Solidarity and Campaigns

We work with families that have found themselves homeless for a number of reasons. Some are fleeing a crisis, such as conflict in their homeland or domestic violence. Many more have simply been priced out of the rental market. Local authorities that accept a homelessness duty to these families place them in temporary accommodation, often multi-occupant hostels in London, while they work with them to secure them new settled accommodation. But two decades into the housing crisis, local authorities simply don’t have the affordable housing stock to move families on into. “Temporary accommodation” has become anything but temporary, and families find themselves stuck in the limbo of hostel life for years on end.

The impacts of living in a hostel long-term are simply devastating for children and parents. Acute overcrowding and lack of basic amenities in hostels puts huge pressure on families, practically and mentally, as they try to maintain a semblance of ordinary family life. Children regularly suffer from chronic sleep deprivation due to having to share a sleeping space (and often bed) with family members; they are deprived of space to play or study which impacts their wellbeing and attainment; they suffer from chronic fear and stress at living in close quarters with homeless adults who are often vulnerable themselves and suffering from mental health and substance misuse issues, being in constant proximity to their own parents’ stress levels, and as they suffer the stigma of being homeless and worry about what the future holds.

After delivering frontline services to support with these issues for 6 years, we decided we couldn’t just be a sticking plaster for the housing crisis any more. In 2022 we expanded into the campaigning sector for the first time, using our wealth of data, case studies and learned experience from the frontline to support national reasearch and policy initiatives to campaign for reform to the damaging temporary accommodation sector. We’ve been delighted to work alongside Shelter, Trust for London, Justlife and UCL’s Champions Project in 2022-2023, and to be a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on households in temporary accommodation, and the Hackney Temporary Accommodation Action Group, which works to improve conditions and prospects for homeless families in the locality.

We also work with interested families with lived experience to directly participate in these research projects, making sure their knowledge and insight is placed front-and-centre in the drive for a better future for families in housing crisis.