UK Apathy Towards Housing Crisis in Breach of Human Rights

The Right to Housing report, published by Just Fair, a group of five charities including Oxfam, Crisis, Amnesty International, Save the Children and UNICEF UK, says the housing situation in England is dire due to soaring rental costs, poor and unhealthy conditions in the home and rising numbers of people sleeping rough.

"The vulnerable continue to live in insecure conditions: 280,000 households in England are currently at risk of homelessness."

And according to the report, the number of people forced to sleep rough in England has increased by 55 percent since 2010 and 14 percent in the last year alone.

Writer, Kathleen Kerridge, lives in Hampshire in England and has faced the reality of her family being made homeless when her landlord decided to sell the house they were all living in.

"It was demeaning, mortifying, and embarrassing, as well as terrifying," Kerridge told Sputnik.

"The experience left me taking medication for anxiety and even now, four years on, I find myself wary of calling the letting agent for problems around the house, in case I am evicted again."

According to the Just Fair report, 33 percent of houses in the private rental sector are "non-decent, meaning they do not meet basic standards of health, safety and habitability."

"For one third of those living in private rental accommodation, life is lived in unsafe and unhealthy conditions below the basic minimum considered adequate in England."

The conditions in Kerridge's previous house had deteriorated so much that she resorted to calling Environmental Health. Kerridge believes it was her call to the authorities that led to her eviction.

"We'd gone three years without heating, with broken metal-framed windows in all the rooms — you can imagine the cold and the condensation issues we had."

"We even had to have our eldest daughter move in with my mum and leave home at 16, because the council couldn't find another four bedroom property and would not house us in 'overcrowded' conditions.  It was tough, very tough," said Kerridge.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) includes the right to food, housing, social security, education, equality, employment and health.

"The fact that levels of homelessness are rising, more households are at risk of becoming homeless, and key services for homeless people are being cut, points to a retrogressive step in the enjoyment of the right to housing, and thus a serious failing in the Government's obligations under the ICESCR," says the Just Fair report.

An open letter to party leaders from six homeless charities recently called on Britain's future government to review the help available to homeless people.

It was signed by Crisis, Shelter, St Mungo's Broadway, Centrepoint, Homeless Link and Housing Justice.

"Homelessness is a devastating experience. It's isolating and frightening and often leaves people feeling invisible and ignored. At its most extreme it results in people being forced to sleep rough, with devastating consequences.

"The shocking truth, however, is that even in the 21st century, in one of the richest countries in the world, homeless people who ask their local councils for help are being turned away to sleep on the streets. This is nothing short of a scandal."

For Kathleen Kerridge, it's not just a scandal — it is soul destroying.

"There is no 'home security' for me now, and I doubt there ever will be again.  The terror was absolute, the heartbreak was soul-destroying." 

The Just Fair report is urging the government to respond to and end the housing crisis and fulfil its obligations under the ICESCR for the right to housing of its population.