Austerity measures along with other intersecting crises have resulted in challenges for individuals and organisations supporting the safety of women experiencing homelessness in Manchester and elsewhere. The public funding lost as a result of austerity policies has dealt a severe blow to deprived local authorities in the north of England, resulting in the stripping back of public services. It is well-established that lower-income women, and particularly those from marginalised groups, are disproportionately impacted by budget cuts under austerity. In this article, Isis Barei-Guyot, Alison Briggs and Elizabeth Ackerley spotlight findings from their report on women’s safety (including trans-women) while experiencing homelessness.

• The impact of austerity is exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and the housing crisis, increasing the difficulties faced by lower-income households.
• University of Manchester research with key stakeholders identifies a lack of women-only temporary accommodation as a critical issue of women’s safety in Manchester.
• Action is needed to better support and accommodate women at risk of homelessness.

Homelessness in Manchester – and our report

Manchester’s housing crisis is characterised by a lack of social and affordable housing, with limited housing options for those with lower incomes forcing women into precarious housing situations in the increasingly unaffordable private rented sector. Manchester also has a homelessness crisis that is visible in the increased number of people rough sleeping, living in temporary accommodation, and on the waiting lists for social housing. In this context, the voluntary and community sector services are an important source of support for those experiencing poverty and deprivation, such as women experiencing homelessness.

Our report contributes to understandings of the relationship between women’s access to safety while experiencing homelessness and a context of austerity and intersecting crises in Manchester.

Discussions on women’s safety – and challenges

The report is the product of an event held at The University of Manchester that brought together individuals, voluntary and community sector organisations and those working with and for local authorities to discuss women’s safety in the context of austerity and intersecting crises. The event created space to reflect on challenges facing services and individuals who support the safety of women experiencing homelessness in Manchester and provided an opportunity to think about helpful responses at different levels. For the purposes of the event, women’s safety was defined as going beyond physical safety to include emotional and mental well-being.

The report shares findings relating to the impact of the housing crisis on women’s access to safe and appropriate accommodation while experiencing homelessness, with challenges surrounding access to housing being exacerbated by the impact of austerity and the cost-of-living crisis. The event’s attendees included women with lived experience of homelessness, as well as panellists from organisations Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), Safety4Sisters, Shelter, Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and Manchester Womens Aid.

They reported that women experiencing homelessness in Manchester, including because of domestic abuse, can be placed in temporary accommodation such as hostels and B&Bs for extended periods of time due to the demand for housing vastly outstripping the supply. Women can be asked to move into temporary accommodation at extremely short notice, sometimes in an area they are unfamiliar with and far away from their networks. Conditions of austerity and intersecting crises have left local government with restricted resources. Attendees described how women’s needs are not being met within an overwhelmed housing system.

The event highlighted the difficulties women face in meeting their basic needs in temporary accommodation, with access to fresh food, cooking facilities and laundry facilities not always being available in temporary accommodation such as B&Bs and framework hotels. Some women reporting regularly skipping meals and prioritising feeding their children over feeding themselves.

Findings, risks, and unsustainable solutions

Attendees stressed that women’s safety-related needs are not being prioritised in a crisis-driven housing system, with women reporting feeling unsafe when placed in mixed-gender temporary accommodation. Women can be placed into accommodation with men who have criminal records, such as domestic violence perpetrators and sex offenders, creating significant risks to safety. This includes women who have experienced gender-based violence, and experiences in temporary accommodation have been described as re-traumatising. The lack of women-only temporary accommodation was therefore highlighted as a critical issue of women’s safety in Manchester.

In the face of overwhelming demand for housing there is a focus on moving women on from refuges and other forms of temporary accommodation; however, it is critical that women are moved into accommodation that is appropriate for their needs. A lack of social housing results in women being pushed into the unaffordable and unregulated private rented sector, including women with complex needs for whom independent tenancies are not always suitable.

Attendees questioned whether the top-up for women’s rent being provided by some housing services is a sustainable solution, as this is for a limited time, and little is being done to address how women will continue to afford their tenure once this period is over. Moving women ‘on’ into inappropriate tenancies due to the housing crisis can result in further homelessness.

Supporting women’s safety – policy actions

The event revealed that some of the key challenges organisations supporting the safety of women experiencing homelessness revolve around women’s access to housing and access to services. The report makes recommendations on how women’s safety can be supported – as the new government has stated its intention to increase the supply of social housing, this is a welcome move, but there are other policy actions that can and should be undertaken:

• Frameworks should be developed for temporary accommodation with a minimum number of places ring fenced as gender specific places. Support services should be prioritised – local authorities and supported community interest groups should be provided with the facilities and provision needed to ensure that they can offer face to face support for women at risk of homelessness.
• To ensure that women can safely move on from refuges and temporary accommodation, local rents should be reviewed and rent caps in private rented sector considered. As per the recommendations in the report commissioned by Lisa Nandy MP, the new government should now consider how this can be implemented and bring in new legislation to implement rent caps.
• Trauma-informed policies and guidance on appropriate housing for women fleeing domestic abuse should be developed in co-production by local authorities with involvement from the community and voluntary sector. Practical steps that policymakers can take to ensure that these policies are developed in a way that listens to the voices of women are to establish working groups, policy forums and hold public consultations – our report suggests specifically that meaningful consultation with women and women’s organisations should be undertaken by policymakers prior to changes in housing or homelessness policy.
• Women will often access multiple services to support their safety at one time. Local authorities should support increased collaboration between local services – multi-agency working. ‘One size fits all approaches’ can fail to meet the requirements of women who may have complex and diverse needs. Our research also advocates for the use of “champions” for marginalised groups in housing services.

A lack of affordable and social housing is an issue of women’s safety. The findings of our report highlight how policy on housing and homelessness must be reviewed and refined to be more inclusive moving forwards.