UK "must provide" for Travellers says researcher

."Little has changed" since research into exclusion of Gypsies and Travellers"

."We are all losing here" says accomodation researcher Dr Philip Brown"

A UNIVERSITY researcher into housing issues has stated that the UK "must provide for Gypsy and Traveller communities", and that "very little has changed since Gypsy and Irish Travellers were found to be the most excluded group in Britain in 2006".

"The lack of lawful accommodation is unsustainable and unfair and costs us all in the end", says Philip Brown, who is research fellow in University of Salford's housing and urban studies unit.

In an article for The Guardian's comment section, Dr Brown argues that "he costs of moving people on wheels, who are arguably homeless, is becoming increasingly unsustainable in the current climate of resource scarcity; we are all losing here."

"Gypsies and Travellers lose as they continue to have a lack of available lawful accommodation and are continually vilified for living in overcrowded or unauthorised conditions.

"The rest of us lose as we continuously live in tension with Gypsies and Travellers who move on to and develop sites without planning permission. We lose the revenue generated by council tax and rent, and we help perpetuate poor outcomes in health and wellbeing for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities," he said.

The full article can be read here on the Guardian's housing network blog.