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Rural Homelessness: Prevention Practices in Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2019

Andrea Gibbons ,
Iolo Madoc-Jones ,
Anya Ahmed ,
Katy Jones ,
Michaela Rogers  and
Mark Wilding
Andrea Gibbons
Affiliation:
University of Salford E-mail: A.R.Gibbons1@salford.ac.uk
Iolo Madoc-Jones
Affiliation:
Wrexham Glyndŵr University E-mail: i.m.jones@glyndwr.ac.uk
Anya Ahmed
Affiliation:
University of Salford E-mail: A.Ahmed@salford.ac.uk
Katy Jones
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University E-mail: katy.jones@mmu.ac.uk
Michaela Rogers
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield E-mail: m.rogers@sheffield.ac.uk
Mark Wilding
Affiliation:
University of Salford E-mail: M.A.Wilding@salford.ac.uk
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Abstract

Homelessness is largely understood as an urban issue and so rural homelessness is to a large extent invisible in both academic literature and in policy and practice discussions, just as it is often invisible in discourses of everyday rural life. This article draws on extensive interviews with homeless service users and providers in three rural authorities in Wales to give a clearer sense of the nature and challenges of rural homelessness. The article documents and explores the very different strategies employed by those facing homelessness in the rural context, as well as those of rural local authorities providing them preventative and person-centred support. Analysis of the struggle of many rural households to remain in place, often at the cost of homelessness and lowered ability to access services, will have resonance in a range of contexts and have implications for policy makers and practitioners in rural contexts beyond Wales.

Keywords

Homelessnesshousing policypreventionlocal connectionrural
Type
Themed Section: Homelessness Prevention in an International Policy Context
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 133 - 144
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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