Tag Archives: women's homelessness

The importance of a gender and trauma informed response for homeless women  

Women’s homelessness is often hidden and, according to those working in the homelessness sector, a far wider and more nuanced problem than official statistics suggest. Homes for Cathy spoke to Gill Cook, Head of Supported Housing at the Salvation Army Housing Association (SAHA) to find out why tailored, gender-informed homelessness services and interventions are key to helping women move forward with their lives after homelessness. 

What homelessness services does SAHA provide specifically for women? 

We have a 26-bed Edwardian house in Notting Hill, London with 23 single occupancy rooms with shared facilities and three self-contained mother and baby units.  The service is commissioned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and takes referrals for single, homeless young women aged 16 to 30 with support needs.   

Currently, around 60 per cent of the service users there are 16- and 17-year-old unaccompanied minors who have come through the immigration system and are either waiting for their immigration status or have indefinite leave to remain.  The remainder have complex needs, including mental and domestic violence.  Roughly one in three have a statutory duty of care through mental health. 

In Guildford, we run a 15-bed hostel for single women aged 18 and over, with no children.  The common denominator is that all our clients have experienced trauma as children or as adults in the form of domestic abuse, which has led to their homelessness in one way or another. 

For young parents, we provide the Sussex young parents service, which is commissioned by East Sussex County Council’s adult social care team, and includes two five-bedroom houses in New Haven and Eastbourne, for young women aged 16 to 25.  Our clients have a housing need but also complex needs and are either pregnant or have up to two children under the age of five.  We also run an 11-bed supported accommodation service in St Leonards for young parents aged 16-25, again with both housing and complex needs. 

Gill Cook, Head of Supported Housing, SAHA

How do women experience homelessness differently from men? 

When we think of homelessness, we tend to think of rough sleeping.  While women do rough sleep, the majority are hidden homeless, with many entering into unsafe relationships to prevent themselves from rough sleeping.  As a result, there is a lot of trauma and psychological and physical abuse around women’s homelessness, which isn’t necessarily considered as the first issue.  What’s more, women tend to be further down the line before they access support, so by the time they come to us, their needs tend to be more complex.   

Why are women-only homelessness services important? 

One of the main problems with the homelessness services commissioned by local authorities is that they’re not specifically for women.  This can lead to added trauma for women experiencing homelessness, as they do not want to access supported housing provision where they have to share it with men.  This is particularly an issue for trans women.  It’s a cycle we could break if gender-specific services were properly funded. 

Unfortunately, ringfenced funding for these kinds of services was removed many years ago and, year on year, local authorities have reduced commissioning.  Registered providers end up subsidising services to maintain service quality.  Looking ahead, the new Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act will require local housing authorities to publish a supported housing strategy assessing how provision meets local need, which could have a positive impact on the range and types of homelessness services local authorities provide.   

How do you ensure an environment of physical and psychological safety in your women only homelessness services?   

The key issue is getting women through the door in the first instance, so it’s vital to make services accessible, as they may feel uncomfortable or scared, or they simply don’t want to admit that they need support.  Our services don’t take direct referrals, so it’s important to build good relationships with the local authority housing team who can then signpost women to us.  We invite local authority housing officers to come and visit the service and chat with residents, so they know exactly who we are and what we do. 

The support we offer is trauma-informed and person-centred, which really makes a difference.  We invite potential new residents to come round and have a look at the service, so they have already seen the environment and built a relationship with us before they move in.  Often, the women we support have already received labels through contact with the criminal justice system or mental health services, so they feel a lot of shame.  To help overcome this, we take a peer approach, encouraging existing residents to show new residents round the service.  

In terms of staff recruitment, we believe it’s essential to have the right people on the bus, which starts by having the women who use our services involved in the recruitment process, so they feel in control over the staff who come into the scheme and deliver support, and are able to have trusted professionals in their lives. 

How can mixed-gender homelessness schemes be improved to better support women? 

