United Kingdom homelessness and housing in the UN CESCR

The focus of this article will be on homelessness and housing in the UK. The national report submitted by the UK government to the CESCR in May 2022 and shadow reports provided by Just Fair, a United Kingdom based charity, and Human Rights Watch will be summarised for this purpose. The committee's concluding observations will be available next year (2024).[1]

According to the national report submitted by the UK to the CESCR, the UK government has taken several measures to address poverty and ensure adequate housing provision. One of the measures was the introduction of the benefit cap, which aimed to bring fairness between those receiving working age benefits and taxpayers in employment and encourage people to move into work where possible. There are exemptions in place to protect vulnerable and low-income households. Discretionary Housing Payments can be provided for those unable to meet the shortfall in their rent. The UK government has committed to delivering 1 million new homes by the end of the Parliament and has provided over £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments funding.

In 2020/21, there were 1.2 million fewer people in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10. The UK government is focused on helping people re-enter employment and reduce poverty by encouraging full-time employment. The UK, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have set targets for new affordable homes and the governments have made significant investments in the Affordable Homes Programme and other initiatives to achieve these targets.

The private sector in the UK is regulated through measures such as the Deregulation Act 2015 and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, to offer protection to tenants. The UK government has committed to abolish ‘no-fault’ evictions in England and improve conditions for tenants in the private sector. The Scottish and Welsh governments have introduced similar measures to regulate the private sector. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has introduced a range of measures to address housing challenges, such as providing funding for new social homes and assisting people into home ownership.

Just Fair submitted a shadow report to the CESCR regarding social security and the adequate standard of living in the UK.[2] The report highlights concern about the low level of social security support and the application of a benefit cap that has been frozen since 2016, despite rising living costs and rents. This lack of affordability is leading to poverty and in some cases, destitution, with people relying on charity to survive. The social security support rate was originally set at 70% of Income Support, but in 2015 a flat rate was introduced, and since then only small increases have been made which have not been index linked. The current rate is 53% of Universal Credit for over 25s, which is £5.84 per day for all essentials (not including housing or utilities), leaving people receiving 27% less in real terms than in 2000.

The report also addresses the issue of adequate housing and highlights the repeated concerns about significant hardship, poverty, and destitution being experienced in the UK related to housing, food, clothing, fuel poverty, and digital exclusion. According to the report, the state party has not taken all necessary measures to address the housing deficit or to address issues of affordability and effective regulation in the Private Rental Sector (PRS). Campaigning groups have suggested incorporating the right to adequate housing into domestic law, which would generate significant savings worth £11.5 billion over a 30-year period, with benefits starting to outweigh costs after just six years. The PRS is inadequate in terms of securing the right to adequate housing and leads to increasing numbers of individuals unable to secure adequate housing. There is a lack of adequate controls on landlords and fair use of evictions, leading to a lack of repairs to properties, overcrowding, and accommodation in a poor state of repair.

Families experiencing homelessness are left in temporary accommodation for long periods of time and this is further exacerbated by the impact of NRPF policy.[3] The shortage of genuinely affordable housing or social housing leaves people in temporary accommodation for long periods of time in poor condition, with habitability concerns. The report highlights the need for a system to rapidly rehouse people who are homeless and prevent homelessness in the first place. Additionally, the lack of adequate affordable housing and inadequate support to meet unregulated rental costs in the PRS, along with the housing benefit freezes and caps, contributes to the identified problems. The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the rate used to calculate support for low-income private renters, but LHA has been frozen for several years and has not risen in line with PRS rents or inflation, resulting in a significant disconnect between LHA levels and affordable PRS accommodation. The consequences of this disconnect include unaffordable accommodation, increasing the risk of poverty, overcrowding, and accommodation in a poor state of repair.

The Human Rights Watch's submission to CESCR[4] also criticised the UK government's treatment of low-income families in temporary accommodation and their failure to fully incorporate social, economic, and cultural rights protections into the domestic legal framework, leaving people alleging violations of those rights without a domestic recourse to remedy. Inadequate social security protection, including the right to food, has also been identified as an issue, and the absence of enforceable remedies in domestic courts and the failure to ratify the Optional Protocol leave people without a way to seek justice for violations of their rights.

Policy failures by central and local government have resulted in a failure to ensure the right to adequate housing for homeless families. Low-income families in temporary accommodation face issues such as toxic mold, cold temperatures, and a lack of adequate space, interfering with children's right to education. Human Rights Watch also points to the negative impact of tax credit policies, particularly the 'two-child limit' policy, on large numbers of children and their families.

In summary, while the UK government has taken measures to address poverty and ensure adequate housing provision, reports from Just Fair and Human Rights Watch suggest that there are still significant issues related to social security and adequate housing that require further attention and action. The CESCR's concluding observations will provide further insight into the UK's progress in respecting economic, social, and cultural rights.

Background

The UN's Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) receives regular reports from states on their progress in respecting economic, social, and cultural rights under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). They also accept shadow reports from civil society organizations (CSOs). After reviewing the reports, the CESCR issues concluding observations, which provide recommendations and observations on the steps taken by the state to respect and protect these rights. The conclusions hold states accountable for their obligations and promote greater respect for these rights. CSOs provide an independent perspective and bring attention to issues that may not be addressed in the state's official report.

For more info

Chase, E. (2019). The No Recourse to Public Funds policy and destitution in the UK. Social Policy and Society, 18(3), 377-387.