A secure and decent home for all – It’s not just a ‘housing’ issue

IF new, genuinely affordable homes are to be built for some of the 600+ local people in housing need, some of this housing development will have to take place on existing green spaces.

Those objecting to building on such sites rightly point out that easy access to green spaces is essential to our mental and physical well-being. While we totally agree, we in the Frome Area Community Land Trust (FACLT) believe it is vital to also recognise the powerful relationship between decent, affordable homes and well-being.

With spiralling rents and house prices, and an extremely limited supply of social housing, hundreds of people and families in Frome are currently living in unsuitable accommodation.

Examples include overcrowding; rents soaking up much of a household’s income; insecure tenancies; having to live with parents well into adulthood or in shared accommodation with strangers; and poor housing conditions.

Private rents have increased at their fastest ever rate during the cost-of-living crisis. And with housing benefit frozen, more and more private renters are getting into rent arrears – which puts them at risk of homelessness. One in eight renters are in debt to their landlords and millions more are struggling to pay their rents. At the same time local authority resources for assisting people struggling with housing costs are rapidly being depleted in the face of overwhelming demand.

These cold facts are disturbing in themselves, but what they fail to convey is the mental and emotional impact on human beings. A report by Mind (2017) showed how getting into rent arrears triggers a chronic state of stress and anxiety for many tenants.

This in turn can lead to relationship problems, with anger and stress provoking arguments in households. Fear of losing one’s home leads to poor sleep, which can play a causal role in developing and maintaining different mental health problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders and ADHD.

Research has found that individuals facing eviction were four times more likely to attempt suicide than the rest of the population. And renters who feel insecure are less likely to make legitimate demands or complaints about property or management issues through fear of ‘revenge eviction’. In short, living in unsuitable, unaffordable housing can have a profoundly detrimental effect on our ability to get our fundamental human needs met.

The relationship between mental distress and inadequate housing works both ways. A person who is chronically depressed or anxious as a result of their housing situation is likely to become less effective at doing anything about it; for example, by paying off rent arrears, proactively seeking social housing, challenging irresponsible landlords, or engaging with supportive community organisations and projects. In addition, many in housing need have little time to do more than, for example, look after their families or try to earn a living.

The importance of the home for sustaining well-being has become all the more pronounced as a result of the pandemic. A recent health impact assessment has shown how the pandemic has had a range of negative impacts in relation to housing: greater insecurity for many in the private rented sector; increased energy costs and fuel poverty; some women, children and young people at greater risk of harm from domestic violence and abuse; and difficulty maintaining physical and community support networks.

The FACLT is on a mission, together with other community organisations in and around Frome, to start tackling, at least on a local level, what is not just a housing crisis but a well-being crisis. We are committed to acquiring and using land for maximum community benefit. But we know this won’t be easy, not only because some commercial developers and landowners have another agenda, but also because our own community has different interests and needs, which must be negotiated and hopefully reconciled. Including our needs for green spaces and for decent, affordable homes for all.

Roger Saunders, chair of the board of FACLT