It’s key to take a trauma informed approach in mixed-gender services too, that’s based on kindness and compassion.  Whatever their gender, we try to empower residents to go ‘against their script’ and keep their own clear boundaries to keep themselves and others safe. We also employ male staff, so that both our male and female residents have positive male role models.   

In terms of the physical environment, where we have a large building such as the large hostel we run in Liverpool, we have separate clusters for men and women, and safety is managed by the fact that male residents cannot access the female cluster and vice versa. 

What approaches do you take to help women recover? 

It can sometimes be challenging for residents to access local services such as drug and alcohol support, particularly if they’re located too far away or if the resident has serious mental health problems.  We’ve been able to secure funding to bring services in-house at some schemes, which is really helping to prevent a repeat cycle of homelessness. 

The right staff training and the right management support is essential.  Not only do staff members need the skills to support clients in their journeys, but as an employer we also need to consider the vicarious trauma they might experience dealing with difficult issues day to day.  All our staff receive trauma informed practice training, with a focus on their own wellbeing and resilience.  Staff members may also have lived experience, so it’s key that we manage that and protect their safety.  Aside from formal training, staff can access one to one supervision outside of their management supervision if they need to, which means they’re able to deliver better interventions. 

At our London women’s service, we have a six-week resettlement support plan for when residents move on, but there is an open-door policy forever and our ‘alumni’ can reach out to us for support when things get tough.  We’ve noticed that residents can sometimes struggle at the 18-month mark, and peer support from women who have moved out and moved on can really help to inspire them for the future. 

What barriers do residents face in moving to long-term, permanent housing and how can these be overcome?    

The right type of accommodation is vital but sadly, there is very, very little housing available for women to move on to from our services and on occasion, the accommodation they are offered is not appropriate.  For example, we see situations where residents are offered a shared house – for someone who has been the victim of abuse or childhood trauma and has high levels of anxiety, this can be extremely hard.  It runs the risk of revisiting that trauma all over again.  To help overcome this, we are a registered AQA provider and offer learning for residents on how to live in shared accommodation. 

Affordability is also a problem; in areas such as Kensington & Chelsea, Hastings and Guildford where we run services, the price of private rental property is outside the scope of our residents, as local housing allowance does not tend to cover the cost of the rent. Residents can also face barriers in terms of finding a guarantor for private rental. 

Women can also struggle with being placed outside of the borough, as they can be far from friends and family and face losing their local support network.  On a positive note, our open-door approach means we’re able to support former residents who are having issues with their tenancies once they move on.   

Finally, what message would you like to get across to housing associations seeking to better support women who have experienced homelessness? 

The trauma informed approach we take in supported housing is equally relevant in general needs. Women who have experienced homelessness are much more likely to be able to sustain a tenancy if, when they talk to their housing officer, they receive a gender and trauma informed response. 

Salvation Army Housing Association (SAHA) is a registered provider and an exempt charity that started developing housing and services in 1959. A wholly controlled subsidiary of The Salvation Army, the association has grown into a specialist provider of support and accommodation with approximately 4100 units of accommodation located across England in 86 local authority areas. 

The case for social housing that puts women’s needs first

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While homelessness can happen to anyone, it’s an issue that affects men and women differently; women experiencing homelessness are often ‘hidden homeless’ and most have been subjected to violence and abuse.  Homes for Cathy recently caught up with Jess Page, Director of Housing at group member Women’s Pioneer Housing, to find out more about the drivers behind women’s homelessness and why there is a need for a housing association that champions and understands women.

Where does Women’s Pioneer Housing operate?

Women’s Pioneer Housing has been providing affordable homes to single women in some of the most expensive parts of West London for over 100 years. We currently own just over 1,000 homes, mostly one bedroom and studio flats. 

Why is there still a need for women’s only housing?

In many parts of the country housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable, most people tend to rent or own their homes as couples, for single people there is an increased pressure on affordability. ONS has found people living alone spend 9% more of their disposable income than two adult households on bills.

