Homelessness in the UK is rising.

Morris+Company strongly believe in the ‘Housing First’ strategy and that building more social and truly affordable housing is the solution to this deepening crisis. But critically, we also see that the delivery of temporary and emergency accommodation is fundamental in order to ensure that people at their most vulnerable are placed in adequately designed, safe and secure accommodation, without being displaced from their borough, local school, friendships and support networks.

New-build specialist facilities are a rarity, which means that in their place, rogue conversions of non fit-for-purpose existing buildings are created to meet demand, often resulting in sub-standard accommodation.

The aim of this LFA event was to bring the topic to the forefront of debate and inform wider specialist housing research. The discussion was part of the London Festival of Architecture programme in 2019.