Insecure housing means living with the constant uncertainty of not having a stable place to stay.
A place to call home is something we all need to feel safe and secure. Homelessness isn’t just a lack of shelter, it’s also the absence of a settled home. Insecure housing means living with the constant uncertainty of not having a stable place to stay. This could be due to the threat of eviction because of rising rent costs, or having to live in temporary or unsuitable accommodation. Without stability, people facing housing insecurity can’t settle down or build a life and their futures are put on hold.
The cost of living crisis has made the price of basic necessities like food, rent and utilities skyrocket. But the same has not happened to our wages. This means people have to make less money go even further, often sacrificing meals and heating to cover rent or mortgage payments.
In England and Wales, councils are struggling to find suitable homes for people. This has led to a rise in people being housed in dirty and poorly maintained temporary accommodation. Mould, bed bugs and limited washing facilities mean people are forced to live in conditions that take a devastating toll on both their physical and mental health.
Rising house prices, stagnating wages and a lack of new social housing means many of us are struggling to secure a home of our own. Social homes are an affordable housing option for people on low incomes. They are owned by the local council or a housing authority and rent is around 50% less than renting privately. Waiting lists for social homes are growing and an increasing number of people are relying on temporary accommodation to keep a roof over their heads.
Rents are increasing at an unsustainable rate, making it hard for people to stay on top of their payments and keep their homes. When combined with substantial cuts to the welfare system, private renting is now almost completely unaffordable for those of us on low incomes.
More than 130,000 households in Great Britain, and still increasing, are currently trapped in temporary accommodation. This type of insecure housing includes nightly paid B&Bs and unsafe hotel rooms that are not set up for long-term stays.
Often, whole families must live within a single small room. They don’t know how long they will be there for or where they’ll next be moved to, meaning they can’t plan for the future. This level of uncertainty would weigh heavily on anyone’s mind. After Zahara ’s marriage broke down the local authority placed her into a hotel with her children, she explains, "You don’t get a timeline or any sense of what’s going to happen next.”
When people are struggling to pay their bills, threatened with eviction and housed in unsafe conditions they are at greater risk of homelessness. Over the past year, the rise in demand for our services has been unprecedented. This is set to increase even further as more of us are forced into insecure housing situations. Without proper support and intervention, this pattern of instability and homelessness will continue to escalate.
Insecure housing has a direct impact on mental health. The stress of not having a secure place to call home can worsen existing mental health problems or cause new ones to appear. Poor mental health can also make it much harder for someone to find and maintain a settled home. This increases their chances of being forced into homelessness or becoming trapped in a cycle of insecurity.
Join us as we campaign to Make History and demand a future free from homelessness.
The UK Government has promised a strategy to put us on track to ending homelessness, plus the biggest boost to social housing in a generation. But we need your help to hold them to account and make sure they deliver on their promises.
Sign the petition and show the government you're counting on them. Because all of us should have the right to a safe place to call home.