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Supporting families in inadequate housing

Inadequate housing is a significant and growing barrier to school attendance for the families we work with. As experts in supporting families, School-Home Support practitioners walk alongside families as they address their housing challenges, signposting them to specialist support and advocating for them to improve their living situation so that it is less of a barrier to school.

Inadequate housing is a major barrier to school attendance

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.

Housing as a safeguarding issue

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.

Teddy’s story

School-Home Support practitioner Clancey spoke to Sky News about the impacts of housing insecurity for the families she works with in Manchester. Teddy and his mum Sammy were placed in temporary accommodation very far from his school. Clancey helped the family to keep up with school during this challenging time.

Watch the report

Raising the profile of inadequate housing as a barrier to education

Amplifying the voices of the families impacted by inadequate housing is vital to understanding how it can act as a significant barrier to education, and how to best address housing needs for families.

In December 2024, we were invited to submit evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s inquiry into children living in temporary accommodation. Families placed in temporary accommodation face additional barriers to education. This can include being placed far from school resulting in long and expensive journeys to school, or a lack of facilities such as a desk space to complete homework. We will continue amplifying the voices of families experiencing housing issues as a barrier to education. Read our submission to the inquiry.

In June 2024, we contributed as an expert witness to a report commissioned by Citizens UK on the impact of inadequate housing on educational experience. The report found that families in Newham, one of the areas where School-Home Support practitioners work in school, are living in dire housing conditions, are subject to frequent moves, considerable uncertainty, and long periods of time in inadequate temporary accommodation. Read the report.

Last year, our data on the increasing prevalence of housing issues for the families we work with was covered in The Guardian.