P3 Charity warns sector jargon may be preventing people from accessing support
For people facing homelessness, housing insecurity or mental health challenges, finding support can feel overwhelming, and P3 Charity believes finding help shouldn't depend on knowing the right terminology.
More than 11,500 people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness across the East Midlands in 2025, with numbers continuing to rise year-on-year. As more people seek support, P3 Charity is encouraging organisations to ensure information about services is easy to understand and accessible to everyone.
Across homelessness, housing and support services, industry-specific language, acronyms and sector-specific terms are often used to describe different forms of support. While these terms may be familiar to professionals, they can create confusion for people seeking help, their families and members of the public trying to understand what support is available. So much so that in December 2025, P3 Charity published a guide to help break down the barriers to accessing support that some people can face simply due to the terminology used by the support services themselves.
With more people needing support in the UK than ever before – including over 4,700 people sleeping rough and more than 134,000 households living in temporary accommodation in England alone – P3 Charity is encouraging organisations and individuals to consider the impact that language can have on access to support, warning that unclear or overly technical terminology can become an unnecessary barrier for those already facing difficult circumstances.
At the same time, the Charity is calling for greater awareness of language that can feel outdated, stigmatising or exclusionary. Terms used to describe homelessness and housing insecurity can shape public perceptions and influence how people experiencing these challenges are viewed and treated.
Erin Coburn-Kutay, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at P3 Charity, said: “People and organisations are becoming more aware of how language can stigmatise or label people, but we talk less about how language can exclude people in very real ways. Somebody who’s never had to seek formal support before may not know terms like ‘floating support’, ‘support plans’ or ‘community-based support’, so they might not know what help is actually available to them if these are the terms we’re using. As an organisation that’s committed to helping as many people as possible, we need to be as accessible as possible, which means being clear, concise and direct in how we describe ourselves and our services.
“Taking it one step further, keeping language simple and avoiding idioms – or figurative phrases – is important when supporting people who don’t have English as a first language. After all, if you’re attempting to translate something like ‘chuffed to bits’ or ‘under the weather’, the conversation can suddenly be confusing and isolating. There’s a time and a place for complex, jargon-filled prose, but when offering support to people, that’s not it.”
While some sector terminology remains widely used across homelessness and support services, understanding these terms can help people navigate support more confidently, understand their options and know where to turn for help.
To help make these conversations more accessible, P3 Charity has created a glossary explaining some of the most common terms used across homelessness, housing and support services. The resource is designed to support people seeking help, family members, professionals and anyone wanting to better understand the challenges facing people in their local communities.
Need Support?
You don't need to understand sector jargon or know exactly which service you need before asking for help.
P3 Charity supports people facing homelessness, mental health challenges and social isolation to independence. Working across communities throughout England, the charity helps thousands of people each year access practical support, build resilience and create positive futures.
Anyone looking for support or wanting to learn more about homelessness can find information, services and resources through P3 Charity’s website, including the charity's new glossary. Visit p3charity.org.