Rural homelessness in Wales

Some relevant literature has explored the experiences of those who face homelessness in rural contexts. Papers have explored, for example, the experience of indigenous people in Canada and those who may experience homelessness associated with trailer park use in the USA (Milbourne and Cloke, Reference Milbourne and Cloke2006). A common thread that connects the experience of rural homelessness across these national boundaries is its relative invisibility as a social policy concern (Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001b; Blythe, Reference Blythe2006; Milbourne et al., Reference Milbourne, Hughes and Hartwell2006). For the most part accounts of homelessness focus on a construction that primarily associates the phenomenon with particular types of people and spaces. Specifically the rough sleeper in shop doorways in urban settings (Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001a). As relevant as that manifestation of rooflessness is, a sole focus on this is problematic as it can obscure the broader ways homelessness might be experienced and concentrate discussion, and ultimately resources, only on homelessness in one setting.

Additional discursive constructions may further direct attention away from rural homelessness. Specifically those that contrast the progressiveness of the urban with the backwardness of the rural and which may construct the experience of homelessness as less problematic for some groups (Sandberg, Reference Sandberg2013). At the broader level, conceptions of the ‘rural’ are also strongly linked to an idyllic and often nationalised vision of landscape and a community rooted in time and place which leaves little room for considerations of the existence of those who literally have no place to call home (Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001b; Robinson, Reference Robinson2004). More locally, individualism and self-sufficiency are often noted as core rural cultural values (Carpenter-Song et al., Reference Carpenter-Song, Ferron and Kobylenski2016) and this may create a disincentive to recognise the issue of homelessness within rural communities themselves (Milbourne and Cloke, Reference Milbourne and Cloke2006; Waegemakers Schiff et al., Reference Waegemakers Schiff, Schiff, Turner and Bernard2015).

Lack of attention to rural homelessness is highly problematic given the specific challenges in finding accommodation raised for those at risk of homelessness in such settings. In many rural contexts avoiding homelessness may be challenging due to poverty and fewer employment opportunities. In Wales, for example, rates of poverty and unemployment are higher than the UK as a whole (Public Policy Institute for Wales, 2016). Lack of affordable housing may be associated with fewer new builds, but also in-migration of wealthier households retiring to the country and the use of homes as holiday lets (Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001a; Robinson, Reference Robinson2004; Milbourne and Cloke, Reference Milbourne and Cloke2006; Kitchen and Milbourne, Reference Kitchen and Milbourne2006; Snelling, Reference Snelling2017). At the same time specific services for people facing housing difficulties or homelessness may be poorly developed and/or difficult to access. Those unable to drive or afford a car and dependant on public transport in rural settings may frequently find they face poverty of access to all sorts of key services (Gray et al., Reference Gray, Shaw and Farrington2006). At the same time, access to service online via the internet may be unsupported or poorly developed (Williams and Doyle, Reference Williams and Doyle2016).

Some accounts of rural homelessness address themselves to issues of identity and connection to the land (Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001b; Milbourne and Cloke, Reference Milbourne and Cloke2006; Milbourne, Reference Milbourne and Milbourne2012). This has been associated in some contexts with concerns about the treatment of indigenous communities – for example in Australia (Argent and Rolly, Reference Argent, Rolly, Milbourne and Cloke2006), Canada (Waegemakers Schiff et al., Reference Waegemakers Schiff, Schiff, Turner and Bernard2015), and the USA (Lawrence, Reference Lawrence1995; Shapiro, Reference Shapiro2014). In Wales the impact homelessness and in-migration may have on the concentration of people in rural areas able to speak the Welsh language has been of concern (Gallent et al., Reference Gallent, Mace, Tewdwr-Jones, Gallent and Tewdwr-Jones2018). In Wales language and identity are linked so that the ability to speak Welsh is a defining national characteristic (Madoc-Jones et al., Reference Madoc-Jones, Parry and Hughes2012). The ability to speak a language, and thereby express an identity, however, is dependent on a sufficient number of people with similar linguistic abilities living in proximity to one another. Accordingly efforts to reduce the outmigration of Welsh speaking people who would prefer, but find themselves unable, to afford to stay in their local area may arise (Institute for Welsh Affairs, 2006; Kitchen and Milbourne, Reference Kitchen and Milbourne2006). Here, the effort to address homelessness may be imbued with special significance and associated with imperatives to preserve national identity. While acknowledging the often damaging idealisation of rural communities described by Cloke et al. (Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001b) which can serve to further stigmatise and make invisible homeless households, existing literature identifies households in rural settings willing to endure high rents, poor housing conditions, caravans and doubling up with other households as part of efforts to remain in place (Milbourne and Cloke, Reference Milbourne and Cloke2006). Positive understandings of connection to place in relation to social and familial networks, employment and identity can underpin policies sympathetic to supporting the ability of people to remain in their communities of residence.

