Background In England today, many children experience housing insecurity - meaning they have experienced or are at risk of multiple house moves that are not through choice and which are related to poverty. Housing insecurity can affect access to education, health services and employment, and have a direct impact on children’s health and life chances. Identifying and supporting families at risk of housing insecurity and providing appropriate support is one way local authorities can help families in greatest need. Our study aimed to understand experiences of housing insecurity and local strategies to reduce housing insecurity from the perspectives of children, parents/carers, and professional practitioners.

Methods We recruited participants across three regions of England: North West, South Yorkshire and London. We interviewed professionals working in local authorities to understand factors driving housing insecurity in their local area, local strategies in place to reduce housing insecurity, and how well they are working. Mobilising a timeline activity to guide our discussions, we interviewed children and parents/carers to gain their experiences of housing insecurity, how it impacts their health and wellbeing, and their views about the support they have received from their local authority. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo-14 software to facilitate data management.

Results Early analyses highlight that while poverty is significant, other drivers are increasingly important, including involuntary evictions in the private rented sector and limited social housing. Different strategies to reduce housing insecurity are described (including embedding a systems approach, wrap-around tailored support, building more homes) though these do not always map neatly onto the drivers identified. Families discuss the impact of housing insecurity on their everyday lives and health and well-being. They articulate the compounding and intersecting impacts of housing insecurity, poor-quality living conditions and financial precarity. Further, they demonstrate a nuanced awareness of the drivers of housing insecurity and the challenges for local authorities in mitigating these.

Discussion Tackling housing insecurity has the potential to improve, and reduce inequalities in, health and well-being across the life course. This study makes an important contribution to existing knowledge by taking a public health perspective to explore current experiences of and local authority approaches to reducing housing insecurity. It underscores the importance of understanding the multidimensional and dynamic nature of housing insecurity in the UK today, as it affects more and more families - beyond those on a low income or experiencing poverty.