A prosperous country should keep families housed

A stable home should be part of what a wealthy country means by prosperity. It is the place from which a family gets to school, gets to work and plans the week ahead. When that place is gone, the national picture of prosperity is missing something essential. In 2024, about 771,000 people were homeless in the United States, a national record.¹ A country should judge its housing system by whether people can keep a home, not just by what homes are worth.

In England, the test is especially clear for children. A record 176,000 children were living in temporary accommodation.² An emergency roof is a public responsibility, but it is not the end of that responsibility. The aim should be a home a family can count on, not merely a place it can use for now. That distinction belongs at the centre of housing policy: finding somewhere to stay and being able to settle are different tasks.

Where that emergency roof is matters, too. About three in ten households in temporary accommodation in England had been moved outside their home area.² We should judge a placement in part by what it allows a family to keep: a school routine, a workable journey to work, help from relatives nearby. Those are not extras to consider after a roof has been found. They are part of what makes a place somewhere a family can live, rather than somewhere it has been sent. Keeping families housed should mean taking those ties seriously before a move becomes the only option.

The priority for housing policy should be to prevent the loss of a home and make emergency accommodation a short step towards a settled one. A country’s prosperity should be judged in part by how well it lets families stay put and get on with their lives.