1. Housing, ethnicity and cohesion
Jabeer Butt, OBE
Deputy Chief Executive
20th October 2016

2. Explore what we know about black and minority ethnic communities experience of cold homes and fuel poverty;
Explore the link with health and wellbeing;
Reflect on the implications for policy and practice; and
Argue for a universal approach with targeted interventions
Introduction

3. About the Race Equality Foundation
The Race Equality Foundation promotes race equality in social support (what families and friends do for each other) and public services (what 'workers‘ do with people who need support). We do this by:
exploring what is known about discrimination and disadvantage;
developing evidenced-based better practice to promote equality; and
disseminating better practice through educational activities, conferences, written material and websites.
We were established in 1987 and became an independent charity in We have offices in London, Leeds and Manchester.
We are a Department of Health Strategic Partner. We are also a member of the Engage London consortium, which is supporting voluntary and community organisations in London to improve support for children and families.
We are a founding member of the BME VCS Coalition which has recently been renamed Coalition for Race Equality.
About the Race Equality Foundation

4. Explosion of national data sets since 1991 that record ethnicity, and more recently faith
Growth of comparative analysis (within and between ethnic groups) as well as trends
Persistence of ‘one dimensional’ analysis. But more sophisticated analysis taking account of socio-economic characteristics taking place. However, some minorities within minorities often still missing, such as black and minority ethnic LGBT people
Other limitations also persist. Variation of how minority and majority groups are recorded in data make it difficult to compare results from different data sets. Changes between one iteration and the next has raised problems too.
This presentation draws on three Better Hosing briefing papers published by the Race Equality Foundation and available on our website
Helen Garrett; Justine Piddington; Simon Nicol (2014) The housing conditions of minority ethnic households in England, Better Housing Briefing Paper 25
Megan McFarlane (2014) Ethnicity, health and the private rented sector, Better Housing Briefing Paper 25
Nigel de Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Better Housing Briefing Paper 26
Evidence

5. Age composition of all ethnic groups, 2011
Source: CODE, 2013
Age composition of all ethnic groups, 2011

6. Black and minority ethnic people aged 55 and over from 1991 Census
Change in the age breakdown of black and minority ethnic over the age of 55 according to the 1991 and 2011 Censuses

7. Black and minority ethnic people 75 years and older, 1991 to 2011
Source: Simpson, 2013
Black and minority ethnic people 75 years and older, 1991 to 2011

8. Percentage of the population aged 16 and over living alone by ethnic group, 2011

9. Older people living alone according to 2001 Census
Men
Women
Source: Focus on older people, 2005
Older people living alone according to 2001 Census

10. Important to remember that pensioners as a group have been better protected from the impact of austerity than many others, yet once again the evidence shows that whilst some BME pensioners have done as well as their white counterparts, for the most part black and minority ethnic continue to do less well then their white counterparts. The ethnic penalty continues into old age.
Quintile distribution of income for pensioners by ethnic group, 2010/11

11. Variation in housing tenure between ethnic groups 2011
White British least likely to live in private rented sector
White other most likely, because this group is mainly newly arrived Eastern Europeans.
Finney and Harris (2013) How has the rise in private renting disproportionately affected some ethnic groups? CODE
Variation in housing tenure between ethnic groups 2011

12. Remember not all private rented is poor, just as not all owner occupied is good quality.
Does not account for regional variation.
Finney and Harris (2013) How has the rise in private renting disproportionately affected some ethnic groups? CODE
Variation in housing tenure between ethnic groups, for young adults aged 25-34

13. Mean weekly rents, London and outside London, 2008-09 to 2014-15
Rise in London is faster. But gap is growing between social renters and private renters in London
Mean weekly rents, London and outside London, to

14. Non-decent homes, by tenure, 2006 to 2013 according to the English Housing Survey 2014

15. Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Race Equality Foundation
Odds ratio of black and minority ethnic groups experiencing housing deprivation

16. Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Race Equality Foundation
Odds ratios of black and minority ethnic households with dependent children experiencing housing deprivation

17. Noronha (2015) Ethnic disadvantage in the housing market: Evidence from the 2011 census, Race Equality Foundation
Odds ratios of black and minority ethnic households who migrated to England and Wales since 2000 experiencing housing deprivation compared to the population

18. Cold homes, fuel poverty and ethnicity
Garrett, Piddington and Nicol (2014) conclude, from their analysis of the 2010 English Housing Survey, that:
In 2010, there were around 2.2 million households from minority ethnic backgrounds in England. Around 327,000 (15%) minority ethnic households lived in a home with at least one Category 1 HHSRS hazard.
18% of minority ethnic private sector households lived with a serious health and safety hazard compared with 8% of those who lived in the public sector.
In 2010, some 4% (around 78,000) of minority ethnic households lived in a home with a Category 1 excess cold compared with 6% of white households.
The Hills definition of fuel poverty takes account of housing costs and the depth of fuel poverty or the ‘fuel poverty gap’ (the difference between a household’s required fuel costs and what these costs would need to be for them not to be in fuel poverty). Under this definition, 16% (around 370,000) of minority ethnic households were in fuel poverty compared with 10% of white households.
Cold homes, fuel poverty and ethnicity

19. National Energy Action (NEA) analysis of EHS 2012
Fuel poverty in England by ethnic group (EHS, 2012) *Sorted by FP%
Number of households in FP
% of households in FP*
Pakistani or Bangladeshi
117,446
29.1%
Other Asian
42,805
20.9%
Chinese
12,395
16.3%
Indian
69,486
15.0%
Mixed
32,005
13.3%
Other
28,336
11.4%
Black
74,030
10.6%
White
1,906,076
9.7%
All households
2,282,579
10.4%
National Energy Action (2015) Personal communication
National Energy Action (NEA) analysis of EHS 2012

20. Some variation between black and minority ethnic groups, but still greater risk of poor/er housing
If present trends in housing tenure continue, then the greater presence in poorer housing will persist or grow
Compounded by similar or significant risk of poorer health and wellbeing for black and minority ethnic communities
Costs of poor housing are already being paid by individuals, their families and communities are paying, but also being faced by services such as the NHS, therefore inaction is not a cost free option.
Clear need to improve housing stock for all, but interventions must also target black and minority ethnic communities and/or demonstrate impact
Conclusions

21. Find out more www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk
Find out more