Black people in UK almost four times more likely to become homeless, study finds
A three-and-a-half-year study by the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University analysed 750,000 household records and found that just 10% of Black families secured social housing through the homelessness system, compared to 24% of White families.
As part of the study, black people affected by housing discrimination were interviewed, with many saying they felt the need to mask their identities - a common theme that emerged across focus groups.
One participant said: "I always hide my identity...I've got 21 names that I just go by…because I've experienced a lot of discrimination, I don't like to just tell people anything, about my nationality, about my status."
Another said: "My sister had to change her name to our father's first name…She had to start watching YouTube channels to speak from a proper English accent…she said it's working for her.
"She said, somebody at work said, 'You're not a typical Black woman,' and she didn't react, but she said that she understood immediately…My son has an all ethnic name and she was telling me recently, you better change it."
Someone else said: "I have a mixture of friends, but my white friends, they got help immediately from the council. I do feel like race plays a big part in it. I don't know."
Heriot-Watt University said the findings expose a housing system that not only fails to address existing inequalities but actively reinforces them through poor outcomes and discriminatory treatment.
Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, director of I-SPHERE at Heriot-Watt University and the report's lead author, said: "The evidence is stark: Black people are almost four times more likely to become homeless, and when they do access the statutory system, they face dramatically worse outcomes.
"We have quantitative evidence that their outcomes are worryingly poor, and both qualitative and quantitative evidence that they face racial discrimination.
"This is a system that's supposed to help people in crisis, yet we're hearing accounts of callous, uncaring and unresponsive services."
She said the study also reveals "ethnic disparities in the risks, experiences and outcomes associated with homelessness in contemporary England".
"This demands an urgent and wide-ranging response," she said. "We're not just talking about poor housing outcomes here, we're talking in some cases about people feeling forced to deny their own identity to access basic services."
The study also found that black families are six times more likely to live in overcrowded homes than white households, while Pakistani and Bangladeshi households face the highest rates of overcrowding, more than seven times the white average.
And it revealed that 41% of black families leave the homelessness system for unknown destinations, compared to 28% of white families.
Matt Downie, chief executive of the homeless charity Crisis, said: "Through their upcoming homelessness strategy, the UK Government must take the chance to root out racial discrimination and prejudice in our housing and homelessness systems by adopting the recommendations in this report.
"For social housing, we would like to see the Government go further by ensuring providers allocate homes to people experiencing homelessness from all backgrounds.
"Removing these structural barriers would allow people to rebuild their lives and leave homelessness behind for good, regardless of their background, race or identity."
The report urges the government to use its upcoming cross-departmental homelessness strategy to tackle the disproportionate impact on minoritised communities.
It calls for greater accountability at all levels, action on racism among private landlords, and a complete overhaul of how the asylum and homelessness systems are connected.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson reiterated to ITV News that racism in Britain's housing system is illegal.
They said: 'Racism in our housing system is illegal, and we urge anyone who has suffered from discrimination to report it so it can be investigated and we can put an end to this disgraceful behaviour.
'We are also taking urgent action to fix the housing crisis we inherited so people do not need to access these services in the first place, including providing £1 billion for crucial homelessness services this year.'
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