Lack of Gypsy sites fuels homelessness

Published by traceybignall for Race Equality Foundation in Housing and also in Health, Local Government

A quarter of Britain’s estimated 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers have nowhere legal to park and are forced to live on unauthorised sites, or choose between camping by the roadside or moving into flats and houses. These unauthrised sites and roadside encampments often result in friction between local people and travelling communities. A newly published paper on Gypsy and Traveller accommodation notes that increasing resources are being diverted to policing and eviction, with two thirds of roadside travellers who’ve been surveyed saying they’ve been evicted at least thirty times in the past five years.

Ronny Flynn, Director of Health and Housing at the Race Equality Foundation says:
“Despite the fuss and alarmism from some quarters, we are only talking about homes for 5,000 families. This constitutes only one square mile of land.”

The paper says research has found that Gypsies and Travellers live in or pass through nine out of ten local authorities in England and Wales.

The report’s author, Dr Margaret Greenfields of Buckinghamshire New University, says:
“More legal sites would help break the cycle of tension between the settled and travelling communities and result in reduced enforcement costs as the number of unauthorised encampments decreases.”

The Gypsies, Travellers and Accommodation Better Housing briefing paper by Dr Margaret Greenfields, was launched at an event hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Traveller Law Reform in association with the Traveller Law Reform Project, and Irish Traveller Movement in Britain on Thursday 29 January 2009. The paper is produced by the Race Equality Foundation and is available by visiting the Foundation's website www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk or .y contacting Tracey Bignall on tracey@racefound.org.uk.