Two new reports based on research led by the University of Huddersfield’s Professor Philip Brown have highlighted issues surrounding housing and homelessness during the cost-of-living crisis.
Two new reports based on research led by the University of Huddersfield’s Professor Philip Brown have highlighted issues surrounding housing and homelessness during the cost-of-living crisis.
Professor Brown, the academic lead on the university’s Healthy Housing Initiative, worked with the Northern Housing Consortium and the Center for Homelessness Impact on reports that assess poor quality housing stock as well as links between refugee resettlement and homelessness respectively.
The first report, « Living in Fear » focuses in particular on housing in the north of England, and is based on research with renters and owner-occupiers who were spoken to during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2023. The new report follows pioneering work undertaking at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report proposes a three-point plan that it is calling upon the government to implement.
« During the winter months, people living in poor housing conditions are more likely to die as a result of respiratory, circulatory and cardiovascular diseases and are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, » says Professor Brown.
« In certain parts of the U.K., such as the north of England, this is made even worse by the prevalence of older, colder and poorly maintained properties.
