Hundreds of thousands of households in the UK are currently living in temporary accommodation (TA). Of the nearly 200,000 households living in TA, this figure is estimated to include over 170,000 children, a figure that has repeatedly broken records for over a decade.
Many of these households are able to move on to live independently, but a critical shortage of genuinely affordable housing has trapped them in expensive-to-run temporary accommodation. This growing use of TA doesn’t just represent an obstacle for the families within them to build a stable and fulfilling life, but also a critical drain on the finances of local authorities, with many having reported diverting funds away from other initiatives in order to avoid financial meltdown.
This situation has been worsened by a “missing middle” in the housing system. Often, households living in temporary accommodation will move on to supported living conditions where they can live independently, receive tailored wellbeing and employment support and pay sub-standard rents while they save to move on to homes of their own. The housing crisis has meant these vital intermediary forms of housing are vastly depleted, and the result is a ballooning number of families trapped in unsuitable accommodation who could, if the resources were met, begin their transition towards a home of their own.
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This “missing middle” is the target of a new financial boost called the Housing Pathways Fund (HPF), developed by Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) and the Garfield Weston Foundation (GWF). To address the crisis, the HPF provides flexible, low-cost loans to experienced social sector organisations so they can acquire and manage high‑quality homes at genuinely affordable, income‑appropriate rents, which are below conventional ‘Affordable Rent’ levels and paired with tenancy sustainment and employment support. These homes are a vital stepping stone, to help people build stability and confidence before moving into longer‑term housing.
Over it’s lifetime, the key goals of the HPF are to deliver:
- More than 150 homes in long‑term social use
- Around 1,200 people housed
- More than 75% of tenants moving into independent living
- A focus on the most deprived communities in the UK
Bernice Affat, CEO, Social and Sustainable Capital, said: “Many people are not stuck in supported housing because they need to be there, but because there is nowhere that is realistically affordable for them to go. The Fund tackles a clear market failure in affordable stepping‑stone accommodation, helping disadvantaged people including young people leaving care, survivors of domestic abuse and those facing multiple‑needs homelessness take the next step towards safe, independent living.”
Whilst the HPF will provide a useful resource in rebuilding the stepping stones between TA and a stable living experience, the scope of the housing crisis means that this “missing middle” will take time to rebuild. The situation is yet another concerning symptom of the depleted levels of affordable and social housing in the UK, as decades of undersupply and a vastly profit-focused market has eroded the safety net which many Britons have been forced to turn to.
