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Call for Insights: Access to Accommodation

Call for Insights: Access to Accommodation

Call for Insights: Access to Accommodation

Monday, November 18, 2024

 

We're seeking knowledge and practical examples to better understand what prevents and enables people to access accommodation in today’s housing crisis. Contributions from individuals and organisations with direct experience or research are welcome.

Since 2017, St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity has been capturing the perspectives and concerns of frontline workers through our annual Frontline Worker Survey. We believe that listening to lived and frontline experience is crucial to addressing homelessness. The 2024 survey, which was completed by 1,050 frontline workers, revealed there is a rise in demand for homelessness services. 92% of frontline workers said that they found it difficult or very difficult to obtain ‘suitable’ housing for the people they are supporting. Frontline workers also told us that helping people to access accommodation is getting harder with 58% of workers reporting their ability to help people access appropriate accommodation had decreased (up from 42% in 2022).

Feedback from frontline staff included: 

"It is so much harder to help people access accommodation that is affordable and available to them, […]. Social housing is increasingly not a reality for many clients, but they very often cannot afford the high payments of the private rentals especially with the rise in prices".

"There is now such a huge strain on resources for housing and services that it’s so difficult to help our clients access some services. [...]  People are stuck in the circle of homelessness".

"With increasing lack of affordable housing and a significant increase in no fault section 21 evictions we have reached a housing emergency".

As a result, at St Martin’s Charity we are: 

  1. Calling for further insights about the issues and challenges faced when supporting people experiencing homelessness to access accommodation.
  2. Committing to using this evidence to inform a grant round making funding available to test and/or scale up work in this area. 

Our call for insights on accessing accommodation is now open. We are looking to better understand what prevents and enables people to access accommodation in the current housing crisis. We welcome contributions from people and organisations with knowledge of this topic. You might have practical examples from your own personal or professional experience or have been involved in researching this area.   

Please share any insights via this short survey before Friday 13th December 2024.   

The survey asks the following four questions: 

  1. What would help to improve housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness?
  2. Where should we focus our funding?
  3. Can you tell us about a practice, model, or funding approach which addresses current barriers around access to accommodation that you have been inspired by?
  4. Any other comments or further insights? Please also upload or send any existing reports or research that could help inform our thinking.

We request that responses are concise and do not exceed 500 words per question. 

If you have any questions or are unable to upload documents through the online response form, please get in touch - heather.sandover@stmartinscharity.org.uk.

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