Health Selection in the Housing System: Access to Council Housing for Homeless People with Health Problems

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Abstract
The relationship between housing and health has long been recognised. More recently the relationship between homelessness and poor health has also been acknowledged. In this paper it is argued that these associations reflect, in part, the health selective availability of housing. Paying particular attention to the British context, and drawing on qualitative data concerning the experiences of a sample of single homeless people with health problems, it is illustrated that people with health problems are struggling to re-enter the housing system despite, in theory, having priority among people eligible for council housing. Some preliminary conclusions are then drawn regarding the significance of these findings to understanding of the relationship between housing, homelessness and health.