As we come to the end of 2025, we wanted to highlight some of our recent work at I‑SPHERE, share updates on what’s coming up, and of course say a big thank you to everyone we have worked with over the year!
Fair Way Scotland
Last week, Paying Twice: The Hidden Costs of a Hostile Environment launched—the evaluation of an action‑learning partnership tackling the impacts of UK immigration policy on destitution and homelessness in Scotland.
The research A Fair Way Forward, led by Prof. Beth Watts‑Cobbe and commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on behalf of the Fair Way Scotland partnership, is available here:
🔗 https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/publications/a-fair-way-forward-an-evaluation-of-an-action-learning-partnershi/
A comprehensive legal briefing and roadmap for policy makers, authored and presented by Jen Ang, Founding Director of Lawmanity, can be found here:
🔗 https://homelessnetwork.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fair-Way-Legal-Briefing-12.2.25.pdf and you can also watch a presentation of this by Jen that was the basis of our November seminar here 🔗https://i-sphere.site.hw.ac.uk/event/isphere-and-chih-november-seminar-ending-migrant-destitution-in-scotland-with-jen-ang/
The Scottish Government’s Ending Destitution Together strategy (currently under review) is here:
🔗 https://www.gov.scot/publications/ending-destitution-together/
More information about Fair Way Scotland is available here:
🔗 https://homelessnetwork.scot/fairway-scotland/
Beth also presented findings from our research on destitution and homelessness among people with No Recourse to Public Funds / restricted benefit eligibility at the Cross‑Party Group on Poverty (Scottish Parliament) on 10 November:
🔗 https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/cross-party-groups/poverty/cpg-on-poverty-minutes–10th-november-2025.pdf
Destitution in the UK
We have just completed six weeks of fieldwork for our Destitution in the UK study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) which involved :
- 18 local authorities across all 4 UK jurisdictions
- 121 services
- 6 researchers
- Dozens of interviewers
- Over 4,800 survey responses
This nationwide research is delivered by I‑SPHERE and Verian Group, with vital support from hundreds of staff and volunteers across the UK.
Since October, we have been working with food banks, community meal services, homelessness services, advice agencies, immigration and refugee advice providers, domestic abuse services, and local authorities to capture people’s experiences.
With the sheer scale of destitution deeply concerning, this study has become essential to understanding the drivers of severe hardship in the UK.
Read the previous (2023) report:
🔗 https://lnkd.in/evSFH5PV
A huge thank you to all 121 participating services across Belfast, Bexley, Bournemouth, Camden, Cheshire West & Chester, County Durham, Ealing, Fife, Glasgow, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Kirklees, Lewes & Rother, Newham, Nottingham, Peterborough, Swansea, and Wiltshire—and to our dedicated colleagues at Verian Group.
Analysis and qualitative interviews are now underway, with findings to be published in Autumn 2026.
Homelessness Among Black and Minoritised Communities in the UK
In July, we published the final report from our 3.5‑year research programme, revealing stark and disproportionate impacts of homelessness on Black and other minoritised communities in the UK.
All reports are available here:
🔗 https://i-sphere.site.hw.ac.uk/homelessness-and-black-and-minoritised-ethnic-communities/
The research received significant media attention, and the team continues to work across the sector to embed learning, including presentations to:
- National Housing Federation
- Manchester Housing Commission / University of Manchester
- Housing Quality Network
- Housing Diversity Network
- BME National
- Housing Law Practitioners Association
- Homeless Network Scotland
- Senior roundtable in London with CEOs from Shelter, Crisis, and others
Professor Glen Bramley presented Oral evidence to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee:
🔗 https://committees.parliament.uk/event/24866/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/ The committee currently has an open call for evidence so do contribute if you can – Call for Evidence – Committees – UK Parliament
Housing Requirements
Professor Glen Bramley has updated and refined indicators of housing affordability (to buy and rent), now included in the Indices of Deprivation 2025 for England and Wales. The Welsh indicators include a measure capturing unaffordability among older private renters.
The 2025 Indices also include a new measure of core homelessness at local authority level in England—complementing statutory homelessness data but offering a significantly different and arguably more consistent picture of homelessness pressures across regions.
Glen is further updating estimates of housing requirements, including social and affordable housing, using these affordability measures and an outcome‑oriented modelling approach. These estimates will have significant implications for sub‑regional cooperation and planning for higher housing supply.
Universal Prevention
Following the publication of the English National Plan to End Homelessness:
🔗 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-national-plan-to-end-homelessness
…we are pleased to launch a partnership paper that takes the conversation on universal prevention of homelessness a crucial step further:
🔗 https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/publications/universal-prevention-understanding-and-implementing-universal-pre/
The National Plan highlights the importance of universal prevention but, like most work in this area, does not fully explore what universal prevention means, why it matters, or how it can be delivered—particularly at local level. Our new paper aims to stimulate debate by offering practical conceptualisations of universal prevention and its role in reducing homelessness.
At the heart of our approach are four essential protective factors:
- A truly affordable, safe, and secure home
- A sufficient income
- Good health and timely access to effective care
- Supportive relationships and strong social networks
We emphasise that universal does not mean uniform—population‑wide strategies must still include targeted measures to ensure equitable access, an approach known as proportionate universalism.
Read the paper by Suzanne Fitzpatrick (I‑SPHERE), Peter Mackie (Cardiff University), Paul Muir (Independent Consultant), and Neelam Sunder (West Midlands Combined Authority):
🔗 https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/publications/universal-prevention-understanding-and-implementing-universal-pre/
Homelessness Prevention in the UK — New Research and Internship Opportunity
We have begun work on our flagship UK‑wide evaluation of homelessness prevention, a three‑year research programme in partnership with Peter Mackie and St Martin‑in‑the‑Fields Charity.
We are currently recruiting for a 9‑month paid internship—an excellent opportunity for an early‑career researcher or frontline practitioner interested in homelessness prevention to undertake an independent project with I‑SPHERE support.
Full details:
🔗 https://i-sphere.site.hw.ac.uk/homelessness-prevention-in-the-uk/
Appointments
Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick has recently joined the Expert Group guiding the UK Government’s homelessness strategy for England. Suzanne has contributed to legislative developments in Scotland and Wales, chairing expert review panels feeding into the recently passed Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 and the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocations (Wales) Bill. In 2025 she also continued her work as a Poverty Commissioner for Scotland.
We are also delighted that I‑SPHERE has been invited to join the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Scotland Academic Advisory Group. Lynne McMordie will take up this role in 2026.
Seminar Programme
In 2025 we enjoyed excellent seminars through our joint programme with the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Homelessness and Inclusion Health (CHIH). More events are planned for 2026.
View the programme, sign up, and watch past seminars:
🔗 https://i-sphere.site.hw.ac.uk/seminars/
Register for our January seminar featuring Joe Dawes (UCL) on Homelessness and Frailty:
🔗 https://i-sphere.site.hw.ac.uk/event/i-sphere-and-chih-january-seminar-jo-dawes/
Publications
As well as our recent reports you might be interested in some articles by the team including:
Methodological dogma in homelessness scholarship and its associated myopia
You can keep on top of our publications and news on linked in and online.
Thank You
Finally a huge thank you to all our collaborators, partners, supporters, and funders.
We wish everyone a happy holiday period and look forward to working with you in 2026.
From the team at I‑SPHERE