Having a stable home is important for child health, development and wellbeing. Homelessness is strongly linked with child poverty - children living in poverty are more likely to have poorer health outcomes, including higher risk of mortality, poor physical health, and mental health problems. Stability is crucial for children, but homelessness often lasts longer than expected. Migrant children with temporary immigration status and no recourse to public funds are especially vulnerable and are unable to access benefits like Universal Credit or free school meals, increasing their risk of destitution.
iHV Resources
📃 Good Practice Points and Parent Tips
Developed in collaboration with topic experts, health visitors, and other professionals, our resources draw on the latest available evidence at the time of publication. Each resource is produced through a robust quality assurance process and peer reviewed to ensure accuracy, relevance, and strong alignment with health visiting practice.
External Resources
Select your UK nation on their website. Shelter provides:Â
- Advice and support services for personalised help with housing issues and homelessness (in-person, online, over the phone) – and free legal advice to help people who’ve lost their homes or are facing eviction.
- Professional resources: Training, advice and resources for professionals.
- Campaigning for housing justice.Â
Read their report: Brick by Brick: A plan to deliver the social homes we need (2024)Â
And accompanying, easy-read blog: Another shameful record of child homelessness: we must invest in social homes (2024)
The CHAMPIONS Project (Children in Homeless Accommodations Managing Pandemic Invisibility Or Non-inclusive Strategies) is a national project looking at the impact of living in poverty on children under 5 who are living in temporary accommodation due to experiencing homelessness. The research team is working alongside families and professionals to co-develop recommendations, which are grounded in research evidence, for future support and best practices (including future pandemic responses). The research is a collaboration involving University College London, De Montfort University and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Visit the CHAMPIONS Project website for more information on the research, findings and insights, advice and resources – as well as short films and stories on the lived experiences of children living in temporary accommodation.Â
Shelter Scotland (2025): In their own words: Children's experiences in temporary accommodation.
This research, commissioned from De Montfort University and University College London, examines how children live their lives in temporary accommodation in Scotland, through their own words and stories.
Whilst the study was focused on Scotland, the findings contain considerable transferable learning for all UK nations. They show the impact that a stay in temporary accommodation has on children's safety, health and education. The report ends with making a series of policy recommendations on how to address the harms that temporary accommodation can cause.
Citizens UK: A long way from home: Improving the experiences of people in temporary accommodation
Temporary accommodation is meant to be a short-term solution. This report presents the findings from research in London which highlights how, for a growing number of families, it has become a long-term reality – often in unsuitable, unsafe conditions, and far from the communities they know.
Whilst this research was focused on London, it outlines ‘5 basics’ that all families should expect – alongside other research, this is driving policy change in this area:
- Somewhere to cook - safe kitchen facilities to prepare a hot, healthy meal.
- Somewhere to wash clothes - affordable, on-site or nearby, so that uniforms stay clean.Â
- Reliable, free internet - vital for homework, job-hunting and support services.
- Accessible, free storage - a lockable space for belongings, so families do not have to start from scratch when they move on
- Clear information - to receive accessible, timely updates on rights, repairs and updates about their future.