The Housing Trap

The Housing Trap, reveals the grim reality of housing that families across the UK are facing on a day to day basis. More than one quarter (27%) of mums are living in inadequate housing. The vast majority (94%) of families who are living in a rented property want to own their own home but are not able to. The report warns of the impact that housing issues are having on the daily lives of parents and on the healthy development of children. With 220,000 children set to be affected by changes to housing benefits in the next few years, we are calling for urgent intervention to stop this situation from deteriorating.

Our report found that families were struggling with:

Inadequate Housing

• More than a quarter of mums (27%) do not feel that their current housing meets their needs – because of overcrowding, safety fears or excessive costs;
• Satisfaction with housing is much lower among those who rent with only 49% of those who rent from the council being satisfied with their home, compared to 82% of homeowners.

Overcrowding

• Over a quarter (27%) of low income families (DE) say that their accommodation is too small or overcrowded.
• Close to a third (31%) of mums renting accommodation from housing associations or registered social landlords say their accommodation is too small.
• Over two thirds (67%) of mums living in small or overcrowded accommodation say overcrowding makes their daily routine more challenging, and at least 60% say they believe small overcrowded accommodation causes family conflict amongst adults. In addition, 37% say that overcrowding causes conflict amongst children in the family.

Excessive Costs

• 1 in 5 mums spend over 50% of their household income on housing costs.
• As many as 94% of families who are currently renting would like to own their own home but are unable to do so, primarily due to financial constraints;

It is clear from these results that decisive steps must be taken if many families in the UK are to avoid a lifetime stuck in unsuitable housing – with all the impacts on child development, good health, social mobility, and family stability that this entails. 4Children is calling for local authorities to be empowered to step in when families are in need, as well as for incentives to be offered so that developers will build more large and affordable homes, to meet demand and avert a nation-wide crisis.