and complexity of housing insecurity, citing limited housing availability and affordability as key drivers as well as a problematic private rented sector.
  2. The use of open datasets can provide a useful addition over and above deprivation indices to help local authorities target resources within areas most likely to be at risk of moving to temporary accommodation, indicated by residential churn, older housing stock and eligibility for Free School Meals.
  3. Through interviews, families foregrounded the profound detrimental impacts of housing insecurity on everyday life (including education and employment), health and wellbeing and difficulties navigating support.
  4. The increased demand for housing and reduced availability and supply have led to a significant increase in the use of temporary accommodation by Local Authorities to manage housing needs.
  5. Local Authorities described how they felt constrained in responding to housing insecurity. Local Authorities were primarily focused on reactive crisis management approaches, rather than proactive prevention due to capacity issues and budget limitations. Local Authorities reported being structurally restricted by rigid national policies and insufficient funding, which makes implementing prevention strategies challenging.
Implications for policy and practice
  1. There is a need for systemic change in housing at both national and local levels. Increased and sustained investment in social housing, reforms to the private rented sector, a more supportive welfare system, and a stronger focus on homelessness prevention are crucial to addressing the root causes of housing insecurity.
  2. Enhanced local partnership working, improved communication with families, proactive enforcement of housing standards, and a greater focus on preventative measures can help mitigate the immediate impacts of housing insecurity.
  3. Tackling housing insecurity requires a coordinated and well-resourced effort across all levels of national and local government and sectors to ensure that all families have access to a stable, safe, and affordable place to call home.
  4. Cross sector data linkage at the individual level is needed to objectively evaluate the impact of temporary housing on subsequent health and care utilisation. We are making progress towards these linkages, enabling us to demonstrate the impact across the whole system, evidencing the cost-effectiveness of prevention. Prioritising longitudinal household linkages for England is key so we have evidence-generating data systems similar to those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Real world impact
Policy engagement
Public engagement
  • We worked with parents, children and young people with experience of housing insecurity – our ‘critical friends’. We sought their input into our project design, documentation and knowledge sharing activities. We received really positive feedback from our critical friends on their involvement in the project. For example: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with Kiya and the whole of this project is just wholesome.” and “Thoughtful and kind people to work with who valued your story and opinion.” One of our critical friends, Isra Sulevani, has also worked with our Knowledge Exchange Lead, Gareth Young, from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), and Sarah Walters, from Crisis, to write an article for The Guardian about her experiences.
  • We contributed to a panel discussion with Kieran Yates, author of ‘All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home In A System That Fails Us’ at a World Homelessness Day event at The Exchange, University of Birmingham, 10th October 2024.
  • We worked with textile artist, Rebekah Johnston, to produce the Fabric of Home – a word and textile exhibition and hands-on workshops based on our research findings. The exhibition was showcased in Sheffield as part of the ESRC Festival of the Social Sciences, October – November, 2024. The main quilt also featured in the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, July – August, 2025. The full exhibition was also on display as part of the Homeless Families Conference by Shared Health in Manchester, November 2025. The conference was attended by colleagues working in education, health, housing, local authority, media, research and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. We are delighted that the quilts are now part of the national collection for homelessness at the Museum of Homelessness in London. The Museum of Homelessness was founded in 2015 and is created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness – it combines practical action, research, campaigning and education geared towards supporting people with experience of homelessness. 
  • In collaboration with Maisy Summer, we’ve created Far from Home – an illustrated report sharing families’ experiences of housing insecurity. The report was launched at the Shared Health Foundation Homeless Families Conference and some of the illustrations are featured in the Northern Festival of Illustration ‘Stories of Home’ exhibition. The illustrations were also shortlisted in the Victoria and Albert Museum Illustration Awards 2026. 

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