Visit to Westminster
Members of the UKHP Steering Group attended a meeting in Westminster at the invitation of Paulette Hamilton, MP for Birmingham Erdington, to raise awareness of the growing impact of hoarding.
On 20 January 2026, members of the UKHP Steering Group attended a meeting in Westminster at the invitation of Paulette Hamilton (MP for Birmingham Erdington).
We had been in contact with Paulette for some time. She had consistently raised concerns about hoarding, and as a former nurse had lived experience of working with people who hoard and their families.
She had invited us to Westminster to host an awareness-raising event about the increasing social, economic and mental health problems associated with hoarding behaviours.
We discussed the urgent need to develop new National Guidelines for hoarding, and she explained the kinds of evidence that the Government would need to instigate a cross-party working group to explore this.
What happens next
From this meeting, we are now in the process of collating evidence relating to:
- The true incidence of hoarding across the UK. We currently have several projects exploring this, and are working closely with the Fire & Rescue Services and with Environmental Health Officers to explore their existing data sets.
- The economic impact of hoarding behaviours on Local Authorities and on the individual.