Shelter at the margins: New Labour and the changing state of emergency accommodation for single homeless people in Britain

Responding to continuing concerns about unevenness in the supply and quality of emergency accommodation available to single homeless people, New Labour has increased the funding for such accommodation and imposed tighter regulations on the voluntary sector organisations providing it. Drawing on the first national survey of emergency accommodation projects operating in England, Wales and Scotland, the article shows that such initiatives have had far less impact than might be imagined. The supply of emergency accommodation in Britain remains markedly uneven, while the quality of accommodation and care provided by some voluntary sector organisations is a cause for serious concern.