Housing insecurity and hidden homelessness: research

Appendix C

The interview and focus group topic guides used in the research can be found below.

1. Lived experience topic guide

Those with experience of housing insecurity and hidden homelessness

Introduction and overview

RSM UK Consulting LLP (RSM) and Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research at Heriot-Watt University (I-SPHERE) have been commissioned by Scottish Government to undertake a piece of research into housing insecurity and hidden homelessness, including but not limited to sofa surfing, living in overcrowded homes, sleeping in cars, hidden rough sleeping, or living somewhere that feels unsafe because of abuse from other household members.

This research looks to hear from people who have experienced housing crisis and understand more about the impact of living in these situations and barriers they face in getting the support they need. We want to learn more about what led to their circumstances whether they sought help and/or had any difficulty in getting help because of their particular circumstance. That is because we want to understand if some groups find it harder than others to get the help they need to resolve their housing problems.

My name is [researcher name – RSM] and I am part of the research team. Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. The aim of today’s discussion is to understand your experience of housing crisis and the factors that discouraged or delayed you from seeking support. Areas which we will explore in our interview today include:

• your experience of housing crisis, how they affected you, and your awareness of help available
• what if any support you’ve been offered or used
• whether you’ve experienced any challenges in getting help in finding stable housing
• what if any advice you’d give regarding how things could be done differently in the future

This discussion should take approximately 45 to 60 minutes. During the interview I would like to take a recording/transcript and recording of the discussion for the purpose of note taking. During this interview, your privacy will be protected at all times. Everything you say will be treated as confidential – the only exception being if you were to tell me that you or someone else was at risk, in which case any concern would be shared with an appropriate professional. We would tell you if that were to happen.

If you would feel more comfortable you are able to have a support person present for this interview.

Your comments will not be attributed to you in our final report. Your participation in the study, and what you tell us, will not have any effect on your eligibility for support services.

Consent

Interviewer to check that the interviewee is happy to proceed with audio recording (in person), MS Teams transcription and video recording/ telephone recording (delete as appropriate), Checking if they understand the purpose of the study, that they can refuse to answer any questions and may stop the interview at any time without having to give a reason, that they will not be identified within the report and recordings will be saved to RSM’s internal secure system. Then start the recording and get the participant to reaffirm their consent verbally.

Wording for verbal consent:

Can you please confirm that:

• you understand the purpose of the study, that taking part is voluntary, and that you can withdraw from the research at any time
• you understand that you can refuse to answer any questions and may stop the interview at any time without having to give a reason
• you understand that you will not be identified in any reports resulting from the research; everything you say will be treated as confidential – the only exception being if you were to tell one of the researchers that you or someone else was at risk, in which case any concern would be shared with an appropriate professional – we would tell you if that were to happen.
• you consent to the interview being recorded via MS Teams transcription and video recording [delete as appropriate] for note-taking purposes – if conducting a telephone interview, explain that the call will be recorded using transcription instead of MS Teams
• you are aware that the recording will be saved to RSM’s secure system, notes quality assured, and the video recording deleted within seven days
• you understand how my data will be used in line with the Privacy notice
• you can confirm that you have read the information sheet provided

Interviewer note: if the interviewee is not happy for the interview to be recorded, transcribed, or video recorded, please ask the participant if you can take detailed notes during the interview. If interviewee is not happy to consent more generally, thank interviewee for their time and close interview. If using teams and the interviewee is not comfortable being video recorded, explain that transcription alone can be used. If conducting a telephone interview, explain that the call will be recorded using transcription instead of MS Teams.

Introductory questions

RSM team to introduce themselves

1. To start, please could you tell me:

• Your name

2. Can you please describe a little bit about yourself?

Prompt: This is used to make them feel comfortable and at ease so can ask them about any light touch topic

Current situation

3. Can you tell me a little about where you are staying at the moment?

a) Can you describe what where you are staying looks like?

b) Does anyone else live there? Who and how many people? [probe: family, friends, people unknown?]

c) Where are you sleeping while you are there?

Prompt: own bed, sofa, floor, outside

d) What do you do during the day?

e) Do you have access to the things that you need?

Prompt: eating/cooking facilities, bathing facilities, somewhere to sleep, privacy

Prompt: Where do they live for example, flat, friends, family, with unknown people? Who do they live with for example, family, friends, randoms?

Wider experience and route into homelessness

I know that we have focused on your experience in [Reference participants circumstances] situation. However, have you ever experienced any of the following.

4. Have you ever experienced any of the following:

a) Living in overcrowded housing;

b) Living in unlawful accommodation;

c) Living somewhere unsafe because of domestic abuse or other type of abuse;

d) Sharing your home with other households, due to not being able to afford or access a place of your own;

e) Sleeping in a car;

f) Sleeping in places hidden from view; or

g) Spending the night travelling on public transport services.

