London Assembly report finds crisis in housing women leaving prison

London no longer has a women-only prison, following the closure of HMP Holloway in 2016. This has caused challenges for charities working with women prison leavers.

A London Assembly report has found a chronic shortage of affordable and safe housing, local authority failures, and inconsistent practice across prisons, the London Probation Service and London Boroughs is creating a crisis for women leaving prison.

The Housing Committee report – Breaking the Cycle: Housing Needs for Women Leaving Prison in London – says that while many of the issues facing women leaving prison are national, the scarcity of accommodation in the capital is leaving even more women without stable homes – and making it impossible to rebuild their lives.

The report makes five recommendations to the Mayor of London and the Government:

• Councils and housing associations should ringfence a proportion of their supported housing units for women released from prison.
• The Mayor should implement a standardised, pan-London training programme to improve housing support for women prison leavers.
• The Mayor’s update to his Rough Sleeping Plan of Action should specifically address how it supports women leaving prison.
• The Government should conduct an immediate review of the Community Accommodation Service Tier-3 Accommodation scheme to ensure women are not placed in unsuitable accommodation, such as accommodation with men.
• The Mayor should hold an event with all London Councils to showcase examples of best practice in housing women leaving prison.

Former Chair of the London Assembly Housing Committee, Sem Moema AM, said:

“Most women who go to prison are serving short sentences for non-violent offences, which cause them to lose their homes – and a shocking number of these women will not be given a safe alternative on release. There is a real danger that, with no other housing options, women former prisoners feel they have no choice but to commit another crime to guarantee a roof over their heads.

“Women often enter prison with extremely complex needs and experiences of significant trauma – an estimated 60% of jailed women are survivors of domestic abuse.

“As a Committee, we acknowledge the Mayor’s efforts to work with others to improve housing outcomes for women leaving prison – but much more is needed to tackle this issue.

“A failure to act will hurt not only the women being released from prison, but their families, friends, and their communities affected by the cycle of reoffending that the accommodation crisis contributes to.”