A survey conducted by mental health charity MIND has found a significant proportion of people with mental health problems living in social housing (33%) are dissatisfied with the quality of their accommodation.
The charity spoke to 2009 people in January this year, 1762 of whom had a diagnosed mental health problem and of these 668 were living in social housing.
Respondents described experiencing prejudice and stigma from neighbours and housing officials, as a result 43% of the people questioned said their mental health had declined as a result.
Poor housing conditions have a detrimental effect on physical and mental health, figures produced by homelessness charity Shelter show that a greater proportion of people living in social housing (45%) have a diagnosed mental health problem compared to the general population.
They are also more likely to have issues with addiction, behaviours that are often coping mechanisms associated with mental distress. More people living in social housing (36%) report having poor or very bad physical health, this rises sharply as individuals reach pension age (58%).
Sophie Corlett, Director of External Relations for MIND said, ‘social housing is meant to be safe, secure and low cost, making it a good option for people with mental health problems who need it, she went on to say that currently they are ‘being let down at every stage- the current system just isn’t working'.
Among the problems identified by the MIND survey was stigma and intimidation experienced by people with mental health problems living in social housing from their neighbours.
Kathy from Merseyside and her husband experienced abuse from a noisy neighbour and Nadia a single mother from Hackney suffered a deterioration in her own mental health and that of her son due to living in poor quality social housing.
Nadia told MIND about the impact this had had on her life saying, ‘my son has been set back a year in his studies and I have been hospitalised from the stress of being placed in poor quality housing’.
Both women struggled getting support from either their local council or housing authority, despite both having statutory responsibilities towards tenants in social housing.
Kathy told the MIND survey, ‘everyone deserves a safe place to call home and we are desperate to move. The housing authority said we just have to put up with it’.
The survey found that some respondents (43%) found navigating their way through the social housing system difficult, with 27% saying they had had difficulty claiming either housing benefit or Universal Credit and 15% experienced prejudice from housing officials.
In April a report from the charity Money and Mental Health showed that more than a million adults in the UK with mental health conditions are struggling to meet high housing costs.
MIND is calling on the government to use the launch of its green paper on social housing to place a greater focus on the needs of people living with mental health problems when making policy.
If this does not happen then, as Sophie Corlett put it a social housing system that should be supporting people living difficult lives will continue to let them down.
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