The Wales Housing and Homelessness Research Network brings together researchers and organisations from across Wales in the field of housing and homelessness. Building on the former Wales Housing Research Network, the new name reflects a clearer focus on homelessness as a social issue which is distinct but closely connected to housing.
Main aims
Important research on housing and homelessness is happening across Wales. But this research is often scattered across different sectors and organisations. The network helps bring this work together so evidence can be shared, strengthened, and used to make a real difference.
The network aims to:
- Create a space to share (new) research, evidence, and ideas that can inform policy and practice.
- Highlight gaps in evidence and knowledge (‘areas of research interest’) and co-create research to address them.
- Improve the quality and availability of housing and homelessness data in Wales.
- Encourage collaboration across disciplines and sectors.
Why the network is important
Access to stable, affordable, good-quality housing has profound social value, influencing people’s mental and physical health, their communities, and even the environment. Because of its integral role in people’s lives, housing is fundamental to the future well-being of Wales.
At its most extreme, exclusion from housing (or homelessness), represents “a profound assault on dignity, social inclusion and the right to life”. In Wales, in 2022, an estimated 12,250 households experienced the most extreme forms of homelessness such as sleeping rough and sofa-surfing.
The complex and interlinked challenges related to housing and homelessness cannot be addressed by any single organisation or sector. The network’s role is therefore to drive a collective, evidence-based response, capable of preventing homelessness and securing housing as a basic human right for everyone in Wales.
Organisation and membership
The network is facilitated by Ian Thomas, Research Fellow at Cardiff University and Academic Lead of Housing and Homelessness research at Administrative Data Research Wales (ADR Wales). The Network is hosted by the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD).
Anyone working in housing or homelessness—including researchers, policymakers, and practitioners—is welcome to join. This broad and inclusive membership aims to encourage dialogue and learning across sectors and disciplines.
Network activities
Network members meet at least once a year to discuss current research, evidence needs and developments in policy and practice in Wales. Meetings are open to all network members. Anyone wishing to propose an agenda item is encouraged to contact the network facilitator ahead of the meeting.
Our network also hosts a research conference that brings together work on housing and homelessness relevant to Wales. This includes Wales focused research as well as studies offering new ideas, methods or evidence that could inform practice and policy in Wales. Materials from previous conferences—including abstracts and programmes—are available in the events section below.
If you are interested in joining the network, please contact Ian Thomas, thomasir2@cardiff.ac.uk.