The affordability crisis is particularly serious for single women.

A recent report by the Women’s Budget Group showed that women needed 12 times their salary to buy a home, while men needed eight. The report also showed that housing as a ratio to earnings is unaffordable for single women in every region of the country, while single men can afford to rent in every region apart from London.

Ultimately the gender pay gap has a knock-on effect into a gender housing affordability gap.

What issues do women face that can make them more vulnerable to homelessness?

While it is often single men who are sleeping rough, households with single adult women are over-represented in less desirable housing situations, in statutory homelessness and in temporary accommodation. In particular, the interplay between domestic abuse and financial dependence also has a specific impact on women and their housing options. Further, women are likely to experience sexual harassment from their private landlords; a recent study by Generation Rent and Mumsnet found that one in twenty women they surveyed said they had been offered either free or discounted rent in exchange for sexual acts.

At Women’s Pioneer we specialise in single women’s accommodation, which means almost all of our properties are studio or one-bedroom homes. We offer lifelong, assured tenancies to single women who come to us through different routes. We have a 50% nomination agreement with most local authorities we operate in; having control of the allocation of half of our empty properties (known as voids) means we have the opportunity to provide affordable housing to a broad range of women.

Women’s Pioneer Housing provides affordable homes to single women in some of the most expensive parts of West London

How do you work collaboratively with LAs and other agencies to support women experiencing homelessness in the areas in which you operate?

We operate a public waiting list for single women who earn less than £40,000 a year, have minimal or no savings and are not eligible for housing through the local authority – i.e. they don’t meet the ‘priority need’ category. Through our waiting list we have house low paid women in their 60s who have always lived in shared homes, women who work locally and otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in the area and keep their job and others who have faced pretty horrific private renting circumstances. We hear from women who have lodged with their landlord only to find them naked in their private room at night or have suffered physical abuse at the hands of their landlord.

We also work with referral agency partners to house women who wouldn’t usually be eligible for local authority housing support or who need an urgent move. For example, we work with IKWRO (Iranian Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation) who do exceptional work moving women out of homes where they face ‘honour based’ violence.

Through these partnerships we also work with Housing First projects. We find having a range of partners, nominations and the waiting list gives us a balanced and resilient community of women who support each other. Our partners for Housing First – Standing Together and Crisis – have an excellent track record of providing support and while sometimes these tenancies can face challenges, we work well together to do all we can to find innovative solutions to keep women in their homes.

We are always looking out for other partners to work with, and our staff are used to signposting women they meet who are homeless to our waiting list or our partners to help them access housing, whether it’s on their way to work or when out and about at the weekend.

What support services do you provide to help existing tenants at risk of homelessness to sustain their tenancies?  Are there any issues around tenancy sustainment that disproportionately affect women and how is the support you provide tailored to take this into account?

In terms of tenancy sustainment, we are a small organisation with limited resources, but in 2018 we created a Financial Inclusion Officer role which was been incredibly successful. The role is wide ranging and has supported residents to clear down energy bills, access grants, furniture, claim benefits and escape poverty.

We also operate a Welfare Fund like many organisations much larger than ours. We have set up a partnership to be able to provide immediate vouchers in times of crisis for fuel and food. And of course, we have partnerships with local food banks, employment support organisations, mental health charities and other support services.

We are fortunate that as a single women’s organisation very few of our tenants face domestic abuse, though a significant proportion have experienced this in the past. When we think of PTSD we often think of army veterans but PTSD is prevalent amongst women who have experienced sexual assault and domestic abuse. While our homes are not women only spaces (we have sons, boyfriends and husbands) the vast majority of our homes are lived in by women and tenants tell us time and time again this creates a community of feeling safe and supported. We also do not provide joint tenancies; even when a tenant marries a man, the tenancy will always be a sole tenancy in the woman’s name.  This future proofs women against abuse and having to lose their home or being saddled with debt as a result of leaving an abusive relationship.