EnglandWe must acknowledge and fight against racism in our housing system.
Although the housing emergency is felt across the whole of society, evidence shows that People of Colour ─ especially Black and Black Mixed Heritage people ─ are hit hardest.
Racism has definitely changed throughout the years. Before, racism was more blatant in your face; now, it's discreet.
- Jamila
Fact: Black-led families are less than half as likely to secure a social home than White-led families¹
Black and Black Mixed heritage people report experiencing discrimination at every stage of their journey into a social rent home ─ from spending longer on waiting lists to receiving poorer treatment from housing professionals, such as council staff and social landlords.
Even after securing a home, discrimination often continues, particularly when they raise concerns about their property being unsafe or unsuitable.
[Simon] I grew up in this country and unfortunately I do believe there is systemic racism in access to social housing.
Due to the hostile environment that the government encouraged and the destruction of immigration files, I was left as an undocumented migrant because I couldn't produce government paperwork proving I'm a British citizen. So when I went to the council to get housed, they said I wasn't eligible because of my lack of documentation.
I remember moving into our first social home. I remember how happy my mum was to get her own space. I've got good memories of social housing as a child, so it feels frustrating to go through the social housing process now with such limited options and such exclusive elements in regards to being eligible.
Discrimination, subjectively, you feel it, but objectively it’s hard to prove, so when you do come across discrimination it feels like something awkward just happened, you know? Something untoward, but you can't really put your finger on it.
Taking pictures is very calming. It encourages a meditative state, you know, where you exclude everything else apart from what you're thinking and what you're feeling and what you’re seeing.
We learned a lot about PhotoVoice. PhotoVoice is a way of communicating a sentiment with an image. I took some good advice in regards to taking a lot of photos so that it increases the probability of you getting a pertinent photo and appropriate reflection of the sentiment trying to be conveyed.
[Anonymous female] Trying to get social housing, it is very depressing. It makes you feel really low.
[Anonymous male] You lose so much material things when you have to move.
[Anonymous female] We start questioning ourselves, we start questioning our worth.
[Simon] Being in a group encourages consideration of others, and that's what's helped develop my empathy for other people's lived experiences. Definitely looking outwards as well as looking inwards.
[Workshop presenter] The policies and practices of institutions shape the experiences of members of racialised groups.
[Simon] I felt inspired but also enlightened by other people's experiences and their resilience and their strength. We hope that we have a positive effect on those who formulate the social housing process in our government, and we hope that it can eliminate discrimination in the housing process.
Discrimination: subjectively you feel it, but objectively it's hard to prove. So when you do come across discrimination it feels like something awkward just happened, something untoward but you can't put your finger on it.
-Simon
Fact: Black-led households are 13 times more likely to live in temporary accommodation than White-led households²
This autumn, the Competence and Conduct Standard is being brought in by the Regulator of Social Housing. This will set out enforceable expectations of how councils and housing associations manage and let homes, which will define the quality of residents’ experiences.
This is an opportunity to embed anti-racism into standards of practice by:
requiring all senior staff involved in letting and managing social homes to hold a professional qualification that includes a dedicated module on anti-racism
making sure that they, and their teams, actively practice anti-racism and promote race equity across their policies, practices, and outcomes
This would help to make sure that Black and Black Mixed heritage people are treated fairly when accessing a social home and would be a step towards a fairer and more equitable housing system.
Join the campaignSince launching our first anti-racism housing campaign in July 2025, thousands of our supporters stood with us in calling for a fairer social housing system.
More than 10,000 people showed their support by signing an open letter to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which has the power to take action on this issue.
We launched a billboard campaign to raise awareness of racism in the housing system. The video became one of our most-liked posts, going semi-viral and reaching hundreds of thousands of people.
Over 100 people shared their own experiences or reasons for supporting our campaign
Hundreds more helped to amplify our message online by sharing our videos and social media posts.
By October 2025, this pressure helped secure a key milestone: the government directed the Regulator of Social Housing on the new Competence and Conduct Standard. They confirmed that equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), alongside awareness of a range of needs and vulnerabilities (such as disabilities), will be included in the qualification’s course content.
These requirements will take effect in 2026. While this is a welcome step forward, EDI alone is not enough. True anti-racism requires actively changing the systems that produce racial inequality, and our campaign will continue to push for deeper, more meaningful reform.
Our ground-breaking report My colour speaks before me³ documents people’s experiences of racism at many levels. It explores direct racism by individuals, such as housing officers, and also looks at the discriminatory policies and wider systems that allow racism to become embedded and reproduced.
Black and Black Mixed heritage participants reported unequal treatment, racial stereotyping, culturally insensitive communication, and a lack of appropriate training among housing officers.
