Mental health and the experience of housing problems involving rights

Abstract

The incidence of housing problems involving rights is linked closely to long-term illness/disability and broader social exclusion. In this paper we draw on data from the English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Survey to explore the extent to which housing rights problems and mental illness co-occur, and the causal connections between them. After controlling for a range of social and demographic predictors, we find significant associations between housing rights problems and mental illness. We also find that housing rights problems are often reported to lead to stress related illness. We argue that effective co-ordination of mental health and housing rights advice services is likely to improve both health and justice outcomes.