Entitlement to housing has always been conditional in England and Wales and for most of the last forty years, statutory assistance to people facing homelessness has been reserved for those deemed to be in priority need, unintentionally homeless and with local connection (Inkson, Reference Inkson2009; Mackie et al., Reference Mackie, Fitzpatrick, Stirling, Johnsen and Hoffman2012; Mackie, Reference Mackie2014). Local connection is described as having normal residence, employment, family associations or special circumstances connecting a household to an area (Welsh Government, 2016: 3.41). Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, local connection becomes irrelevant in relation to duties to help to prevent homelessness or secure accommodation. This removes what was a boundary separating those deemed to belong to a place, and those deemed not to belong (Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001b). Local connection rules have been criticised for limiting mobility and choice, for excluding people from services who might have lived and worked in an area for a generation or more (Rogers, Reference Rogers1985; Cloke et al., Reference Cloke, Milbourne and Widdowfield2001a), and accused of providing succour to anti-immigrant and xenophobic sentiment. Nonetheless, rural authorities on the whole tend to believe it should be strengthened and the time required to establish residency increased (Inkson, Reference Inkson2009; Mackie, Reference Mackie2014). In Wales in particular, concerns about the effects of in-migration on language use and local identity can fuel concerns about more open housing policies.

However, a broader and more open conception of the idea of ‘local connection’ could be promoted and offer a mechanism for transcending such debates. This would be one that understands ‘local connection’ as a goal to work toward rather than an existing essentialised characteristic. Such an expansive definition, one that is relational rather than static, would work on two levels, the first structural and indeed infrastructural – facilitating sustainable connection to place through access to adequate housing, income, services and transport. The second would be at the level of practice by both local authorities and third sector organisations based on the understanding that while homelessness is structural, the principal ‘protective factor’ against descending into homelessness is embeddedness and the existence of social support networks (Bramley and Fitzpatrick, Reference Bramley and Fitzpatrick2018). This transforms belonging and identity, from something an individual is born into or of an essentialised identity, into something that is constantly being developed and built in relation to place

Within the framework of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention (Busch-Geertsema and Fitzpatrick, Reference Busch-Geertsema and Fitzpatrick2008; Culhane et al., Reference Culhane, Metraux and Byrne2011; Fitzpatrick et al., Reference Fitzpatrick, Johnsen and Watts2012), the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 primarily extended the range of secondary and tertiary prevention provided by local authorities supporting households threatened with, or recently experiencing, homelessness. This is where local connection comes into play in the implementation of homelessness policies more specifically, but it is also central to broader government policies addressing structural issues around housing. Rural homelessness, however, may be affected by additional strategies to address the vitality of rural communities and implemented by the Welsh Government. For example, a pan Wales Rural Housing Enabler Network was established between 2008–09, and a specific rural housing fund started to support the building of affordable homes in rural settings (Welsh Government, 2018a). Before being abolished completely in early 2019, restrictions were also placed specifically on sales of housing under ‘Right to Buy’ in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, requiring residence in the area for at least three years prior to sale (Rural Housing Solutions et al., Reference Da and Dragons2014). Other policies have promoted the returning of empty homes back into use and making smaller sites available for building affordable housing (Rural Housing Solutions et al., Reference Da and Dragons2014).

In Wales, one quarter of the total number of households approaching local authorities for assistance as a result of being threatened with homelessness (section 66) were in rural local authorities in 2017–2018. In the same time period, twenty-nine percent of the total number of households accepted as statutorily homeless and owed a duty to secure accommodation (Section 73) were in rural authorities (Welsh Government, 2018b). Accordingly this article examines how this group experienced their homelessness and how the local authority (LA) they approached sought to engage them in light of newly imposed prevention duties.

