Housing Justice
Encyclopedia
Housing Justice is a charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
based in London formed in 2003 when the Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS) (founded in 1956) and the Churches' National Housing Coalition (CNHC) (founded in 1991) merged. With over 60 years' experience it is one of the oldest housing and homelessness charity in the UK. Other homelessness charities such as Shelter
Shelter (charity)
Shelter is a registered charity in England and Scotland that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the...
and Crisis
Crisis (charity)
Crisis is is the UK national charity for single homeless people. The charity offers year-round education, employment, housing and well-being services from centres in London, Newcastle, Oxford, Edinburgh and Merseyside, called Crisis Skylight Centres....
were formed partly as a result of action by CHAS staff and board members.
As the former names suggest Housing Justice has close links with churches in England and Wales and works with them and church-based projects to raise the profile of homelessness amongst Christians of all denominations. Robina Rafferty, Housing Justice's first Chief Executive when she was Assistant Director of CHAS served on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas which was responsible for the 1985 Faith in the City
Faith in the City
Faith in the City was a report published in the UK in Autumn 1985, authored by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas...
report.
The current President of Housing Justice is Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and the Chair of Housing Justice is the Bishop of Dudley David Walker.
Housing Justice today is active in over 35 communities across the UK funding housing advice centres, community regeneration projects and supporting church based homelessness projects. It is also responsible along with Scottish Churches Housing Action for organising Homelessness Sunday, held in January each year. As well as providing practical help to homeless people, predominantly those classified as 'statutory homeless' - i.e. accepted as homeless under the terms of the homelessness legislation, Housing Justice also campaigns against homelessness, lobbying politicians as appropriate. Housing Justice's predecessor was involved in setting up the All-Party Parliamentary Group
All-Party Parliamentary Group
An all-party parliamentary group is a grouping in the UK parliament that is composed of politicians from all political parties.-All-party parliamentary groups:...
on Homelessness and Housing Need in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in 1989.
Registered charity number 294666