5. Can you to tell me about what led you to staying in [prompt for each relevant experience described in Q3 or 11] or what led you to staying there in the past?

The next question asks about a particularly sensitive issue – so please do feel free to say if you’d rather not answer it in which case I’ll just skip on to the next question.

6. Some people have told us that they’ve exchanged sex or formed an unwanted sexual partnership in order to have somewhere to stay. Is this something you've ever had to do if you don’t mind my asking?

a) If yes, do you mind telling me what circumstances led up to that, and what if any effect it had on you?

Support

7. Are you aware of the support available from the council to people in housing crisis?

a) Have you in the past or are you currently receiving any support to find more stable housing, for example have you approached your local authority?

b) [If in the past] When was this?

Prompt: council, charities, friends, family etc.

If yes – move to Q5

If no – Is there a reason why you did not seek support from the homelessness service at the local authority?

a) Could you tell us more about that?

Is there a reason why you did not seek support from a third sector organisation? Prompt: Charity, Crisis, Shelter

b) Why did you feel you couldn’t ask for support/pursue it?

c) Why was [Reference reason why they could not ask for support] a barrier for access for you? And move to Q12

Prompt: personal circumstances/demographic factors, lack of knowledge re services, fear, stigma, coercive control etc.

8. What support have you received?

a) Who is/ was providing it?

Prompt: Note to establish exactly who and what services they provide – e.g. the LA (homelessness, housing or other services) or from wider support service landscape (e.g. homelessness charity, addiction support etc)

b) How did you ask for that support?

c) What response did you get? (Probe to ensure we get details of exactly what type of support they received) If not, why not?

d) Why was that experience [Reference reason why they could not ask for support] a barrier for access for you?

Prompt: what if anything prevented you from asking for help?

Prompt: personal circumstances/demographic factors, lack of knowledge re services, fear, stigma, coercive control etc.

9. What was the turning point in your journey where you decided you wanted to change your circumstances?

a) What were the main contributors to you making that decision?

b) Did the turning point force (if negative turning point)/ enable (if positive turning point) you to overcome the barriers we spoke about earlier [Reference mentioned barriers]?

Prompt: Escalation in situation (domestic abuse), loss of employment, gaining of employment, family mediation

10. What prompted you to seek that support?

a) Once you realised you needed support, how long did it take you to approach those support services? If there was a delay, why was this?

Prompt: Unsure of the process, hesitant to approach services

b) What would have helped you to access services sooner?

Prompt: what made you ultimately seek out that support, what was the turning point for you to approach services

11. Reflecting on your perception of approaching local authority homelessness services for support, what did you think it would be like?

a) How did that compare to what it was actually like when approaching and applying for homelessness services?

Prompts: how long did it take/did you experience any delays? How were you treated? How easy or difficult was the process to navigate?

b) What impact did your perception of homelessness services have on you seeking and accepting support?

Prompt: positive or negative – not wanting to proceed with application further?

12. Ultimately, did the support that you received from the local authority homelessness service resolve your homelessness?

a) [If the support was good and if not captured above] what was it about the support that was good and that helped? How did that support overcome the barriers [Reference mentioned barriers]?

b) [If the support was bad if not captured above] what was it about the support that was bad?

c) [Regardless of whether the support was good or bad] What, if anything, would have made that support better? What more could be done to overcome those barriers [Reference mentioned barriers]?

13. [If previously hidden] If you didn’t access local authority support services, what did you do to resolve your previous housing situation?

a) What made you want to resolve your housing situation? Was there a specific trigger or event that took place?

Prompt: Self- advocacy, offered a job with accommodation, stable employment and finding own tenancy

Learning for the future

14. Do you have any advice on how local authority support services can be made more accessible to people experiencing the kinds of housing issues that you have?

Prompt: what would be the best way to tell people that there is help out there for them or to make people more aware of their rights?

Prompt: what should be done for people who might be reluctant to seek help?

Prompt: (if the previous prompts are not causing reflection on own experience that is linked to barrier): reflecting on the reasons that you personally didn’t want to seek support, what could have been done to help you overcome that barrier?

15. Given your experiences, what if any advice would you give to someone facing similar sorts of housing difficulties as you?

Engagement and information

16. Do you have any other comments or reflections that you would like to share?

Inform the participant that support services are available [identified in the participant information sheet] following the interview if they would like to access them if they found telling their story distressing in any way or would like to access support services.

