Why do we need housing for LGBTQ+ people?

Multiple studies explore the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and their housing situation. Sadly, the findings highlight what many of us already know and what some of us have experienced directly.

According to the National LGBT Survey undertaken by the government, 29% of respondents had experienced an incident involving someone they lived with because they were LGBTQ+. The report also touched on homelessness, with many respondents having experienced homelessness in the past. There is further work on this topic, such as from the Albert Kennedy Trust, which found that 69% of young LGBTQ+ homeless people were rejected by their parents and suffered abuse within the family. Stonewall’s Research provides further evidence of this; they found that 1 in 4 trans people had been discriminated against when seeking rented accommodation.

The No Place Like Home study (2018), commissioned by the LGBT housing group HouseProud, found that safety was a huge concern for residents living within a social housing setting, with 32% noting that they did not believe their local area to be a safe place for LGBTQ+ people (this number rose sharply to 60% for trans individuals). 35% of respondents were not out to their neighbours and 1 in 5 gay men self-censored their home when a staff member of their housing association entered their home (hiding pictures etc).

The report also explored the idea of ‘belonging’, with only 43% of survey respondents reporting that they felt a sense of belonging to their local area, compared to 82% in a more general survey.

What do we mean by ‘community led’? Who are the community?

First Brick sees the concept of community as paramount to our mission. Our aim is to create intergenerational living spaces where people can come together, share stories, learn about one another, and offer mutual support. We believe that by creating a community of place for LGBTQ+ people, our community is more likely to feel that sense of belonging that many currently lack. By being an LGBTQ+ housing provider who understands our community from our own lived experience, we hope our community won’t need to self-censor their homes. By creating a completely accepting place to be LGBTQ+, we hope our eventual residents will feel comfortable being out with their neighbours. And through our affordable and equitable housing offer, we hope to provide long-term solutions for those who might otherwise struggle to find suitable, long-term housing options because of either affordability or discrimination in accessing it.

First Brick recognises that in addition to LGBTQ+ people not feeling part of their local community, this can often extend to divisions within our own community. We are determined to change that too. Through the provision of diverse, intergenerational living, we hope to begin to bridge the gaps that exist within our community and begin to facilitate a common understanding of one another. We can already see this happening through the richly diverse volunteer base we currently have on board and hope to develop this further and carry it over into our eventual housing provision.

Are you just for LGBTQ+ people?

It is important to note here that First Brick welcomes the support from those who do not necessarily define themselves as LGBTQ+. Just like LGBTQ+ bars, clubs and other social spaces, people who are not LGBTQ+ are welcome at First Brick and will always be welcomed within our social and community spaces. People who are not LGBTQ+ will also be welcome to live in our properties, providing that they would actively benefit from living in such an environment. Check out our FAQ‘s for more information on this.

This message is even more true when it comes to us sourcing sites to develop properties. First Brick will work with the entire local community around our chosen site location(s), not just LGBTQ+ people in the area, to develop spaces of genuine benefit to all community members. We are not an organisation that seeks to divide or further ostracise LGBTQ+ people – our message is about creating community cohesion and if we are to achieve this, we want to involve everyone, LGBTQ+ people and allies alike, so what we provide benefits everyone.