Methodology

This longitudinal research was conducted as part of the Post-implementation evaluation of Part 2 of the Housing Act (Wales) 2014, undertaken for the Welsh government. The evaluation results have been published in the form of an interim (Ahmed et al., Reference Ahmed, Wilding, Gibbons, Jones, Rogers and Madoc-Jones2017) and a final report (Ahmed et al., Reference Ahmed, Wilding, Gibbons, Jones, Rogers and Madoc-Jones2018). Six local authorities which remained anonymous in the report were chosen as sites for case studies, three of them officially classified as rural under the Welsh Government’s definition as having a population density below the Wales average of 140 persons per square kilometre (Welsh Government, 2008). While the initial study design had envisaged interviewing people as they approached the LA for the first time, this was not found possible in rural areas where the volume of people presenting was lower. Researchers therefore spent additional time in these areas, working with local authorities to interview people presenting or already engaged with the LA who were at risk of, or already made homeless. A total of seventy-one initial interviews were undertaken, and thirty-three people were successfully located and agreed to be interviewed a second time after six months. These interviews were conducted in LA offices, hostels, shelters, homes and by phone. An additional thirty-five interviews and focus groups with staff from local authorities, third sector organisations and registered housing providers were undertaken. All were transcribed and thematically coded using Nvivo.

In the following section we present a thematic account of how homelessness was understood and addressed in rural settings. Respondents are identified by the notation rule: SU for service user; LA for Local Authority housing options staff; TS for third sector housing providers. While the narratives developed and chosen for inclusion in this article did not differ from those in the wider sample, they are chosen because they best articulate and more clearly present the issues which form the focus of the article.

Lack of affordable housing

The majority of local authorities (17) reported that since the Act was implemented the removal of the requirement of local connection for two of the three levels of support (the duty to ‘prevention’ and ‘help to secure’ accommodation, whereas ‘final’ duty to secure accommodation continues to require households be found to have priority need and local connection) had increased demands on their services. A lack of adequate and affordable housing, especially in the rented sector, however, was identified as restricting the ability of local authorities to meet need, prevent homelessness and successfully support those already homeless into permanent housing.

The adequate supply of housing was associated in some accounts with limited building activity. In talking about their building plans, social housing providers spoke of difficulties in developing housing in a rural context – lack of land and particularly large plots of land that would allow for building economies of scale, and resistance to development, often spearheaded by more wealthy landowners. A number of factors were understood to belie poor rental options in rural areas but a significant concern, as depicted in the following extract, was a perceived rise in the number of properties set aside for holiday accommodation or bought as second homes:

Where such processes were ongoing, rental costs for properties available for rent were perceived to be high and on the increase (Milbourne and Cloke, Reference Milbourne and Cloke2006; Fitzpatrick et al., Reference Fitzpatrick, Pawson, Bramley, Wilcox and Wood2017; Snelling, Reference Snelling2017). A number of respondents described rents above the Local Housing AllowanceFootnote ¹ and therefore expensive or out of reach for those dependant on benefits. Some households in rented properties were described as struggling to pay rent as a result of welfare reform policies and so, as one authority staff member put it, a common experience was of ‘poverty in paradise’:

While some of these issues that were highlighted applied in urban settings, the greater limits to both total housing stock, whether private or social, and the geographical thinness of services were understood to create particular problems in rural settings. The most frequent action to prevent homelessness was households being placed in accommodation owned by the authority itself. As welcome as this was, the choices available were thereby limited and so very few people that were interviewed described being able to remain in their preferred place. For some of those in work or with more complex needs, this could be particularly problematic:

Significance of place

‘Place’ was afforded particular significance in accounts of addressing homelessness in rural settings. Notwithstanding pressures to relocate (discussed later) service users were described as deeply embedded in their communities and reluctant to move. This could lead to homelessness being under-reported, and corroborates the findings of Robinson and Coward (Reference Robinson and Coward2003) who noted a higher proportion of hidden homelessness in rural areas as also illustrated in the following interview:

Perceived attachments to place were not uncommon, but could be expressed in particular ways by those in rural settings. According to Melucci (Reference Melucci, Larana, Johnson and Gusfield1994), Mann (Reference Mann, Day, Dunkerley and Thompson2006) and Day and Jones (Reference Day, Jones, Day, Dunkerley and Thompson2006), in response to globalisation, the significance of the nation-state has waned and local, often ethnic identities have become re-activated. Chambers and Thompson (Reference Chambers and Thompson2005) have argued that, as traditional bases of social and cultural identity have declined, a plurality of identities has emerged in Wales based on differing ideas of Wales and Welshness. Be that as it may, Pritchard and Morgan (Reference Pritchard and Morgan2003) have argued that in Wales a popular cultural script revolves around the concept of the ‘fro Gymraeg’ – a rural place inhabited by the Welsh ‘gwerin’ (‘Rural Welsh’) who use the Welsh language. It is suggested that accounts of place in rural settings reflected this concept to emphasise a sense of belonging and entitlement to place. Accordingly one respondent said;

Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, local connection should have become irrelevant as a consideration in relation to duties to help to prevent alleviate homelessness or secure accommodation. Significant differences were reported, however, in terms of when and how case study areas used local connection tests. There was evidence that local connection could still be used to manage and gatekeep resources:

Such an approach was to some extent still facilitated by a code of guidance that had been issued to accompany implementation of the Act which, whilst stating local authorities could not refuse to accept an initial duty to help to prevent (s66) or help to secure (c73) accommodation for a homeless household, said they could prioritise people with a local connection when undertaking steps such as issuing bonds, providing rent in advance, and the use of prevention funds.

Facilitating local connection

Through the provision of outreach services local authorities and third sector organisations had sought to act as a connecting force between local villages and local government. Here the willingness of staff to come to where people were was described as particularly helpful in both the prevention of homelessness and in supporting households to move from being homeless to being housed. One hostel worker described the weekly visit from Shelter and the willingness of statutory and third sector organisations to drive down to see people in the small village where the hostel was placed as crucial to the service user experience.

However, several respondents noted that this sort of practice had become rarer as a result of austerity-driven service cuts. One of the key challenges in rural areas lay simply in the distances that people had to travel to access support – or that LA or third sector staff had to travel to provide support. A staff member could lose half a day in coming to see just one person from where they were based. Accordingly services were described as being ever-more concentrated in the centres, creating pressure for those facing homelessness in rural areas to migrate to urban centres:

Concentration of services was problematic for staff in more strategic positions who prioritised community in thinking about how best to support individuals facing homelessness in rural communities:

In Wales, some children attend Welsh language schools and thereby moving area could necessitate a change in the language of education with concomitant implications in terms of personal identity for these children. However, new requirements associated with the Welfare to Work Act were understood to bear down harshly on some individuals in rural settings and create additional pressures for some to relocate to urban centres. Punitive sanctions could arise for missed appointments with benefit staff, creating a perceived need for people to move. As a housing provider said:

Addressing the rural context

One Authority had responded to budget cuts by reorganising their services and investing their limited funds into a phone system and a single central hub that concentrated both council and third sector services into a single place, moving all housing support to being by phone only. While some staff at the strategic level viewed the switch to phone support as an ideal solution to reduce costs and manage staff time, frontline staff were less positive about this development because it was understood to negatively affect how they related to those seeking help and compromised their ability to provide person centred support.

Staff understood that a great deal of human information gathering and processing is predicated upon physical appearances and the presence or absence of non-verbal cues or body language. Moreover even the best technology currently available could not fully replicate the conditions of physical proximity. Baker et al. (Reference Baker, Mould, Stewart, Restrick, Melone and Atterson2019) in particular identify similar findings around the importance of face to face communication for ‘hard to reach’ populations, such as those in rural areas. As one staff member said:

This was compounded by the significant logistical issues faced by those experiencing crisis, and particularly those rough sleeping, in having access to a working phone to make such a call.

Furthermore, it was mooted that if someone was experiencing distress or domestic abuse, it is not possible to discern this during a telephone call. Another respondent indicated that over the phone practice could become far more punitive than face to face:

Service users also raised these issues, one of whom commented:

Better service evaluations were forthcoming in the authority that prioritised funding staff to get in their cars and drive the distances necessary to visit people in their hostels or in their homes. This was understood to facilitate work to understand the underlying causes of crisis and better connect people to relevant services. The greatest success in supporting people into secure and long term tenancies was found in these settings. In this particular council area, twenty-five of twenty-five of those interviewed felt supported by the council (as compared to six in another rural authority relying on telephones) and thirteen had moved into secure housing (ten into social housing, three into the PRS with a low degree of ongoing support) after six months (Ahmed et al., Reference Ahmed, Wilding, Gibbons, Jones, Rogers and Madoc-Jones2017, Reference Ahmed, Wilding, Gibbons, Jones, Rogers and Madoc-Jones2018). Time in particular, and the capacity to develop personal relationships with service users was highlighted by frontline staff in several authorities as central to helping people get the various services they needed to deal with the issues that were often underlying their homelessness. This also meant getting into the car and visiting people, as one frontline staff member said: