For rural homelessness to get the attention it needs, we need to make it visible

A study carried out by the University of Kent and University of Southampton, funded and commissioned by organisations and housing associations working in rural areas, shows the huge impact that the largely unacknowledged problem of rural homelessness is having on both individuals and communities.

The report provides the evidence we need to shine a light on this issue and ensure that effective policies and systems are in place to bring an end to rural homelessness.  

“Rural poverty is characterised by invisibility, partly because it is dispersed rather than concentrated and partly because it is culturally invisible”

The voices of those experiencing homelessness in rural areas are rarely heard. People are often isolated and unseen. The dispersed nature of rural homelessness and the perception that these areas are more affluent means it doesn’t get the attention from policy-makers.

People with intersecting disadvantages are particularly at risk of homelessness in rural areas. Stigma associated with homelessness in prosperous areas is a significant barrier to getting support and intensifies the problems associated with the dispersed nature of rural homelessness.  

Rob*, who lived in the woods for eight years, said: “I made trenches, made sure they were water secure… out there all winters, one winter there was three foot of snow… I had to get up every hour and walk around… and I was really thinking, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do this.’” 

Poverty is the biggest driver of homelessness. Rural poverty is characterised by invisibility, partly because it is dispersed rather than concentrated and partly because it is culturally invisible. The rural idyll myth is strong, so rural poverty and rural homelessness can be unimaginable.

Often national welfare programmes and initiatives ignore the rural context, which limits their ability to offer effective support. Rural areas receive 65% less funding per capita in homelessness prevention grant than urban, despite the fact that the dispersed nature of the problem means it is more expensive to respond to.  

So what are we doing about it?  

Those of us working in rural communities are coming together as the Rural Homelessness Counts Coalition. We want to see a nationwide response based on five principles: visibility, prevention, community, inclusion and place-based solutions.

We need systemic change. For this to happen, we need all political parties to commit to a long-term plan for housing – a plan that includes specific strategies for ending rural homelessness and providing the truly affordable social homes these communities need.

The new analysis from the National Housing Federation, showing that social housing waiting lists in rural areas are growing at 10 times the rate as those in predominantly urban areas, only serves to demonstrate that this hidden problem is becoming embedded in the system.  

To respond to this problem, we need to see it first. If you see it and you want to end it, join us now.  

*Name has been changed 

Angela Gascoigne, chief executive, Shal Housing