Shelter

Shelter's ‘Home truths’ report found that people overwhelmingly want to live in an area with a good environment, close to key services, where they feel safe and do not fear crime or antisocial behaviour.

We believe that everyone should have the right to live in such a neighbourhood but, at present, many people cannot afford to do so.

How neighbourhoods affect quality of life

Your neighbourhood directly affects your quality of life in several ways:

Physical aspects

The built environment and green spaces around you have an enormous impact on your emotional well-being, and can be depressing or uplifting.

Economic aspects

Where you live to a large extent determines what school you can go to and what jobs are on offer, which in turn will affect your life chances and ability to earn money. Shops, transport and health care also have an impact on quality of life.

Social aspects

Some neighbourhoods have thriving integrated communities with low levels of crime, combined with strong levels of communication and trust. Other neighbourhoods, by contrast, have very divided communities with high levels of crime, antisocial behaviour and fear of violence.

Problems experienced by poor neighbourhoods

Living in a deprived neighbourhood is not just about bad housing. Where homes are poor quality, neighbourhoods are more likely to suffer from social problems and a lack of access to services.

Low quality housing is less desirable and therefore comparatively cheaper, meaning it tends to attract those on low incomes who cannot afford a better residence. The shortage of decent family-sized social rented housing forces families on low incomes into very low quality privately rented accommodation. The problem of low quality housing is not restricted to the social and private rented sectors. Nearly 70 per cent of all homes which fail the Decent Homes Standard in England are owner-occupied. [1]

Living in poor housing increases your chances of being socially disadvantaged, which in turn makes you more likely to earn a low income that restricts you to living in poor quality housing. [2] In this way, a vicious circle between poor housing and poor life chances quickly sets in, and the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is widening.

Shelter’s view

The Government is looking to tackle these problems through its national strategy of neighbourhood renewal, which aims to reduce inequalities in access to health, education and employment, as well as improving housing conditions, local environments and crime rates. Although there has already been some progress towards these objectives, Shelter would like to see further improvements for disadvantaged communities.

Shelter’s research has revealed that in some growth areas, community infrastructure (such as village greens, community centres and public transport) still hasn’t been built years after the first residents have moved in, leaving children without the facilities they need to socialise and grow.

We believe that the Government should prioritise improving public transport, employment opportunities and community facilities for socialising and leisure. Neighbourhood amenities should include cafes and shops with reasonable rents, leisure facilities such as playgrounds, parks and sports pitches, community centres and public libraries.

[1] National Statistics (2006) Households Below Average Income: an analysis of the income distribution 1994/5-2005/06, DWP.

[2] Bennett, J. (2006), Would you live here? Making the growth areas communities of choice, ippr.