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.
Denied The Right To A Safe Home: London Factsheet
At Shelter, we know that the housing emergency is tearing lives apart. In every city, in every town, in every village, every single day, people are living without safe, secure or stable homes. Today we have launched a new report that shows the scale of the national housing emergency. Built upon a comprehensive survey of 13,000 people throughout the UK, it looks at just how many people are trapped in the housing emergency and the different ways it affects their lives. This is a summary of the report for the London region, which we hope you find useful. New-born babies are breathing in toxic mould from unfit houses. Younger people are struggling to make ends meet in dangerous flats. People are denied a place to rent simply because they’re gay, disabled or Black. And there are many others who’ve been forced to sleep on the streets – with no place to go to, no one to turn to and no hope for the future. The housing emergency is ruining lives. We want to work to make sure these findings are heard and acted upon.
Published: 26 May 2021
Denied The Right To A Safe Home: East Midlands Factsheet
At Shelter, we know that the housing emergency is tearing lives apart. In every city, in every town, in every village, every single day, people are living without safe, secure or stable homes. Today we have launched a new report that shows the scale of the national housing emergency. Built upon a comprehensive survey of 13,000 people throughout the UK, it looks at just how many people are trapped in the housing emergency and the different ways it affects their lives. This is a summary of the report for the East Midlands region, which we hope you find useful.
Published: 26 May 2021
Denied the Right to a Safe Home - Report
17.5 million people are denied the right to a safe home. Shelter's new research exposes the extent of the housing emergency, showing how many people are forced to live in unaffordable, unfit, unsecure homes or who are discriminated against in our housing system. It's time for change. It's time to Fight for Home.
Published: 26 May 2021
Universal Credit Alert Briefing
Shelter has analysed the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, to February 2021. The new figures show that the number of households claiming housing support has continued to rise and now stands at almost 5,000,000.
Published: 24 May 2021
Briefing: Queen's Speech debate on affordable and safe housing for all
The Queen's Speech was a major opportunity for the government to detail its plans to tackle the housing emergency as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were promising commitments on renters’ rights with the government recommitting to the Renters’ Reform Bill, there was unfortunately little detail on how its planning system reforms will deliver social housing on the scale we desperately need.
Published: 17 May 2021
The Renters’ Reform Bill: How can the upcoming Bill best deliver for tenants and landlords? Summary Report of an Onward and Shelter Partnership
The Renters’ Reform Bill: How can the upcoming Bill best deliver for tenants and landlords? Summary report of an Onward and Shelter partnership
Published: 10 May 2021
Consultation response: Home Office's New Plan for Immigration
Shelter’s position is that the New Plan for Immigration will make the existing hostile environment worse for migrants living in the UK. Like many other organisations, we have grave concerns about the New Plan and the impact many of the proposals will have on those affected.
Published: 6 May 2021
Joint Briefing with Women's Aid: The Benefit Cap and Domestic Abuse
This briefing, written by Shelter and Women’s Aid Federation of England, shows how the benefit cap is creating a desperate situation for those fleeing domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). It examines how the benefit cap is creating a unique barrier for women escaping domestic abuse as well as the wider impacts of the cap on poverty and homelessness.
Published: 4 May 2021
Response: Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping
The Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping asked for responses from the sector on our experiences of the government's 'Everyone In' initiative, which supported people sleeping rough into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission aims to examine and learn the lessons from the emergency response, in order to understand what worked during the pandemic and what is needed going forward.
Published: 30 April 2021
Briefing: House of Lords debate on the risk of mass evictions resulting from COVID-19-related poverty
At the start of the March 2020 lockdown, the government put in place a package of emergency housing measures to keep people safe in their homes during the pandemic. However, over the course of the pandemic, people have fallen through the gaps in support.
Published: 21 April 2021