New study calls for action on inadequate housing facing long-established older Bangladeshi Communities in East London

Posted on 9 February 2026 • Education, languages and health, Health, Society and politics

A landmark, pioneering study into the lived housing experiences of older Bangladeshi adults has revealed how lifelong housing inequalities intensify in later life and calls for action to tackle the housing, care and health inequities uncovered.

The report – Amar bari, amar jibon [My home, my life] – led by researchers at The Open University and with partners Bangla Housing Association and Housing LIN on the ground in four East London boroughs – gives voice to a previously unheard minority ethnic community.

The findings of the three-year study funded by Vivensa Foundation shed light not just on this East London Bangladeshi community but offer learnings for similar faith-based and minoritised communities in other parts of the country.

Through 76 in-depth interviews, older adults aged 50 years and over (‘probins’ in Bangla) from the long-established Bangladeshi communities in Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney and Redbridge living in owner occupier, social housing and private rental tenures have described how their homes fail to meet their health needs, cultural and faith practices, inter and multigenerational ways of living and realities of ageing, with many ‘making do’.

Inequalities are lived and navigated by older adults over decades

This is the first first major coproduced research focusing on their voices and experiences. Community co-researchers and advisory groups ensured the research remained culturally appropriate and relevant throughout

While housing deprivation among Bangladeshi communities is well established in national statistics, this research reveals how such inequalities are lived and navigated by older adults many of whom have lived through decades of inequalities. The three-year study fills a critical gap in understanding how older Bangladeshi adults experience their current housing and calls for urgent action to address it.

The report argues that without systemic change, housing will continue to amplify racial, housing, health and care inequalities. Based on what probins shared and noting that 80% of 2050’s housing already exists, the research calls for recommendations for consideration by policy makers, local councils, social services and housing authorities.

1. Make housing inequities visible: Routinely collect, assess, and report housing data disaggregated by ethnicity and age to identify and address discriminatory patterns affecting minority ethnic older populations and their housing choices.
2. Eliminate barriers to home adaptations across all tenures : Ensure a more equitable access to home adaptations, addressing barriers that disproportionately affect minoritised older adults , regardless of where they live and with regulatory oversight and inspection.
3. Address functional overcrowding and poor housing conditions through Policy frameworks that acknowledge inter and multigenerational living as a legitimate choice; recognising how inadequate housing compounds disability and care burdens; and promoting housing options that accommodate actual living patterns, cultural practices, and evolving health needs rather than assuming mainstream norms.
4. Establish accessible and culturally responsive housing infrastructure: Dismantle structural barriers that exclude minoritised older adults from accessing housing services information through proactive, face-to-face engagement and community-led support.
5. Integrate housing into health and social care assessments and response. Systematically identify how inadequate housing intensifies care needs and burdens and undermines wellbeing for probins and informal carers, with cross-sector joined up responses.

Dr Manik Gopinath, Senior Lecturer in Ageing at The Open University and lead investigator of the study, said:

“For too long, older Bangladeshi adults have been invisible in gerontological and housing research and policy. This study centres probins voices to understand not just that inequalities exist, but how they are experienced daily and for many after a lifetime of disadvantage.

“Their insights suggest housing systems failing to recognise diverse ways of living and ageing well – a critical oversight in an ageing and diversifying England. The partnership with Bangla Housing Association and Housing Learning and Improvement Network has been absolutely essential to the success of the project. It has been a pleasure working alongside our partners.”

Amar bari, amar jibon [My home, my life] was officially launched by Lord Best, OBE DL, at the Cholmondeley Room, House of Lords on Thursday 5 February.

Lord Best described the report as “impressive” and said more needed to be done to change the situation, highlighted in the report.

“This is specific, focused material which should be taken on board by civil servants and ministers. It should make a significant difference.

“The OU and the team deserve congratulations and appreciation for pulling this together.”

What Probins shared with the Research project:

• Living with ‘functional overcrowding’: Probins described homes designed for nuclear families that cannot accommodate the realities of inter and multigenerational living/diverse ways of living, creating privacy deficits, family tensions, and barriers to maintaining cultural and faith practices essential to their wellbeing. The study found that current accommodation particularly for those in social and private rental tenures fails to facilitate inter- and multigenerational living as a legitimate housing choice, leaving many probins caught between preference, necessity, and inadequate options.
• Abandoning requests for help: Despite the unmet need for home adaptations across tenures, many probins shared experiences of slow, negative, or inappropriate responses from landlords and councils when seeking adaptations for declining mobility. Faced with communication barriers and deterred by the process, they simply ‘make do’ – often at significant cost to their health and care burden on family members.
• Poor housing conditions: Many with multiple health conditions particularly in social and private rental tenures described being stuck at home in properties with mould, damp, outdated facilities, lack of ventilation and thermal issues – exposure that intensifies health risks and makes maintaining family life increasingly difficult.
• Navigating invisibility: Despite decades of living in their communities, across tenures, probins experience housing systems that do not recognise their living preferences, cultural needs, or the ways water-based hygiene and faith practices create distinct accessibility challenges.

Main Image: Pictured at the launch of the Amar bari, amar jibon [My home, my life] Report at the House of Lords are (l-r) Bashir Uddin, Chief Executive at Bangla Housing Association, Lord Best, OBE DL, Dr Manik Gopinath, Senior Lecturer in Ageing at The Open University.