Supporting families in inadequate housing

Children and their families are facing housing issues such as high rents, homelessness, overcrowding, and serious mould and damp – all of which can place a significant strain on a child’s ability to access their education. Not having the space to complete homework, or losing sleep because of having to share a small bedroom with younger siblings, can make it very difficult to get to school feeling ready to learn.

In recent years, inadequate housing has been a growing problem for the families we support, and is increasingly a major factor in a child’s absence from school. More than 1 in 5 (22%) of the children we supported in 2023/2024 identified ‘where you live’ as one of the biggest challenges they face. This is a 16% increase on 2022/2023 and an 84% increase on 2021/2022.

Parents and carers are under significant stress due to housing issues, which are often linked to work and money worries. More than a third of parents/carers (35%) identified ‘home and money’ as among the biggest challenges they face, in addition to nearly half of parents/carers (43%) identifying ‘work’ as among the biggest challenges they face.

At School-Home Support, housing is a category of our safeguarding alerts. Our latest Impact Report data revealed a 140% increase in the number of safeguarding alerts related to housing submitted by School-Home Support practitioners in the last year. Housing alerts have risen significantly in recent years, particularly post-Covid, and while mental health is still the most frequent safeguarding alert we receive, the underlying issue of a mental health alert can be housing. Homelessness, unstable housing, high rent, and unacceptable housing conditions all take a toll on children and families’ mental health and wellbeing.

Housing alerts include a wide range of housing related issues, and our practitioners take actions to assist families with these barriers. Key to this is the relationship built between School-Home Support practitioners and housing associations and experts. Practitioners are able to speak to a named person in their area, with whom they have built up a relationship of trust, about the significant issues the families that they are working with are facing. 

Our practitioners work with housing associations and other experts to help support families to be rehomed, move into fit-for-purpose accommodation, improve their housing conditions, and advocate for families to be closer to schools and other family members. Practitioners also help families obtain housing-related items, such as washing machines to wash school uniforms and beds and bedding for children to sleep on, assist with transport costs if families are living far away from school, and support families with addressing other knock-on effects from housing challenges, such as ill-health or safety concerns.