Category: Homelessness

An end to no-fault evictions – what's next?
An end to no-fault evictions – what's next?
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Over six months ago, the government promised to make renting fairer for everyone – they committed to scrapping section 21, ending no-fault evictions once and for all. This long-overdue reform will transform the lives of private renters, particularly those who are worst off, and rebalance the dysfunctional relationship too many landlords have with their tenants.

With a General Election looming, renters will be looking for manifesto commitments to end no-fault evictions from all major parties. For all the parties, the … Read more

No budget means no help for those facing homelessness
No budget means no help for those facing homelessness
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With the budget on 6 November cancelled, the government have further delayed taking action to lift the benefit freeze and provide stability and certainty for many in need. The benefit freeze has left Local Housing Allowance (LHA), or housing benefit for those renting privately, completely unfit for purpose, and this is pushing many people into debt, poverty, and homelessness. People are struggling to pay their rent because the LHA rate does not cover modest rents in the vast majority … Read more

Older people are being let down by the housing system when they need it most
Older people are being let down by the housing system when they need it most
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Imagine spending your seventies in a grim hostel room, sharing a bathroom and kitchen with strangers, not knowing if and when you’ll have to move somewhere new.  

Today is World Homeless Day, and a chance for us to reflect on homelessness in all its forms. While most of us are deeply concerned by the growing number of people sleeping rough on our streets, this is just tip of the iceberg of our growing emergency whose impact we are striving to understand, and whose impact on older people is particularly well hidden and rarely considered.  

Homelessness does not only happen to people … Read more

World Homeless Day: ending our housing emergency
World Homeless Day: ending our housing emergency
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Raising awareness for World Homeless Day is something we shouldn’t have to be doing. However, with almost 280,000 people – 126,000 of who are children – currently recorded as homeless in England, it’s vital that we continue to mark this day.

Homelessness goes much deeper than rough sleeping, although this is the sharpest visible reminder of the problems that come from not having a stable home. But our country’s chronic lack of social housing and welfare reforms are driving up … Read more

Peer mentor Paddy’s success story
Peer mentor Paddy’s success story
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If it wasn’t for Shelter and Colette I’d be dead. I’m so grateful.

It takes great spirit to go from living on the streets and struggling with addiction to becoming a peer mentor helping homeless people – but that’s exactly what Paddy has accomplished.

Like so many people who become homeless, Paddy was just unlucky. In the space of a year, his beloved nan died, he broke his leg, and the he lost his job. With nowhere to turn for … Read more

Taking the fight to end discrimination to Parliament
Taking the fight to end discrimination to Parliament
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In the 1950s you were allowed to put up signs saying, “no blacks, no Irish, no dogs”. Nowadays, you’re allowed to put up “no DSS”. At what point did we decide as a country that this is ok? – Philippa Lalor

This year, we’ve made significant progress in our campaign to stamp out DSS discrimination against renters on benefits. And now, thanks to your help, we’re another step closer to achieving an overall victory. 

After months of campaigning, Shelter were invited to a Select Committee hearing in April to share … Read more

Shelter Lancashire: our specialist debt and benefits advice service
Shelter Lancashire: our specialist debt and benefits advice service
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Over the last few years, demand for housing advice has dramatically risen in Lancashire. Three years ago, Shelter’s Blackburn based service was seeing around eight people a day, now they see around 68 people a day. This year, on average, 10 people experiencing homelessness come to Shelter Lancashire every week looking for advice, compared to one or two in the years before.

We are currently the only housing specialist in Lancashire and we’ve only seen the hardships that people who … Read more

One paycheque away from losing their home
One paycheque away from losing their home
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Every month is a struggle for mum of three Joanna. Despite working as a dinner lady at a local primary school, her paycheque is nowhere near enough to cover her rent and pay for food, bills, and all the other costs associated with supporting a family.

‘It’s a constant battle trying to make things work,’ Joanna tells Shelter. ‘When I go to the supermarket, the first place I’m looking is in the reduced section. This is normal to me. It’s … Read more

Will you keep a good thing going?
Will you keep a good thing going?
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Paddy turned his life around, going from homelessness and addiction to working for Shelter. This happened because of Shelter’s peer mentoring programme. Now we need your help to keep a good thing going, by supporting this programme so that more people can help themselves to get off the street.

Paddy was living on the streets of Birmingham for five years and had a serious addiction to heroin and alcohol. Now he works for Shelter helping people with the problems he … Read more

Parents raising children in box containers shows the severity of the housing emergency
Parents raising children in box containers shows the severity of the housing emergency
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A safe, secure, and affordable home is the basis of a good childhood. It’s a fundamental human need and that means it should be a right. But for tens of thousands of families across the country this right is denied, as the appalling human cost of our national housing emergency continues to grow.

At Shelter, our services hear all too often from people struggling at the sharp end of the housing crisis. Like the 18-month-old whose developmental milestones were not … Read more

If it is broke, it needs fixing
If it is broke, it needs fixing
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Today sees the publication of the Children’s Commissioners’ report, Bleak House. It’s an upsetting exploration of the awful conditions that homeless families are having to endure, and highlights how broken our housing system truly is.

The report shows that temporary accommodation (TA) is rarely that at all; 40% of families stay in TA for over 6 months and 5% – that’s one in 20 families – end up in temporary accommodation continuously for a year or more. These are … Read more

Welfare safety net is broken, MPs find
Welfare safety net is broken, MPs find
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‘As a nation, I believe we all want a decent safety net: if you’re facing a difficult moment in life, the state should be there to help you.’ – Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, 11 January 2019.

The government says it supports the welfare safety net – but is it still working? Back in December 2018, we submitted evidence to the parliamentary work and pensions committee’s inquiry into the welfare safety net. The … Read more