In this video, housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa sat down with two of the peer researchers involved in shaping the report, Uche and Victoria, to discuss the extra barriers Black people face when trying to access a social home.
Today, I'm here with Uche and Victoria to discuss a new campaign by Shelter which they have helped co-produce.
I wanted to start by asking you both why you felt it was important for you to be a part of this campaign and what it meant to you.
[Victoria] The opportunity to do this campaign came and then I thought, okay, this would be good. So, you know, I got an opportunity to be like the voice of the voiceless.
[Uche] It’s really important to highlight that the system is broken and needs to be changed.
[Victoria] So I wanted to talk to you both about the concept of slippery discrimination.
So the racism was not in my face. It was hidden, like, swept under the carpet. But I just knew that this was what it is. But I just couldn't pinpoint that.
[Uche] I mean, for me, the slippery discrimination was more a case of gatekeeping. You walk into the council hub, you need your support. They tell you everything you need to bring in. If you need your supporting letters from your GP. You bring in everything, because you're not going to just go there because you don't know how long you're going to spend there.
So you go there with everything that you need and then yes, they turn around and say, well, unfortunately we won't be able to help you today because of this or because of that.
And then you're like, okay, so what do I need to do?
They know what you need to do for you to fix that whatever it is that's missing that they need, but they won't signpost you to where you’re supposed to go to get it. So they know what you need, and they're just basically hiding that information from you and making it harder for you.
You're about to be homeless, you're homeless.
You know, there's a situation at hand and the people that have the power to help you are not helping you.
So you start to question yourself.
What’s wrong with me?
Why won’t you help me?
Whereas when you look around and you see, you know, certain people of different colours and they’re getting all the help that they need. And you can hear them speaking to them differently as well. The tone changes, the attitude changes.
You can feel the discrimination.
You can feel the racism.
You can see it from the way that they look at you, the tone of their voice. That was my experience, for me. It's just the undertones of it, the undercurrents, like the gatekeeping of it.
[Kwajo] I think with my own, and I've spoken about this before in terms of slippery discrimination and what my Dad faced, and witnessing that as a child and our family situation with homelessness. It was very obvious, especially in regards to local authorities and their interaction with him, even as a child, that there was elements of racism and discrimination.
And importantly, there I also thought there was a huge level of classism being shown towards him because of his background. And we saw it with interactions.
I mean, my Dad, when he was phoning up having to try and change or shift his thick African, or Ghanaian, accent.
Exactly, code switching. And you were stuck on a waiting list for 15 years, right?
[Uche] So for me, it was a negative impact already because the first thing they do is tell you, you might have a long wait on the list.
It's not just going to be... so already they're taking the hope, you know, because all I want is a home for myself and my kids. So already you've put a barrier in front of there. You're depressing me already.
There were things that they could have told me to do or places they could have signposted me to. That will give me further advantage, but they just kept quiet. Hence the gatekeeping that I was talking about.
[Victoria] Well, for me, I waited for 14 months.
I couldn't think about my future.
All of that was in my head was: I need a place to stay.
I cannot just be on the streets.
So it had, you know, an adverse effect on my mental health.
[Kwajo] So there's a long history here when it comes to racism and discrimination in relation to housing. And part of the report, a key part of the report, is intergenerational racism and trauma. How has it affected communities like yours?
[Uche] On my part, what I'd say is a lot of families have been affected by this.
It's not just — I've got some friends that are from the West Indies, from the Caribbean.
They talk a lot about their parents, their grandparents and the housing situation at the time.
You know, when they first came to live in the UK, came to Britain.
And, you know, they talk about the trauma that they experienced as a family and how that's trickled down to them and their kids presently because you talk about things like, you were called over here to help out. And then once you get here, you start being mistreated, you start being looked down upon. You start being treated unfairly because of the color of your skin.
I think from that respect, just that respect at least — from the human side of it — I think it's important to remind ourselves that what happens in the past also affects the present and the future.
So now I'm thinking, well, what about my kids?
You know, this happened to my grandparents.
It's happening to me.
I think changes should be made now so that we don't suffer or our children don't suffer what we have suffered.
[Victoria] I think this could actually go back to slippery discrimination.
I've spoken to quite a lot of black people or mixed heritage people.
And one of the first things they tell me is when we first came here, older people actually, the racism was quite in your face.
Someone could tell you, “I don't like you because you're black,” and just leave it at that.
But because now it's like, you know, they can't tell you to your face.
So they've got to be very subtle about it.
