The little understood link between hoarding and homelessness sees property prioritised over people

When hoarding makes headlines, it is usually framed as a spectacle. Television cameras pan across cluttered rooms. Neighbours complain about smells or vermin. Councils issue warnings and eventually a clean-up team arrives in protective suits to empty a property. The narrative is simple – clear the house and the problem is solved. 

But hoarding is rarely about mess. In most cases it is about trauma, fear and loneliness. When responses focus only on clearing a property, vulnerable people can unintentionally be pushed towards a far more serious outcome – homelessness.  

A 2011 study showed that while one in 20 of the general population will suffer with housing problems, including eviction or homelessness, at some stage of their lives, the figure for those with hoarding issues is one in five.

Hoarding disorder was recognised as a distinct psychiatric condition in 2013, yet it remains widely misunderstood. The disorder is characterised by a persistent difficulty discarding possessions, regardless of their value. For those affected, objects often carry deep emotional meaning or represent security against loss. Over time, the accumulation of items can make homes difficult or unsafe to live in. 

The consequences are not only personal. Hoarding is associated with increased risks of fire, injury and health hazards. Narrow pathways through rooms can make it difficult for emergency services to enter a property. Large piles of belongings may topple. Combustible materials such as newspapers or clothing stored near heaters can create serious fire risks. Neighbours share these dangers. 

Because of these risks, hoarding frequently becomes a housing issue before it is recognised as a mental health one. 

Complaints from neighbours can lead to inspections by housing or environmental health officers. If the property is judged unsafe or in breach of tenancy agreements, enforcement action may follow. For tenants who are already overwhelmed and ashamed, these processes can feel threatening and incomprehensible. Communication breaks down, deadlines are missed. What began as a safety concern quickly escalates into a formal eviction process. 

This is one of the hidden pathways through which hoarding can lead to homelessness. 

From the outside, these evictions are sometimes interpreted as the result of a refusal to comply with reasonable requests. The situation is often far more complex.  

People with hoarding disorder frequently experience intense anxiety about discarding possessions. Many feel shame about the condition of their home and avoid contact with authorities as a result. When the pressure of enforcement increases, so does the urge to withdraw. 

By the time eviction proceedings begin, the person may be so distressed that engagement with services has effectively collapsed. 

Well-meaning interventions can sometimes make matters worse. Forced clearances are a common response to hoarded homes, particularly where fire risks are involved. Yet clearing a property without addressing the psychological drivers of hoarding rarely leads to lasting change. 

For many with hoarding disorder, possessions function as emotional anchors. They represent memories, identity or a sense of security in an unpredictable world. Sudden removal of those items can feel less like a tidy-up and more like bereavement. The result is often a surge of anxiety, grief or anger. 

Without therapeutic support, they might quickly begin accumulating possessions again. Others disengage entirely from services they now perceive as hostile or punitive. 

In some cases, the ultimate outcome is eviction. Once a tenancy is lost, the individual may move into temporary accommodation, rely on friends and family for shelter or enter the homelessness system. 

And the problem does not end there.

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Homelessness is profoundly destabilising. Losing a home often means losing personal belongings, privacy and a sense of control over one’s life. For someone already vulnerable to hoarding behaviours, these losses can intensify the drivers of the disorder – fears of scarcity, abandonment or future deprivation. 

In this way, hoarding does not simply disappear when someone loses their home. It can follow them into hostels, temporary accommodation or new tenancies, where the cycle may begin again.

This is why many specialists now see hoarding as both a housing issue and a mental health one. 

Yet current systems are rarely designed to respond to both simultaneously. Housing services tend to focus on risk and compliance. Mental health services, meanwhile, often lack dedicated pathways for treating hoarding disorder.  

The result is fragmentation. Each service responds to part of the problem leaving the person at the centre to fall through the gaps. 

When responses are driven primarily by risk management, property can end up being prioritised over people. 

What would a better approach look like? 

First, hoarding disorder needs clearer recognition within clinical and public policy frameworks.  

Evidence-based psychological treatments exist, particularly cognitive behavioural approaches tailored to hoarding. These therapies focus on beliefs about possessions, fears of loss and the avoidance behaviours that sustain clutter over time. 

But treatment works best when it is delivered early, before the situation reaches crisis point. 

Second, responses need to be collaborative. Housing officers, fire services, mental health professionals and social care teams all encounter hoarding in different contexts. When they work together, they are far more likely to reduce both risk and harm. 

Finally, progress requires patience. Building trust with someone who has lived for years with shame, fear and isolation cannot happen overnight. Effective support often depends on time, choice and a gradual process of change rather than sudden intervention. 

Hoarding is often portrayed as a private problem hidden behind closed doors. In reality, it sits at the intersection of mental health, housing policy and community safety. 

If we want to reduce fire risks, prevent evictions and protect vulnerable people from homelessness, we need to stop treating hoarding simply as a mess to be cleared. Instead, we must recognise it for what it usually is – a person trying, however imperfectly, to create a sense of safety in an uncertain world. 

Hoarding Awareness Week takes place from 11-15 May 

Professor Claire Lomax is programme director of the doctorate in clinical psychology at King’s College London

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