Housing
Housing insecurity is when families experience multiple moves, and not through choice but as a result of poverty.
Our research is investigating the impact housing insecurity can have on access to employment, education and services, and health and life chances.
What are the headlines?
- Housing insecurity affects almost every aspect of daily life, with significant consequences for both parents’ and children’s health and wellbeing
- Hospital discharges can often be delayed while patients wait for appropriate housing, care packages and home adaptations
- The COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate and longer-term impact upon the lives of people experiencing homelessness
How is our research making a difference?
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Living with housing insecurity – Provides information that will help local authorities to better support to families at risk of housing insecurity.
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Research about support services for women experiencing homelessness – Collates the stories of women in the North East region to explore the issues that contribute to and complicate the issue of homelessness.
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Rehousing programmes for older social housing tenants in Hackney – Provides recommendations on how to improve rehousing experiences and achieve positive outcomes for tenants and communities.
What research are we currently doing?
Living with housing insecurity
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 not through choice and related to poverty. Insecure housing and poverty can affect access to employment, education and services and…
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What research are we currently doing?
Exploring the impact of family size on child health outcomes and service use
Background The number of children in the UK living in poverty increased from 3.6 million (2010/11) to 4.3 million (2022/23). There is growing evidence of the impact of rising poverty on children health outcomes, for example worse respiratory health due to cold, damp and mould in housing and tooth decay…
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What research are we currently doing?
Exploring the impact of coordinated care to support repeat rough sleepers: an evaluation of a health and wellbeing assessment hub for the homeless population in Doncaster, UK
Background Homelessness is a major global health and policy issue which has a great impact on health and wellbeing and the wider healthcare system. In England (UK), 298,430 households (including 104,460 families with children) became homeless or were at risk of homelessness between April 2022 and March 2023, a figure…
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What have we already provided evidence on?
- Housing support and coordination – Explored the impact that the Wakefield District Housing Co-ordinator had on the process of leaving hospital.
- Downsizing and rehousing schemes – how well do they work for older social housing tenants? – Provided information that can be used to ensure downsizing and regeneration schemes have a positive effect on the lives and health of older social housing tenants.
- Applications of whole-systems approaches to place-based decision-making – Explored the dynamics of decision-making in regeneration projects and implications in social and environmental sustainability.
- Evaluating the impact of the changing role of social housing providers on inequalities for residents and communities – Improved understanding of policy developments in social housing provision.
- Evaluating local authority funding cuts and their consequences for health inequalities – Prepared the ground for work for assessing how cuts impact upon local housing provision and services, and particularly those affecting people on low incomes.
- Evaluating Sheffield’s Housing + programme – Evaluated the Housing+ service and its impact on the health and wellbeing of tenants in Sheffield.
- Evaluating the impact of the changing role of social housing providers on inequalities for residents and communities – Explored how changes to the role of housing officers working at social housing providers has affected the health and wellbeing of residents, local communities and on other local services.
Where can I find out more?
A Blog: Housing and Health: Through Our Eyes - a Photovoice Exhibition
Good housing is beneficial to health. But for many people, finding a secure, good quality place they can call home is not easy. The UK government recently described the housing market as “broken.” People who have experienced the difficulties that our housing system presents have experiences that can inform future…
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Where can I find out more?
New recommendations for integrating Housing Support Coordinators into housing and healthcare systems – findings from the Wakefield Housing Support Evaluation
The Wakefield Housing Support Evaluation (WHoSE) project has published its final project report and economics report reviewing the impact of a pilot service providing Housing Support Coordinators to assist people being discharged from hospital. The reports, produced in collaboration with practitioners, make several recommendations for improving the current service and…
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Where can I find out more?
Rehousing programmes for older social housing tenants in Hackney: how well do they work?
Findings from new research on rehousing programmes for older social renters may help address inner-city housing shortages by offering recommendations on how to improve rehousing experiences and achieve positive outcomes for tenants and communities. Researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield, in collaboration with Hackney Council, have conducted a…
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Where can I find out more?
The fabric of home: a word and textile exhibition exploring families’ experiences of housing insecurity
The Winter Gardens, Sheffield, October 2024 In the UK today, many families face housing insecurity – they do not have a stable, safe or affordable place to live. A shortage of social homes, rising rents, the cost-of-living crisis and the growing unaffordability of home ownership are all contributing. As part…
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Where can I find out more?
New project exploring how local authorities can support families experiencing housing insecurity
Blog adapted from piece written for UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence This blog by Dr Hannah Fairbrother describes an ongoing SPHR project which aims to find out what information would help local authorities provide better support to families at risk of housing insecurity. Specifically, the…
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