[Kwajo] And I mean, Victoria, what I wanted to ask you is what would you say to people both inside the social housing world, or the housing sector, but also outside the sector, who may think or say:
“Well, this isn't an issue that's affected me. So therefore it doesn't matter. I don't need to deal with it.”
[Victoria]
Okay. I've heard a lot of people say “I don't see colour,” but I'm going to need you to start seeing colour. Because when you see colour, then you can understand the pain the next person is going through.
You can understand how privileged you are, and you can understand why something needs to be done about this situation.
[Kwajo] And I mean, part of the changes that we’re seeing in government is to do with qualifications and training for those working within the sector.
And one of the recommendations, off of the back of this report, is training specifically around this anti-racism, anti-discrimination.
And off of the back of the conversation we've had, do you feel like this is a must?
It needs to happen if we're really going to create the change that we want to see for future generations?
[Uche] I would have to agree there, because, I mean, at the end of the day, the Competence and Conduct Standard — why can't racism and discrimination be part of that?
Because that is obviously part of the wider problem that we are facing here.
Because if that is not included in that, then you're not really pushing much, if you know, so to speak.
Especially considering what's going on, the current climate of things that are happening currently within the UK and around the world. I mean, discrimination and racism plays a major part of that.
You know, people need to be trained.
You have to use the qualifications on your certificate and come and help people.
And you should be held accountable to that.
[Victoria] They need to be empathic towards other people's experiences.
The slippery discrimination, the intergenerational... it’s all linked in together.
[Kwajo] I wanted to ask: what is one thing you'd like someone watching this to take away as a message from the campaign?
[Victoria] First of all, acknowledging there are people that are going through harder obstacles towards accessing a social home.
[Kwajo] And what we need to see off the back of this is action. We need to see policy changes, but not just lip service. We also need to see action because that's what really matters off of the back of this.
[Victoria and Uche] Absolutely.
[Kwajo] Thank you both.
[Uche] Thank you Kwajo, thank you.
Participants described feeling continually deprioritised compared to White applicants. The ‘slippery’ nature of discrimination left people questioning whether racial bias was affecting the way their housing application was managed.
'Every time I checked my application status, I was either told that there were no available properties or that my case was still under review. I felt like I was being pushed to the back of the queue. [It was a] very bad experience and I couldn't help but wonder if my ‘race’ was playing a role in how my application was being handled.'
Black applicants resorted to ‘code-switching’ (changing the way they speak), using a more English or European-sounding name, and/or altering their appearance to conform to perceived White norms.
'[As a] Black person... if I just rock up in my tracksuit, there's a way that they start interacting with me that changes. I have to speak your language for you to treat me like a human.’
Racism often intersects with other forms of discrimination. Black women experience misogynoir, where racism and sexism combine, including stereotypes such as the 'angry Black woman'. This leads to their self-advocacy being underestimated, which affects the support they receive and takes an emotional toll.
'You start to question: what is it about me that's making you not want to do your job? Is it because I'm a woman? Is it because I'm a single mum? Black? African? I can't put a pin on why you're treating me like this.’
A local councillor and former housing officer described a culture 'dominated by prejudice and stereotypes about certain groups,' and outlined how he tried to mitigate the racism he witnessed.
‘If someone is Black and may be older or Asian, or they're struggling with the language, I think, yeah, I can see how they're going to play you here, then I'll offer to come along with them… and just sit in the room with you… I can't do anything. I'm not a lawyer, but… you'd be amazed how differently they get treated.’
The more people that our campaigning reaches, the greater our chance of success. Can you share this with friends or family?
Black-led families are less than half as likely to secure a social home than White-led families https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/publications/race-ethnicity-and-homelessness-in-the-uk-final-report-of-a-knowl/
Black-led households are 13 times more likely to live in temporary accommodation https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness
My colour speaks before me, Shelter report https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_and_research/policy_library/my_colour_speaks_before_me
Racial equity
Racial equity is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everyone. It is the intentional and continual practice of changing policies, practices, systems, and structures by prioritising measurable change in the lives of People of Colour. Source
Slippery discrimination
Slippery discrimination is an academic term coined by Sue Lukes to describe subtler, more covert racism in housing which is now prevalent. It can be hard to pinpoint, prove and challenge, particularly as it has been systemically embedded and normalised over time. Source
Code switching
Code-switching is when someone changes the way they speak, such as their accent, language, or tone, depending on whom they are talking to. In the context of race, this can mean using more 'formal' speech, such as 'the Queen's English', to challenge stereotypes about intelligence. In practice, it might involve mirroring the way others speak so as not to stand out, or sounding closer to notions of Whiteness that are seen as more 'acceptable', in order to avoid prejudice or mistreatment. Source
