Over 300,000 individuals and families across Britain could be forced into homelessness next year if there is no change to current UK government policy, with thousands suffering the worst forms of homelessness including sleeping on the streets, sofa surfing, and living in temporary accommodation such as hostels and B&Bs. The Homelessness Monitor: Great Britain, new […]
News
Low-income families in Scotland are facing soaring debt to public bodies
A new report written by I-SPHERE’s Professor Morag Treanor for Aberlour Children’s Charity reveals that low-income families are facing high levels of debt to public bodies. The report shows that more than half of families (55%) with children in Scotland receiving Universal Credit are having their incomes reduced by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to […]
Homelessness and Black and Minoritised Ethnic Communities in the UK – A Statistical Report on the State of The Nation
I-SPHERE have today published the first report of our Homelessness and Black and Minoritised Ethnic Communities in the UK Knowledge and Capacity Building Programme. Funded by the Oak Foundation this research programme aims to support a step change in knowledge and capacity. This first report A Statistical Report on the State of the Nation was […]
Key Messages from Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder Evaluation
Prof Sarah Johnsen and Dr Janice Blenkinsopp reflect on key learning from Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder following publication of the evaluation’s final report. Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder programme ran for three years from April 2019 and provided independent tenancies and support for 579 individuals across five areas: Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling. It served […]
Social Innovation Partnership Learning Programme
New research published today by the Institute of Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University could provide important lessons for the future delivery of public services in Scotland, helping to inform how these services respond to the impact of poverty on both individuals and their communities. The Social Innovation Partnership (SIP), a unique collaboration between […]
Ending Street Homelessness Globally
The first global initiative aimed at ending street homelessness has revealed key ingredients for success along with common systemic barriers, new research from I-SPHERE, Heriot-Watt University has found. The Institute of Global Homelessness’ (IGH) A Place to Call Home, launched in 2017, is the first concerted effort to support cities across the globe to eradicate street homelessness. […]
Homelessness Monitor England 2022 published today
The Homelessness Monitor: England 2022, our in-depth state of the nation report on homelessness trends across the country for Crisis has been published today. Headline findings include that Councils across England are warning of a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness as the impact of the withdrawal of pandemic protections, such as the […]
Meeting Housing Demand
In this blog Professor Glen Bramley reflects on decades of parliamentary and governmental inquiries into meeting housing demand and the significance of the latest report from the House of Lords’ Built Environment Committee. The House of Lords Built Environment Committee recently published a new report on Meeting Housing Demand [1]. Having contributed written evidence to […]
Positionality, values and metaphysical stance in qualitative research
Contributing to debates on ‘positionality’ in social research, Profs Sarah Johnsen and Suzanne Fitzpatrick reflect on the methodological implications of researchers’ values, and in particular metaphysical stance. These observations are the focus of a recently published journal paper which was inspired by their experiences during a study of the role of faith-based organisations (FBOs) in […]
We are recruiting
I-SPHERE are currently recruiting for a part time Research Associate to join our team to work on the next phase of our flagship research on Destitution in the UK for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Find out more and apply for the post here The closing date is 16th January 2022.