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.
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
1 in 5 renters say their home harms their health - it's time to Fight for Home
1 in 5 renters say their home is harming their or their families' health according to new research. This factsheet looks into the numbers. It's time to end the housing emergency to treat a major cause of ill health.
Published: 13 October 2021
Briefing: The social housing deficit
We are in the midst of a housing emergency, a crisis that has been driven by decades of underinvestment in social housing. Last year alone, we built just 6,644 social homes across the whole of England, but in the same period we lost 28,796 social homes to sales and demolitions. At the same time, over one million households are on social housing waiting lists across the country – and many more families struggle to get by in an increasingly expensive private rented sector.
Published: 7 October 2021
Benefit Cap Alert Briefing
Shelter analysis of the latest government statistics on the benefit cap, which shows that 188,000 households are now affected. More than 8 in 10 (83%) are families with children.
Published: 6 October 2021
Briefing: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Parliamentary Questions
Michael Gove MP will face his first parliamentary questions on Monday 25th October as the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This is an important opportunity for the new Secretary of State to set out his plans and priorities for housing, and Shelter is asking MPs to submit questions on social housebuilding, on his plans to end rough sleeping for good, and on introducing an ambitious Renters’ Reform Bill.
Published: 4 October 2021