Also, remind them of the voucher they will receive as a token of gratitude for taking part (£20 Love to Shop voucher) and that we are able to provide a written letter from the Government about the voucher if they need one and ask if it can be sent electronically (our preference) if not we are able to post it out to an address, they are able to pick it up from?

2. Support service topic guide

Those who have worked with or supported those facing hidden homelessness

Introduction and overview

RSM UK Consulting LLP (RSM) and Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research at Heriot-Watt University (I-SPHERE) have been commissioned by Scottish Government to undertake a piece of research into hidden homelessness.

This research aims to draw out learning from the stories of people with experience of hidden homelessness and perspectives of stakeholders who support them. What we mean by hidden homelessness is people who are homeless according to the broad definition of homelessness employed in Scotland but are not visible on the streets and/or not included in official homelessness statistics. This includes people who:

• would be deemed homeless in legal terms but may not consider themselves to be so (and therefore do not seek assistance from public authorities)
• have sought assistance from support services because of their housing circumstances but have not gone on to apply as homeless via the council; or
• are living in situations that inarguably constitute homelessness but are hidden from the view of the public and/or support service providers (e.g. hidden rough sleeping)

This research aims to better understand the causes of hidden homelessness, its impacts on the people affected, and what if any barriers to accessing support, or reasons for not seeking it?

My name is [researcher name – RSM] and I am part of RSM’s research team. Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. The aim of today’s discussion is to seek your thoughts on a range of issues including:

• the ways in which hidden homelessness is manifest in Scotland
• whether some groups are more susceptible to hidden homelessness than others
• what if any barriers to support exist for people experiencing hidden homelessness
• any learning regarding what does or doesn’t ‘work’ in preventing and/or resolving hidden homelessness

This discussion should take approximately 45-60 minutes. During the interview I would like to take a transcript and recording of the discussion for the purpose of note taking. You can refuse to answer any questions and may stop the interview at any time without having to give a reason During this interview, your privacy will be protected at all times. Everything you say will be treated as confidential – the only exception being if you were to tell me that you or someone else was at risk, in which case any concern would be shared with an appropriate professional. We would tell you if that were to happen. Your comments will not be attributed to you in our final report.

Consent

Interviewer to check if the interview consent form has been completed and sent back in advance. If not, please check that the interviewee is happy to proceed with MS Teams transcription and video recording then start the recording and get the participant to reaffirm their consent verbally.

Wording for verbal consent:

Can you please confirm that:

• you understand the purpose of the study, that taking part is voluntary, and that you can withdraw from the research at any time
• you understand that you can refuse to answer any questions and may stop the interview at any time without having to give a reason
• you consent to the interview being recorded via MS Teams transcription and video recording [delete as appropriate] for note-taking purposes
• you are aware that the recording will be saved to RSM’s secure system, notes quality assured, and the video recording deleted within seven days
• you understand how my data will be used in line with the Privacy notice
• you can confirm that you have read the information sheet provided

[Interviewers note: if the interviewee is not happy for the interview to be voice recorded, transcribed or video recorded, please ask the participant of you can take detailed notes during the interview. If interviewee is not happy to consent more generally, thank interviewee for their time and close interview. If the interviewee is not comfortable being video recorded, explain that transcription alone can be used.

Introductory questions

1. Can you briefly describe your role and the activities that you are involved in delivering as part of your organisation?

a) Who are the main groups of people that your organisation support?

Describing the current landscape for hidden homeless

As part of our research, we are keen to hear from a diversity of voices but as we know, by their very nature, the hidden homeless population are often difficult to identify and reach,

2. From your experience, how is hidden homelessness manifesting in Scotland? Put another way, what does hidden homelessness ‘look like’ here?

a) what has led people to experience it?

Prompt: what causes it?

Prompt: Lack of trust in or awareness of services, irregular immigration status, not knowing about entitlement to support, domestic abuse, substance abuse, migration status, family rejection, lack of trust in services, financial issues, inaccessible housing

3. Are you aware of people in Scotland experiencing any of the following circumstances who might be ‘hidden’ in the sense that they are not visible to the public and/or do not feature in official homeless figures? [Probe for all of the following which have not already been mentioned:

• sofa surfing: staying with friends or relatives (or acquaintances thereof) on a temporary/ insecure basis, typically sleeping on a sofa or floor, because they have no home of their own;
• Unlawful accommodation: occupying an empty, disused, or abandoned property without the permission of the owner;
• Overcrowding: living in severely overcrowded conditions^[19];
• Concealed households: involuntarily sharing with other households on a long-term basis because that household is unable to afford or access separate accommodation;
• Sex for somewhere to stay: trading sex or forming an unwanted sexual partnership in order to have somewhere to sleep;
• Unsafe housing due to domestic abuse: living in a situation that is unsafe because of abuse or exploitation perpetrated by other household members;
• Hidden rooflessness, including the following if done because someone has no home of their own:
  • Sleeping outside or in a tent somewhere hidden from public view
  • Sleeping in a building not intended for human habitation (e.g. shed, barn, derelict building) somewhere hidden from public view;
  • Sleeping in a car
  • Spending the night travelling on public transport (e.g. bus, train)
  • Spending the night in places that are open 24/7 (e.g. transport hubs, fast food restaurants)]

