Housing and Homelessness Policies in the UK: Causes and Solutions

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the housing crisis in the United Kingdom, focusing on the intertwined issues of poverty and homelessness. It examines the historical context, tracing the evolution of housing policies from the 1960s to the present, including the impact of neoliberal ideol...Read More

Poverty and Homelessness
Housing Policy, UK
12/30/2019

Introduction
Homelessness is a very serious issue increasing continuously in the country in many forms;
the government always made plan to solve issue but this is increasing dramatically and
causing many other issues in the society. From the last decade, this issue has raised at a very
broad level in the state of the United Kingdom from the period Great Depression many
people lost their accommodation and became homeless. This essay will discuss the causes
hidden behind the economic instability of a person that leads the poverty and poverty is
assumed a reason that create issues in one’s life to buy a safe place for living (Crisis, 2019).
These issues are related to earning, job, employment, and inability to afford safe houses due
to poverty. This essay will focus on poverty and fewer income factors as the main issue,
which causes homelessness to a person, and the role of these factors behind the increasing
rate of homelessness in the state of the UK. This essay will be based on the following thesis
for its research about homelessness in the state of the United Kingdom (Crisis, 2019).
Thesis
”Poverty, unemployment restricts affordability for better accommodation and leads to
homelessness in the country”
Homelessness can be caused by many reasons related to living and earning of a person to
afford a suitable house for living. According to the Homeless Assistance Act, lack of fixed,
regular, and safe nighttime residence is homelessness, emerging as serious issue and this
issue require a solution because living without home and safety is very critical for survival.
Homelessness can be said root to many other issues related to crime increment and increased
death rate of children, and women (Wise and Phillips, 2013). In England, more than 50,000
people were found living and sleeping on the road and local streets, and more than 1 million
are recorded in the list of waiting for the approval of social housing from their government

(England.shelter.org.uk, 2019). The history of the emergence of homelessness is expressed as
a dramatic issue emerged in the country in 1960 this lead to many changes in the political
environment if the country. The government made many efforts from the initial stage to
control the problem but it never gets a solution and still increasing rapidly. Many acts like
Housing (Homeless Persons) Act in 1977, Neo-liberal housing policies from 1980, Growth of
homelessness in 1980 and Homelessness Act in 2002, The Homelessness Reduction Act
2017, Coalition and Conservative Government’s 2010 -2019 to implement effective step
towards controlling homelessness in the state. Homeless people face issues with their basic
living and surviving activities, they need shelter to sleep because a shelter is important for the
overall growth of people. People living without shelter live a nomadic life with no proper
identification of living place and this leads to many mental and physical health challenges for
them(England.shelter.org.uk, 2019).
Poverty and housing issues
Poverty and homelessness are strongly connected, in this relation, lack of income sources
cause issues to access sources for living and homeless peoples involve those having lack of
permanent shelter and residence in a range of less satisfactory housing conditions. Homeless
people are not only those living in the street but this also counts those living in night shelters,
temporary hostels, bed and breakfast, and squatter and people living in the crowded houses.
The legal definition of homeless people includes all people living without satisfactory
accommodation and face difficulty to access a suitable house to live are homeless they have
no access to buy a house legally. According to the present data, street sleepers have high
death rates in the state because they face rough sleeping that causes illness and fear of
accident by the moving vehicle (Crisis, 2019).

Policymakers in the UK found a close relationship between poverty and housing problems,
they found that poverty creates hurdles to the people restricting them to buy a satisfactory
house for living. Privately rented houses and social rented houses are the solutions for the
people who face difficulty to buy a shelter but these houses charge the high cost of living or if
they give the house at a lower cost than these houses are not suitable for hygienic living and
satisfactory. Tenants are not permanent and they are many hence property owners have a
great market to deal and rent their house for rent (England.shelter.org.uk, 2019).
Poverty is a great challenge itself because it leads many other issues to society related to
health, job, education, safety and many more. The main issue related to poverty is the
inability of the poor group in accessing the house and accommodation. The state of the UK is
a hub of education and employment but this result increase in the population living in
temporary shelters, and covering the space that can be used by the people of that nation.
Peoples earning less than 60 per cent of the national median are involved in the group of
"below the poverty line" population. The fifth person in the UK population face this issue
hence, ratio of the people "below the poverty line" is very high. Poverty affects their day-to-
day routine activities, a solo person earning for many dependents face change in their
priorities. In the format of basic 'Need Based Hierarchy of human, quality food and water,
came first. Hence, a person earning lower income focuses primarily to provide food and
edible items for his family. Economic conditions of a person always affect the priorities of
basic need and desire in a person’s life, hence this cause a great increment in the homeless
people (Baxendale and Crabb, 2019).
Lower-income rates cause a crisis in the life of people and they face difficulty to access better
housing because good accommodations have high rates of the property and houses available
at lower cost are not suitable and satisfactory for better living (Bramley, 2012). The rich
people have effective access over income sources and they have the affordability to access

