The Thinkhouse review: how can we unlock access for people most at risk of housing exclusion?

The report shows that at the point the research was carried out, the LHA was sitting at the 13th percentile of rent.

Put another way, out of 100 homes only 13 would be affordable to someone on LHA and in six local authorities all rents were above the LHA threshold.

The work shows a correlation between both numbers and proportions of households with an LHA rent gap and homelessness.

The report also models the impact of increasing rents back up to the 30th percentile and temporary accommodation use by local authorities.

Out of 100 homes only 13 would be affordable to someone on LHA and in six local authorities all rents were above the LHA threshold.

This is a model that will prove useful to return to in the coming months to understand how to track and monitor the positive aspects of increasing LHA so it is more in line with market rents.

There are many drivers of housing exclusion: structural, institutional and individual.

The second report reviewed this month is by CaCHE, Forms and Mechanisms of Exclusion in Contemporary Housing Systems: a scoping study by CaCHE, which is based on qualitative interviews, identifies a number of mechanisms driving exclusion in the English rental market.

It helpfully draws together many of the themes identified over the past 10 years, and has the overarching message that housing exclusion is worsening especially for people most exposed to risk including those on low incomes, BME groups and people facing homelessness.

Two mechanisms of exclusion identified in the report are caused by policy design.

Stakeholders spoken to as part of the research conclude that local choice-based letting (CBL) and nomination policies were viewed as being applied and interpreted inconsistently – and in some cases stopping people most in need accessing housing.

The research also highlights that welfare policy has often intentionally restricted access to certain types of housing.

Limiting housing benefit has stopped people on the lowest incomes accessing housing they can afford. Affordability is a theme throughout the report and the authors conclude: “The scarcity of social housing inevitably introduces some form of rationing, increasing competition for housing and pushing up costs in the private sector.”

Other reports this month that are worth a read include the Resolution Foundation’s Working Hard(ship) – an exploration of poverty, work and tenure, which asks the question of whether housing tenure plays a role in determining in-work poverty rates.

The study concludes that rather than due to behaviour, social renters remain exposed to in-work poverty because of the type of work they can access.

Social renters were 2.5 times as likely to work in a minimum-wage job than non-social renters.

“All the reports reviewed this month show that more can be done through policy design to open up access to housing for all”

Groundswell’s Women, Homelessness and Health is a peer-led study which looks at the inter-relationship between health and homelessness among women and their experiences of accessing healthcare.

Many of the women in the study had experienced violence that had contributed to their homelessness. The report calls for increased funding and resources for domestic and sexual violence to provide early intervention and help support women so they don’t experience homelessness in the first place.

The CaCHE report, Homeless Mothers, found that for many women, once homeless, their maternal status became invisible once they were separated from their children.

The accommodation they were offered was often unsuitable and further isolated them form support networks and schools, making it more difficult for them to rebuild their family home.

All the reports reviewed this month show that more can be done through policy design to open up access to housing for all.

The evidence points to the need for a more generous welfare system, long-term social housing investment and tailored support.

What the past few weeks have shown is these things are all achievable and we need to make sure that once the emergency planning is over attention is turned to designing a housing system that is inclusive and works for all.

Francesca Albanese, head of research and evaluation, Crisis, and editorial panel member, Thinkhouse