The UK’s long-running housing crisis has recently accelerated into a new and damaging phase, compounded by rising costs of living. Social safety nets are straining to match people’s growing need for affordable, decent accommodation. Within England, there are now 120,000 homeless children living in temporary housing. These children are at significant risk of hampered development. This report uses an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the challenges that families living in temporary accommodation face, particularly regarding ensuring time, resources, and space for their children to play. The report sees leisure as a pillar for healthy social and psychological development. Using innovative methodologies, its authors provide best practices to translate community insights into policy action. This case study builds upon existing evidence from the UK’s Champions Project, which examined the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on under-5s in temporary housing.
Hard to Reach
Families living in temporary accommodation in the UK.
Key Takeaways
Temporary Accommodation (TA) does not adequately consider the play needs of children, resulting in insufficient space, distress from instability, and mental fatigue that does not provide a conducive environment for play. While systemic, national policy change is needed, localized actions can be implemented with less strain on resources to make play in TA feasible in the shorter term. The following thematic recommendations are purposefully oriented toward policymakers.
- Implement low-cost, positive interventions to support the immediate play needs of those currently in TA.
- Encourage play in TA as an interdisciplinary focus area for collaboration across public, private, and third-sector authorities. Recognize children’s play needs as spanning the housing sector and the health, economic, and social spheres.
- Place human bonds and relationship building at the forefront of tackling the housing crisis and better supporting children’s play needs.
Researchers
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Lorenzo Dall’Omo
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Anna Pearl Johnson
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Safaa Yaseen
Mentors
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Monica Lakhanpaul
Professor of Integrated Community Child Health at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Pro Vice Provost for South Asia at University College London
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Celine Lewis
Senior Research Fellow in Genomics; NIHR Advanced Fellow; Population, Policy and Practice Department at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.
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Nadia Svirydzenka
Associate Professor and Reader in Culture, Identity, and Mental Health at De Montfort University; Deputy Director of Mary Seacole Research Centre
Acknowledgments
We extend gratitude to all involved with the project: faculty mentors Professor Monica Lakhanpaul and Celine Lewis, academic advisor Dr. Nadia Svirydzenka, early team member James Grant, the team at the Shared Health Foundation, and in particular, Rosie Austin with the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, for acting as a bridge to families experiencing homelessness. We are immensely grateful to the three families and 16 professional stakeholders who took the time and energy to share their stories with us. The expertise and insights of many played a crucial role in advancing our understanding and for that, we are deeply appreciative.
This project was approved by the Ethics Review Board of the University College London (ID: 10901/004 and 10901/003).