In early 2023, Justlife brought us together, a group of five people in Brighton with lived experience of homelessness, each with diverse and intersecting identities, to conduct peer research. Here, we reflect on what we learned through our research and share our recommendations.
How can we prevent people, with intersecting identities, from ending up in Temporary Accommodation (TA)?
To answer this research question, we decided to use two very different methods: a survey, followed by an in-person event featuring a focus group and a creative ‘river-of-life’ session. This allowed us to cross-check the survey responses with data from the event.
The survey was easy to access, psychologically informed, inclusive and anonymous. We included open-ended responses to avoid excluding anyone whose experiences might not be listed. We had 11 responses.
The event was attended by four adults with experience of living in temporary accommodation in Brighton and Hove. To explore the research question further, we facilitated a focus group alongside a "River of Life" activity, which encouraged participants to share their journeys into TA in ways that would complement other responses.
1. Participants would rather speak about poor quality, safety and lack of suitable accommodation
One of the first findings was that people were more interested in discussing the current conditions of TA than the history of how they came to be there. As facilitators, we wanted to respect our participants' welfare and give them space to discuss the issues which matter most to them. As peer researchers, we recognised that people in TA often are not given a chance to speak, so we didn’t want to push them towards discussing the information we were looking for in our research question.
Many participants expressed the need for a safe and private living environment to promote their well-being, highlighting the importance of privacy and security in living arrangements.
“I don’t have a safe bedroom"
They also called for self-contained cooking facilities and private bathrooms, and highlighted the urgent need for more specialised TA that reflect the diverse and specific needs of its residents.
2. People face significant barriers to accessing council services
Difficulties accessing and navigating council services came up a lot, particularly when seeking housing and homelessness support. Challenges included unmanned phone lines, unclear service locations, and reliance on charities to facilitate contact with council staff.
“Here is the phone number, and the phone number isn’t manned anywhere.”
“It was impossible getting through to the council if it was not a local charity that put me in touch with a caseworker. But even then, anything that is not straightforward gets blocked like my application, and it ends in a dead end.”
“I didn’t have a housing officer, mine was off sick.”
These issues are not unique to this local authority. A recent investigation by Inside Housing highlights similar challenges across the country, where people experiencing homelessness often face long waits, dropped calls, and unclear processes when trying to access help from councils.
A widely supported idea was to establish a “one-stop shop” — a single location where individuals can register as homeless and access commonly needed services. This approach aligns with the vision of Common Ambition, Homeless Healthcare Hub.
“If you have a specific place where you could go and register as homeless, if the organisation is in one place... one stop shop, see people you need to see… I’d like that. They’d talk to each other.”
Currently, the housing pathway is so complex that navigating it often requires a dedicated support worker, which is difficult to secure.
3. Having to repeat personal stories causes re-traumatisation
Participants expressed frustration over having to repeatedly retell their personal stories to different service providers. This not only re-traumatises individuals, it also highlights a systemic lack of continuity and understanding of intersectionality within support services. Respondents noted that services often fail to grasp the complexity of people's experiences, leading to inappropriate or insufficient support.
“Always got to talk about the same stuff, it brings you down.”
Participants suggested co-producing a shared profile system where individuals have control over what information is shared, who can access it, and how it is used. A standardised profile system would allow for the collection of essential identity-related information, ensuring that support services are tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual and reduce the need to retell traumatic experiences. Many participants expressed feeling their identities were not respected or adequately considered, significantly influencing their interactions with housing services.
“When I have given the info they need, they still don’t understand.”
4. The "begging" burden
Participants described a "complete lack of understanding" from professionals regarding the intersectional nature of their experiences, including neurodiversity, trauma, and domestic abuse. This lack of awareness often forces people to justify their needs repeatedly, which can lead to re-traumatisation.
“Why is this on me? A professional is there to help. Why is it on me to beg? All this effort, you’re still not listening to me. Training with neurodiversity and trauma. Complete lack of understanding.”
“A friend asked to prove domestic abuse. It makes me so mad. What rights do you have to ask to prove abuse?”
They expressed feeling like they had to "beg" for help, and many said support was only offered after they reached a crisis point, if at all. This reflects a reactive system that places the burden on vulnerable individuals rather than recognising and responding to need early.
Recommendations
We have presented our findings to Brighton and Hove City Council, who were very receptive. We are proud that our research is going to influence the city’s new homelessness strategy.
These are our recommendations in brief:
Recommendation 1: Temporary accommodation must be improved to meet basic needs with privacy, including self-contained facilities, and regulatory oversight must be strengthened to ensure quality standards are upheld. Accommodation should be tailored and ring-fenced for different intersectional groups, with consistent risk assessments to ensure safe and appropriate placements.
Recommendation 2: Access to services needs to be improved by ensuring provisions are in place to answer phone calls and provide face-to-face support, and establish mechanisms for Staff Absences.
Recommendation 3: A shared profile should be co-produced, and improvements need to be made to person-centred approaches.
Recommendation 4: Staff should receive targeted training on neurodiversity and trauma that focuses on understanding individual needs without relying on formal diagnoses. Services should take a proactive approach to identify people at risk of homelessness and establish clear referral pathways for those without formal documentation. To improve care quality, investment is needed to reduce staff caseloads, foster trust, and address burnout by improving working conditions and pay, enabling staff to provide more compassionate and consistent support.
Recommendation 5: Prioritise peer-led approaches to investigate the pathways into temporary accommodation for people with diverse intersectional identities, the material standards that truly impact quality of life, and the nature of effective staff training. This research should involve individuals with stable housing to allow for deeper reflection on systemic issues and prevention.
