Policy Library
Policy, research and good practice work forms a major part of Shelter's efforts to address and find solutions for homelessness and housing issues.
Briefing: Protecting social housing tenants at risk of violence
Shelter’s advice and legal teams support families at the sharp end of the housing emergency every day. One of the most heart-breaking problems we encounter is social tenants who need urgent rehousing because they are at risk of violence. Every year thousands of households become homeless or are threatened with homelessness because of the threat of violence, and our dwindling supply of social housing is accelerating the problem – making it harder to offer urgent moves to safely and permanently rehouse families fleeing violence.
Published: 31 January 2022
Briefing: Offering accommodation to street homeless people during the pandemic (England)
On 20 December 2021, Eddie Hughes MP, Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing, wrote to all local authorities in England. He set out a £25 million funding package, and gave directions on: who to accommodate, non-UK nationals who aren’t eligible for homelessness assistance and safe, appropriate accommodation
Published: 27 January 2022
Benefit Cap Alert Briefing
Analysis of the latest government statistics showing that 179,000 households are affected by the benefit cap, more than 8 in 10 of whom are families with children.
Published: 13 January 2022
Briefing: Insecurity in the private rental market
The Private Rented Sector (PRS) in England is home to 11 million people, including 2 million children and 745,000 older people. Legislation has failed to keep pace with the changing market. Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions mean that most private renters could be evicted at any time for no reason whatsoever. Key Recommendations: 1. Government must bring forward a comprehensive Renters’ Reform Bill to overhaul the sector’s outdated legislation, providing renters with security of tenure. 2. The Renters’ Reform Bill much abolish Section 21 and ensure that landlords can only evict when they can prove a legitimate reason 3. The Bill must also create a centralised National Landlord Register to improve accountability and ensure legal standards are met.
Published: 12 January 2022
Report: Fobbed Off: The barriers preventing women accessing housing and homelessness support, and the women-centred approach needed to overcome them
We are living in a housing emergency which is disproportionately affecting women. 1 in 2 single women are denied the right to a safe home and 1 in 4 single women with children live in home that harms their or their family’s physical and/or mental health. A failure to recognise women’s specific and differing needs means women facing housing issues are often meeting multiple professionals to take action and services are all too frequently failing to resolve women’s housing issues.
Published: 23 December 2021
Submission: Public Accounts Committee inquiry into housebuilding and homelessness
The Government was elected on a manifesto which included ambitious commitments on homelessness and housebuilding; commitments that if enacted in the right way would have a transformative impact on society. Shelter's submission focuses on the progress made so far to meet the government's manifesto commitments to end rough sleeping and build more homes.
Published: 9 December 2021
Homelessness in England 2021
New Shelter analysis showing that 274,000 people in England are recorded as homeless. In London, 1 in 53 people are without a home.
Published: 9 December 2021
Briefing: Westminster Hall debate on affordable housing and planning reform
Across the country, a lack of genuinely affordable housing is accelerating our housing emergency. Whether it’s the tens of thousands of families living in temporary accommodation, or the renters in coastal towns priced out of their area by holiday lets and second homeowners: the affordability crisis at the heart of our housing emergency is pushing more and more people into housing insecurity.
Published: 6 December 2021
Universal Credit Alert Briefing
Shelter analysis of the latest government statistics show that in August 2021 1.9 million private renters needed benefits to afford their rent, a 39% increase since before the pandemic.
Published: 3 December 2021
Report: Levelling up with social housing
This report tells the story of the housing emergency in three locations - Sheffield, Plymouth and Burnley – through the experiences of Shelter's hubs and the people they support. It argues that investing in good quality genuinely affordable social homes in communities like these should be a central plank of the government's levelling up agenda.
Published: 18 November 2021