Background Housing insecurity is a key challenge faced by bereaved people, often caused or exacerbated by loss of household income and restrictions to some tenancy agreements. Housing insecurity can result in significant practical disruption, increase risk of adverse health outcomes, and decrease quality of life (The UK Commission on Bereavement. Bereavement is everyone’s business. Report. 2022; Hansford, Thomas, Wyatt. Palliat Care Soc. 2022; 7;16). However, despite the impact of housing insecurity, little is known about its underlying risk factors.

Aim To investigate characteristics associated with housing insecurity, defined as odds of having to move home following a bereavement, in UK survey respondents.

Method This exploratory analysis uses data from an online survey commissioned by Marie Curie in 2023. This survey aimed to investigate administrative difficulties faced by UK residents who had experienced a bereavement in the past five years. Logistic regression modelling was used to quantify the strength and direction of the association between respondent characteristics and odds of having to move home.

Results 2,901 people were included in the analysis. The crude incidence of having to move home following bereavement was 11.2% (n=324). Characteristics associated with significantly increased odds of having to move in fully adjusted models included being younger, being male, renting from a private landlord or having other tenure status, bereavement of a younger person, being bereaved in the last year, and completing practical tasks following bereavement, a proxy measure for a close relationship between the bereaved and deceased. Living in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were each associated with significantly lower odds of having to move compared with living in England.

Conclusions This study found evidence to suggest that certain groups of people have increased risk of having to move home following bereavement. This work further highlights inequity in experiences of death, dying, and bereavement and emphasises the need for research to explore other aspects of housing insecurity and means to address potential inequities.