4. In your experience, are some groups particularly susceptible to any of the experiences of hidden homelessness that we’ve discussed? [Probe re gender, age, ethnicity, migration status, rural/urban location etc.] How and why?

5. What impact does hidden homelessness have on the lives of those affected?

Support offered

6. From your perspective, why do some people experiencing hidden homelessness not seem to seek support, or if they do, why do some not go on to apply as homeless via the council?

7. what are some of the barriers for people seeking or accessing support?

a) What affects people’s choices and decision- making about whether and if so where to seek help?

Prompt: support could be from the council, charities or families and friends’ reasons could be fear, lack of trust awareness of services available

b) Are there any groups you would like to offer support to but are unable to?

c) Are there any groups you do not see coming forward for support?

8. Do you have any recommendations to improve how those facing hidden homelessness can be supported to find stable housing?

Engagement and information

9. Are you aware of any good practice in identifying and engaging with people experiencing Hidden Homelessness?

10. Do you have any advice on how support services can be made more accessible to people experiencing hidden homelessness?

Challenges and successes

11. From your perspective, what support services or initiatives currently being provided (by Scottish Government, councils, and third sector organisations) work well in supporting those experiencing hidden homelessness to find stable housing?

Prompt: Local initiatives, organisations, funded programmes, council programmes

12. From your perspective, what support services or initiatives work less well in supporting those experiencing hidden homelessness to find stable housing?

Prompt: Local initiatives, organisations, funded programmes, council programmes

13. What are the main recommendations for Scottish Government, local authorities and service providers to improve the accessibility of support for people experiencing hidden homelessness?

14. Do you have any other comments or reflections that you would like to share?

3. Local authority focus group topic guide

Warm up questions for local authority focus group:

• can you tell us about your role at the council and how it relates to homelessness services?
• we want to understand if any particular groups are more likely to remain hidden – do you have a sense of the types of people who are not coming forward for homelessness support from yourselves? What makes you think that?
• when people make a homelessness application, do you ask them how long they have been in housing crisis? (i.e are you aware of whether they have been hidden for a period before they approach you?)

Topic 1: Barriers to seeking support:

Within the literature and the interviews so far, people have described the reasons that they did not approach the council for support, approached the council but did not pursue support, or were discouraged from seeking council support a second time.

• lack of awareness of rights/available support because they don’t recognise themselves as homeless
• not wanting to be labelled as homeless (stigma)
• misinformation about existing support – what is available, what form it will take
• concern about the form the support will take (i.e. condition of homes)
• cultural identity and considerations – will the service take culture into account in terms of the process of application/where they will be placed?
• mistrust of local authority/wider authorities (for example concern about being flagged to other authorities)
• accessibility - language, not being comfortable using online application services
• complex needs
• lacking the confidence or ability to navigate the system/complexity of the system
• do you have any reflections on these barriers from your experience?
• are there any other factors in your experience that you encounter that might stop people in housing crisis from proceeding with support from LAs?

Topic 2: Turning points for seeking support:

Within the study so far, we have identified a number of circumstances, events or activities that people identify as motivating them to finally seek support for homelessness.

• worsening of personal circumstances to the point where current situation is unsustainable (i.e. relationship or network breakdown, loss of employment, decline in health, pet safety)
• becoming aware of support on offer on their own or via networks or other support organisations
• receiving encouragement and support from networks to allow them to navigate the system
• do you have any reflections on these as a service provider, and are there any other factors in your experience that you encounter that prompt people who were formerly hidden to seek support from LAs?

Topic 3: Changes needed to support people to approach and receive council services:

The barriers that people face and the reasons that they end up seeking support from the local authority are obviously complex and range from personal to social to structural/organisational.

• thinking specifically about what we’ve discussed so far, is there anything that has worked particularly well in either your team/LA or that you are aware of from other LAs to help encourage people experiencing hidden homelessness to come forward and to proceed with support?
• thinking about the short term, and the longer term, what do you think could/should be done to support those in housing crisis to get support promptly?

1. Within LAs

2. By Scottish Government

3. Anywhere else

Be as specific as you feel you are able to! You might want to consider things like information, training, resources, support, legislation.