Daily Junction.mobi portal<p>The challenge therefore rests not just with increasing supply, but with increasing people’s ability to access housing. Potentially, building more houses while <a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/londons-affordable-housing-quotas-slashed-to-boost-new-homes-drive">reducing the number that are affordable</a> will benefit those who already have money to buy. The risk is that this could worsen housing inequality if there are not greater numbers of affordable homes rather than those that only the wealthy can afford.</p>
<h2>Solutions and risks</h2>
<p>Between the potential house-buyers and the accommodated rough sleepers lie the “hidden homeless”, in temporary accommodation and those living out of area. The housing crisis cannot be fixed overnight. But in the meantime, more can be done to address some of the worst outcomes for the most vulnerable households. </p>
<p>First, the exchange of out of area households between local authorities could be reduced through greater regional oversight and coordination. Second, spending money to reduce the impacts of the housing crisis through construction of more council houses should be seen as an investment. Third, households placed out of area should receive a <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/documents/research/out-of-area-final-report.pdf">minimum standard guarantee</a> that includes a school place, medical registrations, discounted transport costs, wifi access and details of local services. </p>
<p>In the longer term, government goals will only be achieved by rebalancing housing provision to emphasise social housing and social benefits, rather than relying on market forces.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/289443/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steve-iafrati-2749309">Steve Iafrati</a>, Assistant Professor in Social/Public Policy, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alastair-munro-2760647">Alastair Munro</a>, Teaching Associate in Human Geography, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a></em>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-clare-388753">Nick Clare</a>, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-rough-sleeping-andy-burnhams-housing-plans-need-to-include-the-hidden-homeless-289443">original article</a>.</p> </div>