Women’s housing needs are not being met

In 1920, as now, there was a significant housing shortage. Lloyd George’s famous election pledge in the aftermath of World War I was to build ‘homes fit for heroes’. The subsequent Housing, Town Planning, etc Act 1919, commonly known as the Addison Act, marked the beginnings of social housing. But, the dire shortage of affordable housing for women workers went largely unnoticed.

Etheldred Browning, an Anglo-Irish Suffragist, was a doughty campaigner for the rights of women workers. She spoke of the hundreds of working women needing homes at a time when they were being paid much less than men, living in poor accommodation or traipsing from one place to another, trying to find a home.

“There is no region in England where private rented housing is affordable on women’s median earnings. On the other hand, someone on men’s median earnings could afford to rent in every region except London and the South East”

She wrote in The Women’s Leader on 29 October 1920: “The housing of the self-dependent woman worker is a problem which cries out for consideration.”

She brought together a group of like-minded women who understood that the fight for the vote was just the first step in achieving equality for women. They understood the importance of a woman having a home of her own, being able to live independently, safe from abuse and able to fulfil her potential.

On International Women’s Day 2020, we have to ask how much has changed.

The overall hourly gender pay gap is still 16.2%. However, this underestimates the problem.

Women earn less throughout their lives and are much more likely to work part-time or have gaps in their careers because they are responsible for care. Consequently, median earnings for women in England are 34.3% less than men’s, according to the ONS.

Moreover, the gender pay gap in Britain is shaped by racial inequality. For example, Fawcett Society analysis of pay data from the 1990s to the 2010s shows that Pakistani and Bangladeshi women experience some of the lowest pay, so the gap between them and white British men is very large (26.2%); for black African women, the gap is 19.6%.

“Too many women are living for years as lodgers in other people’s homes, in shared houses or sofa-surfing”

The Women’s Housing Forum, the Women’s Budget Group and the National Housing Federation have analysed the ONS figures and shown that the gender pay gap translates into a gender-based housing affordability gap.

The Women’s Budget Group report, A Home of Her Own: Housing and Women, published in July 2019, makes salutary reading. Perhaps the most telling statistic is that there is no region in England where private rented housing is affordable on women’s median earnings. On the other hand, someone on men’s median earnings could afford to rent in every region except London and the South East.

So, the housing crisis is much more acute for women, but the housing sector has not yet woken up to this fact. How many single women can access affordable rents set at 80% of market rent or a shared ownership home?

Too many women are living for years as lodgers in other people’s homes, in shared houses or sofa surfing, dealing with dodgy landlords and living with people they do not know or trust – often just because the jobs they do pay so badly and the benefits system is so dysfunctional. Most are hidden from the system, unable to afford private rents but not in priority need for social housing.

The housing affordability gap also means that many women depend on men financially. National Crime Survey statistics show that women are more than twice as likely as men to experience domestic violence. Such abuse often has a long-term impact on mental health, with depression, panic attacks and anxiety common.

Many stay in abusive relationships because they cannot afford to go elsewhere, but domestic abuse is a leading cause of homelessness for women. Homeless women are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

As a sector, we need to think about how to support women in this situation. I cannot recommend Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance accreditation highly enough. Its training programme should be mandatory for everyone in housing, from boards to contractors.

“Safe, secure, affordable housing has a core role to play in tackling gender inequality”

Larger associations also need to do more to help supported housing providers, which for too long have been the Cinderella of the sector. The support agencies provide fantastic services, often involving multi-disciplinary support to women, but they frequently struggle to obtain suitable move-on accommodation.

Women’s Pioneer works in partnership with specialist support agencies for women who are homeless, have mental health problems, have experienced domestic abuse or sexual assault, or are at risk of ‘honour’-based violence. These agencies all say that they could fill the homes we offer them many times over.

Solace Women’s Aid statistics show that 87% of women in refuges move on to temporary accommodation. This is not good enough – women and their children need long-term, stable homes.

The Women’s Housing Forum, which I co-chair, is seeking support from across the sector, so that we can do more to research and raise awareness of women’s housing needs. We want to encourage everyone to consider gender (intersectionally) when developing strategies, policies and priorities. To do this, we need to fund more research to give the sector as a whole the information needed to tackle the issues.

In 2020, 100 years since Women’s Pioneer Housing began, the need to address women’s housing needs is as urgent as ever. As we celebrate today on International Women’s Day how far we have come, let us remember how much more we still have to do.

Safe, secure, affordable housing has a core role to play in tackling gender inequality. Housing remains a feminist issue. Every woman has the right to a home of her own.

Denise Fowler, chief executive, Women’s Pioneer Housing