Evictions in the UK: Power, Housing, and Politics

by Joe Crawford

Overview

Evictions in the UK examines the relationships between tenants, landlords, housing providers and government agencies and the tensions and conflicts that characterise these relations. The book shows how power dynamics are being reconfigured in the post-welfare context of the first quarter of the 21st century, as evictions for rent arrears are becoming one of the most significant threats to both the wellbeing of the social housing sector and the welfare of its tenants.

Embracing both practical and critical approaches, this book offers a comprehensive understanding of the contradictory and thus controversial issue of evictions. It explores the range of perspectives involved in the practice - landlords carrying out evictions, those agencies providing legal assistance to evictees, as well as academics and institutions charged with researching and regulating the process. Drawing on three case studies relating to evictions across Scotland and England, this book provides a comprehensive look at the punitive consequences of poverty (evictions for rent arrears) and status (evictions under immigration law) that are applicable to social housing systems worldwide. Based on original, primary-source data, this book will be a key resource for academics and students as well as policy makers and practitioners in the fields of housing studies, planning, social welfare, and political sociology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367419684
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/02/2020
Series:	Explorations in Housing Studies
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

After almost a decade as Housing Aid Worker at Shelter in Glasgow, Joe Crawford made the transition to academia. After working in several academic institutions in the UK he established Erasmus Research, a collective of academics and activists.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures vii

Acknowledgments viii

Preface ix

Part I The World of Housing 1

1 Evictions: Reflections from the Front Line 3

2 The Legal and Regulatory Context 16

3 A Political Economy of Housing in the UK 32

Part II The People of Housing 47

Introduction to Part II 47

4 'I Just Want Tenants Who Will Pay Their Rent on Time' 49

5 'They just Don't See the Bigger Picture' 68

6 'They Want Us to Become Immigration Officers' 83

Part III The Practice of Housing 97

7 Constructing a Theoretical Model 99

8 The Parallax of Professional Practice 119

9 Power, Housing and Politics 135

10 What Are the Alternatives to Eviction? 148

Index 164