proper accommodation, but the poor people face a great challenge in accessing a house to
live. Poverty affects housing and same happen with the poverty, housing also affect poverty
in many ways like; homeless youth face issues in getting proper education, lack of education
causes inability to get proper paid jobs, motivation level in homeless people seems low.
People living in temporary shelter face mental and other psychological issues and insecurity
about their existence in the society, they face issues with the earning and high rent of the
living shelters and accommodation leads poverty rate increased in the homeless people
(Bramley, 2012).
According to the findings of Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), in their reports "The link
between Housing and Poverty: an evidence review" concludes that poverty has a direct link
with the housing issues, level of income and basic requirements decide peoples stability and
ability to access other services (JRF, 2019). People living in poverty have fewer and
unsatisfactory choice for accommodation because they do not have enough income to pay the
rent for safe accommodation, but living in an unsatisfactory housing in unsuitable
environment affect adversely and these lead issues, many people compromise for their shelter
by living in a crowded place or houses with many people. Many housing policies running in
the UK solved the issue but many are still in the queue and waiting for the approval of their
better housing (JRF, 2019).
Private rent sector has high growth rate according to the finding of Steve and Baxendale,
private property owners have full control over their housing rent and living policies for the
tenant, but these policies are framed and controlled by the acts made by the operating
government. Private housing sector provide single, double, or family living accommodations
suitable for the living of students, bachelors, working persons, small families, and big
families. These houses are safe, separate, and satisfactory as compared to the crowded
shelters in social rent housing (Roberts, VeraToscano and Phimister, 2015). The housing and

Planning Act 2016, restrict the illegal activities of property owners like charging the high rent
more than allowed by the government, lack of services in the rented houses, and many more.
This act guided them to maintain better living for their tenants in the rented houses. This step
had made some great changes in the housing policies in private sector and helped to reduce
the populations of homeless people by providing the shelters in low reasonable price to those
homeless those are living in hostels, crowded place, street, and parks as well.
Shelters organisation in England are not related to social housing but they also include private
sector housing as well, and this sector is growing rapidly in the country reducing the
population counted in the homeless people (Baxendale and Crabb, 2019). Access to good
accommodation and housing is related to economic stability and income but it is also related
to the affordability to access the house, high housing affects the high poverty in England.
Many political campaigns, social steps, and efforts are made by the government to reduce the
high housing rates in the private and social sectors. According to Dudman in his findings
states, the UK has made a great effort to record housing issues every year and it always
makes efforts to reduce it as well (Quilgars and Pleace, 2016).
From many decades, government of the state of the UK has focused to include housing issues
as the main issue in their manifesto, Labour in their manifesto promised to build house and
accommodations in form of council homes, social homes to secure the aim of affordable
housing to build community and reduce homeless population in the state (Poverty.ac.uk,
2019). Private rent housing policies, agencies are allowed to provide accommodation, and
this is a solution to reduce the homeless population. Private rent houses, council homes, and
social houses are included in the way to give safe shelter to a person, the poor are not able to
purchase the house and government procedure for the social or council houses are not
sufficient to provide better accommodation fast. Hence, government offered private-
partnership with rent house agencies to solve the issue of homeless population for a

temporary period. People living in rental houses have better physical and mental health
conditions, than the population living on the road and parks. They have opportunities to grow
their income with better chance employment, poverty and homeless affect the economic
stability of a country (Fitzpatrick, Bramley, and Johnsen, 2012).
Unemployment reflects an economic crisis or issues in a country; jobless people face
difficulty to live life peacefully. A person with lower income rate counted as the poor have to
face many issues and struggle to access basic services related to food, health, and housing,
high rate of illness is common in poor due to inability to access health care services and
changing climate also cause issues to the people living in street or without houses. People in
the street and open living have no access over education and these lead further issues of
jobless community and society(Fedration, 2019). Affordability to a proper living is related to
the income sources, everyone needs a safe house, and access to basic services in their life,
poverty affect issues by reducing the affordability of poor in accessing the proper living and
accommodation, hence lower rented private and social houses are profitable to solve the
housing issues in the country at board level.
Conclusion
This essay based on detailed analysis of housing issues occurred in the state of United
Kingdom from 1960, there are many reasons for the increase in the homeless people in the
country like social issues of living, political issue, climate issues like disasters, and economic
issues like poverty, unemployment, and inability to afford better housing. This essay has
focused on poverty to measure the impact of poverty on the economy and the role of poverty
in increasing the homeless people in the community and society. Rough sleepers,
unemployed youth, and mentally challenged people access the street as their living area, and
this causes many other issues to the economy of the country. Youth and young people, and

children living in the street have a low life expectancy and high death rates, affordable house
is one of the basic requirements of a person and this is a legal, moral, and statutory duty of
government to plan policies providing better house and living accommodation to its people.
Living life in nomadic ways is very crucial and causes many challenges for the people hence
proper suitable and satisfactory accommodation for the people is required to be provided by
the government.

References
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