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.
1 in 4 voters are affected by the housing emergency
Shelter’s new research, conducted by Opinium, finds that 1 in 4 voters are affected by the housing emergency. This research is taken from 1,804 adults in England.
Published: 20 September 2023
Report: The Citizens' Summit on the Housing Emergency
Shelter commissioned NatCen’s Centre for Deliberative Research (CDR) to deliver a citizens’ summit on the housing emergency to inform the development of its manifesto.
Published: 20 September 2023
Joint briefing: HMO licensing and asylum seeker accommodation regulations
The government’s plan to exempt asylum seeker accommodation from these vital safety requirements will put people seeking asylum at a higher risk of fires and poorer living conditions. It also creates a risk of more evictions from HMOs and supported exempt housing if landlords seek to switch existing rental properties to Home Office contracts, putting more pressure on council homelessness services.
Published: 30 June 2023
Briefing: Renters (Reform) Bill and Income Discrimination
Shelter strongly welcomes the introduction of the Renters (Reform) Bill. It sets out many crucial reforms and is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for genuine change in the private rented sector. But the current version of the bill fails to address the discrimination that many renters face when trying to find a property – be it explicit “No DSS” adverts or the more informal barriers posed by rent in advance or guarantor requirements.
Published: 14 June 2023
Briefing: Illegal Migration Bill and asylum seeker accommodation regulations
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing is in place to ensure larger HMOs meet basic safety standards to prevent fires and other dangerous hazards. The government’s plan to exempt asylum seeker accommodation from these vital safety requirements will put people seeking asylum at a higher risk of fires and poorer living conditions.
Published: 5 June 2023
Response: Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into benefit levels in the UK
Shelter's response to the 2023 Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into benefit levels
Published: 30 May 2023
Briefing: The Renters (Reform) Bill
For too long, private renters have been living in a sector characterised by insecurity, discrimination, and poor conditions. The Renters (Reform) Bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change this, by resetting the balance of power between tenants and landlords. For the millions of private renters in England, these reforms could be a gamechanger: finally giving them the security they need to put down roots in their homes and their neighbourhoods.
Published: 22 May 2023
NORWICH RENTERS LISTEN UP! REPORT: Key Findings and Themes
Between November 2021 and April 2022, the Norwich Renters Collective, supported by Shelter Norfolk, reached out to private renters across Norwich to capture the real experiences of renters whose voices are often missing from decision-making spaces and bring them together to launch a campaign to tackle the housing issues they face.
Published: 20 April 2023
Briefing: Disrepair and insecurity in the private rented sector
Private renters will often put up with disrepair and dangerous conditions because they fear they will be evicted for raising complaints. This fear is not unfounded. New research from Shelter and YouGov found that private renters who complained to their landlord, letting agent or local council in the last three years were two and a half times more likely to be handed an eviction notice than those who had not complained.
Published: 30 March 2023
Shelter Briefing: Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill - Committee Stages
Last week Shelter released a new report, Still Living in Limbo, which illustrated that temporary accommodation is now housing over 100,000 households, including over 125,000 children. This is a number that is on the rise; it has doubled in the last decade. Local authority housing waiting lists now sit at over 1.2 million households. Over the same period, the number of social rented homes in England has fallen by 100,000. This isn’t a coincidence. The housing emergency is a symptom of our broken housing system not delivering the social homes that we desperately need. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill represents an opportunity to change the rules around planning and land to re-prioritise delivering social rent housing.
Published: 14 March 2023