This article explores the impact of cost of living pressures on housing costs. Higher inflation, interest rates and rents, coupled with a decline in average real-terms earnings, have increased housing costs for many people. Evidence suggests that the impact is being felt across all housing tenure types, but that tenants in the private and social rented sectors have been most adversely affected.

Supported housing is accommodation where residents receive support, supervision or care. Housebuilding targets include targets for supported accommodation; however, housing associations and local authorities have argued that government funding is not sufficient to enable enough to be built. Concerns have been raised about the quality of supported housing, which is largely paid for by housing benefit.

Over the last decade, the number of social rented homes in England has fallen by more than 100,000. Into this void has emerged ‘temporary accommodation’. This is accommodation councils offer to homeless households while they wait to be offered a settled home.

New Kent-led research on behalf of a coalition of rural charities and housing associations has revealed that the countryside is battling a ‘hidden homelessness’ crisis driven by soaring housing costs and a gaping shortfall in local authority funding.