What three years of temporary accommodation community campaigning taught us

Over the past three years, South West London Law Centres has worked alongside residents living in temporary accommodation to tell politicians and decision makers what conditions are like for those living in temporary accommodation and what urgently needs improving.  

This work began through conversations with the local community and identifying gaps in legal support : people living in temporary accommodation should not have to navigate unsafe housing, poor communication and complex systems by themselves. Legal advice is vital, but it is not always enough on its own. People also need spaces where they can share experiences, understand their rights, speak collectively about what needs to change and be supported to push for change.

Through resident meetings in community spaces and partnership work, we saw how individual housing problems often reflected wider patterns. Residents raised concerns about disrepair, overcrowding, lack of basic facilities, poor communication from councils or accommodation providers, and the difficulty of being heard when trying to challenge unsuitable living conditions. 

Residents who had felt unsure about making complaints or raising concerns were able to talk through their experiences, understand their options and take practical steps. Once residents were informed of their rights and roots to formally raise complaints they were able to help their neighbours. In many cases, this meant drafting complaints, escalating issues or pushing for repairs. This approach also made people feel more able to advocate for themselves and support neighbours facing similar problems. 

The work showed that change looks different in different boroughs. In some areas, there were opportunities for constructive dialogue with local authorities. In others, progress required a different approach, including public pressure, partnership working, media attention and collaboration with local activists and councillors. This taught us the importance of being flexible, persistent and responsive to local realities. 

Residents working together helped secure repairs, improvements to basic facilities, better communication, access to housing registers and moves into safer or more suitable accommodation. The campaign gained the biggest wins when we came together to build public pressure based on the demands of people involved in our campaign who were living in temporary accommodation.  

We were constantly trying to ensure that people were able to participate. Not every format worked equally well. Digital tools, hybrid meetings and informal communication channels all had limits as did face to face meetings, especially for people balancing work, caring responsibilities, health issues, financial hardship or housing instability. As people facing these barrier were part of this work they helped us shape participation that worked for all members so people could engage in a variety of ways that worked for them by attending evening meetings, signing petitions, speaking to journalists, attend daytime action meetings, investigate conditions and/or shape open letters.  

Focused conversations with so many people forced into temporary accommodation has emphasised that temporary accommodation is a horrific by-product of a broken housing system which is forcing children to grow up sharing beds with parents and living in one room, office conversions that don’t meet basic safety standards, local authority ran temporary accommodation without proper facilities, people placed miles from their specialist support. People who are part of this campaign work told us that they want actual systems to change. Many residents haven’t just lived in one bad temporary accommodation property they have been placed in a series of unsuitable properties and there is no other viable housing option for them. This is why we are spending the next three years of the project tackling the systems that have created a temporary accommodation sector that creates profit for developers, lenders and building owners but extreme hardship and health risks for residents.  

This work has shown that huge change can be achieved when people connect and are listened to. We have used the achievements of the past three years to evidence why this approach works and have expanded our temporary accommodation action groups to Merton. We have also set up Economic Justice Action Groups so we can explore the root causes of economic injustice and collaboratively push for system change.  

This update was written by Rhi Hughes,
Campaigns, Policy and Community Manager at South West London Law Centres.

Get involved in this important work by emailing Rhi at community@swllc.org or calling 0208 208 5757.