Inclusion and exclusion in the re-housing of former prisoners

Abstract

A case study demonstrates some of the causes of widespread housing difficulties among former prisoners, such as a lack of appropriate advice in prisons and a failure to coordinate the work of the prison and probation services. While the government has taken action to tackle these problems, a more fundamental difficulty is that social landlords may be unwilling to meet housing needs because they perceive that offenders pose a threat to community safety. Changing this perception is essential to prevent conflict between the government’s housing and resettlement policies and to ensure that the needs of former prisoners are met.