What makes a house a home?

This content applies to England only.

Shelter believes everyone should have a home - but what do we mean by 'home'?

A home is more than just a roof above your head. A home should be a secure place where you are free to enjoy your life and fulfil your potential.

A home should provide adequate privacy and space

A decent home should provide privacy for solitude, individual pursuits, personal relationships and relaxation. Without the possibility of privacy, people become anxious, children are unable to play or do their homework, personal relationships suffer, and people cannot relax and sleep properly, which has a detrimental effect on health.

Many homeless people staying in temporary accommodation, such as hostels or shelters, lack privacy as they have to share their accommodation with many other homeless people.

Some households have accommodation just for themselves, but live in cramped, overcrowded conditions, meaning that they lack privacy and space from each other.

• In 2006/07, 554,000 households in England were overcrowded. [1]
• Children living in cramped accommodation often experience hyperactivity, aggression, bedwetting and soiling. [2]
• A Shelter survey found that 27% of overcrowded families have children sleeping in living or dining rooms. [3]
• Two thirds of respondents to a Shelter survey among homeless households living in temporary accommodation said their children had problems at school. [4]

For some homeless people, sharing accommodation with other homeless people who have been traumatised by their experiences may create additional stress.

A home should provide security

A home should be a place free from fear. Some people experience constant fear at home due to the threat of violence from people they live with. This may be from another family member, or it may be from someone outside the family if they have to share accommodation. Many may feel afraid of attack directly outside their homes - your local neighbourhood also determines how 'at home' you feel.

A home shouldn't wreck your economic security. It should be affordable and not push you into poverty after housing costs have been paid. It should also provide continuity, a place to settle and put down roots. This is particularly important for children and young people who need stability to grow and develop:

• At the end of December 2007, 79,500 homeless households in England were living in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities. Nearly 60,000 of these households had dependent children. [5]
• Homeless children have six times as many speech and stammering problems as non-homeless children. [6]
• Nearly half of respondents to a Shelter survey on temporary accommodation described their children as 'often unhappy or depressed'. [7]
• Mental health problems such as anxiety and depression are three times as common among homeless children.[8]

'…for four months we didn't go to school, we went to six houses, no, seven houses and six new schools. I don't like moving, because every time I make new friends and then I have to move again and again and again.' Girl, aged 10 [9]

Adults living in temporary accommodation also suffer high levels of stress from the lack of control they feel.

A home should provide a healthy environment

Home should be a place where you can live without it damaging your health. It should be warm, dry, clean and free of risks and hazards. If you have additional support needs, your home should accommodate these. It should provide you with somewhere suitable to sleep and rest.

• 8.1 million homes in England fail to meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard. [10]
• Children living in poor accommodation experience disturbed sleep, poor diet, higher rates of accidents, and infectious disease.
• Poor housing conditions increase the risk of severe ill-health or disability by up to 25% during childhood and early adulthood. [11]

A home should provide links to a community

A home should allow us to form relationships and links to the wider community. Homeless people housed in temporary accommodation provided at a distance from their local community often feel very isolated. Children who are constantly moved from home to home suffer as they are unable to build lasting friendships.

A home should provide adequate support for people's practical, health and emotional needs. There should be relevant services in the local neighbourhood, including shops and amenities, health services, public transport and places for socialising and recreation.

Shelter works to ensure that everybody has a decent home.

[1] Survey of English Housing Preliminary Results 2006/07, Communities and Local Government, 2007.

[2] Housing and Health in London: a review by the Health of Londoners Project.

[3] Full house? How overcrowded housing affects families, Shelter, London, 2005.

[4] Mitchell, F., et al., Living in limbo: survey of homeless households living in temporary accommodation, Shelter, London, 2004.

[5] Statutory homelessness statistics, Communities and Local Government, 2008.

[6] Quoted in Shelter, Chance of a Lifetime, 2006 

[7] Mitchell, F., et al., Living in limbo: survey of homeless households living in temporary accommodation, Shelter, London, 2004.

[8] British Medical Association, Housing and Health, Building for the Future, 2003 

[9] Mustafa, Z., Listen up: the voices of homeless children, Shelter, London, 2004.

[10] English House Condition Survey 2006 Headline Report, CLG, 2007.

[11] Harker, L., Chance of a lifetime: the impact of bad housing on Children's lives, Shelter, London, 2006.