Poverty
Disposable income in 11 towns and cities has risen twice as fast as rest of UK
January 26, 2026Eleven towns and cities in the UK, including Warrington, Barnsley and Wakefield, have seen their disposable incomes rise twice as fast as the rest of the UK over the past decade, a study has found. A report from Centre for Cities, a thinktank, showed that between 2013 and 2023, disposable income for residents of these […]
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‘Bills keep going higher’: community ‘warm spaces’ on the rise in the UK
December 21, 2025When Fatma Mustafa began attending Walworth Living Room, a community project in south London, a few years ago, she began to feel like it was her second home. The registered “warm space” is designed to feel like a living room: comfy sofas, a communal table, activities and food in a warm environment. Mustafa, 48, says […]
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UK homelessness minister faces calls to resign over tenant eviction claims
August 7, 2025The UK homelessness minister, Rushanara Ali, is facing calls to resign after claims she evicted tenants from her east London property before increasing the rent by almost £700 a month. Four tenants who rented a four-bedroom house owned byAli were given four months’ notice in an email last November and told their lease would not […]
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London dominates England’s social mobility league with top 20 places
May 14, 2025The top 20 constituencies with the best social mobility in England are all in London, according to research from a leading education charity that underscores the stark regional divide in children’s life chances. In a report published on Thursday, the Sutton Trust has put together an “opportunity index” by analysing six measures of mobility. These […]
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Labour-run Enfield council left 100 families homeless after they refused to relocate
March 15, 2025A Labour-run London council left more than 100 families homeless without support last year after they refused to be relocated outside the borough, the Observer can reveal. Freedom of information data from about 80% of English councils shows that they ended their legal duties to 615 households who refused offers of housing outside the local […]
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‘It’s hell on earth for me’: how did Joe Black overdose in a homeless hostel with zero tolerance for drugs?
March 6, 2025Jude Black was delighted when her son, Joe, moved into Holmes Road Studios in Camden, north London. This wasn’t any old homelessness hostel. It had just won an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and it looked gorgeous. The 59 refurbished studio flats had en suite bathrooms and were designed around a […]
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A vital health check is bypassing the people most in need | Letter
November 17, 2024The lack of engagement with the NHS health check should be deeply concerning for the secretary of state, as it is with me, an emergency medicine doctor who treats the consequences of undiagnosed heart disease (Less than half of eligible people received NHS ‘midlife MOT’ since 2019, says watchdog, 13 November). When you look into […]
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‘My state pension was £880 – and my rent was £1,000’: how a 70-year-old man became homeless in Britain
June 18, 2024In a way, 70-year-old Tony Sinclair was lucky to be in his tent on the day last year when the police arrived. The canvas that kept him from the elements ended up in the bin, but, unlike several of his neighbours, he was able to save his most important possessions from going the same way. […]
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Councils move hundreds of homeless families out of London with 24-hour ultimatums
June 10, 2024Hundreds of homeless families were permanently forced out of London by councils last year after many were given 24-hour ultimatums to either accept a private tenancy far away from the capital or be kicked out of temporary accommodation and left on the streets. The campaign group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) found that 319 […]
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The Notting Hill slums where I grew up were replaced by social housing – but right to buy wrecked it | Letter
May 16, 2024I write in response to your article (Something is stirring in England: right to buy looks imperilled, and not a moment too soon, 12 May). Whoever wins the election will face a housing crisis that is not easy to fathom a way out of. Right to buy, along with buy-to-let mortgages, has created wealth for […]
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