Trapped by debt: How council rules are keeping homeless families in limbo

Children and domestic violence victims are among thousands of people trapped in temporary accommodation in England because of council rules on housing debt, according to research by Oxford Brookes University and King's College London.

The researchers found that during December 2023 alone, there were 3,797 households in temporary accommodation that were not being rehomed, due to local authority rules stating people with housing-related debt were ineligible or less of a priority for social housing. This included more than 1,500 children and domestic violence victims. 

The team agreed, however, that the total number of households is an underestimation because many councils, especially in London, did not provide the information on request. The true figure is believed to be upwards of 10,000 English households stuck in temporary housing. The team is now calling for an urgent review and for greater monitoring to assess the impact of the rules. 

Dr Mel Nowicki, Reader in Urban Geography at Oxford Brookes University, co-authored the paper with Professor Katherine Brickell, Professor of Urban Studies, and doctoral researcher, Fraser Curry, both of King's College London. 

Dr Nowicki said: “At a minimum the rules need review; and councils and central government need to be able to monitor who is being impacted by the very policies they have designed.

"The flexibility given to local authorities in the Statutory Guidance on Social Housing Allocations is not acceptable given the harms housing-related debt rules are doing to families. At the absolute bare minimum, victims of domestic abuse should be explicitly excluded from housing-related debt rules.”

Co-author Professor Katherine Brickell,  Professor of Urban Studies at King’s College London, added that households in temporary accommodation are being judged as financial risks as tenants rather than as vulnerable families with children who need housing

"The human costs of these rules are simply too high to justify," she says.

Depending on the local authority, applicants who are in arrears with their debts can become ineligible or deprioritised in the housing allocation system, which means that children and domestic violence victims can remain in temporary accommodation until they can clear their arrears or prove an ‘intent to pay’.

The researchers suggest that temporary accommodation stays should be as brief as possible in order to avoid mental health impacts in the immediate and long term.

Fraser Curry, doctoral researcher at King’s College London, said: “For families experiencing homelessness, debt is typically a necessity rather than a choice. Spiralling rents in the private rented sector, the cost of living, and the retrenchment of welfare and public services under austerity, have all taken their toll.”

The research examined housing allocation policies of 294 councils in England - excluding county councils - and found that 88% have an ineligibility policy related to housing debt, 54% have a de-prioritisation policy, and 70% have an ‘intent to pay’ policy.

It also revealed that although 94% of councils mention domestic abuse in their housing policies, only 17% state they exempt victims from housing-related debt rules.

FOI requests showed that 43% of the 3,797 households in temporary accommodation included at least one child under 18, and 5% included a child aged two or younger. London accounted for 79% of ineligible households.