Rethinking tenure? Understanding and classifying housing circumstances Housing Studies Association conference April 2016 Ben Pattison

Builds on PhD research into growth of private renting Seeking to explore the wider implications of findings Initial thoughts on conceptual and analytical understanding of changes in housing circumstances Two key questions: –To what extent is there evidence of increasing housing precarity across/within tenure boundaries? –How can we assess and understand these changes in housing circumstances? Overview

Growth of private renting popularised as 'Generation Rent' Not just about households who are 'priced out' Also Housing Benefit claimants, students, recent migrants Interactions with stock, landlords and labour markets Wider tenure changes include: outright occupation, changes within social housing, 'hybrid' tenures Generation Rent and wider tenure changes

Tenure categories too often used uncritically in policy (and sometimes academia) Issues with tenure include: –heterogeneity within tenure –differentiation between tenures (e.g. shared ownership) –spatial variation –change over time Narrow, legal definitions of tenure exclude –'ideologies of homeownership' (Ronald, 2008), –stigmatisation of social housing (Flint, 2003; McKee, 2011) –territorial stigmatization (Wacquant et al, 2014) The problem of tenure

Tenure categories can be useful proxies for aspects of housing circumstances such as social status, security and asset building But, used uncritically, they can mask changes in housing circumstances Evidence of increased precarity in housing circumstance such as: –Less secure social housing tenancies –Poor quality stock within private renting –Growth in homelessness and marginal housing situations Contrast with growth of outright ownership Why does classification matter?

Housing Pathways –Described by Clapham (2005) –Highlight changes in individual circumstances –Less strong on wider ideological and socio- economic context? (but see Hochtenbach & Boterman, 2014) Housing and class –Rex and Moore (1967) –Savage (2015): Seven classes including an elite, a precariat and fragmented middle class –Bourdieu's ideas of economic, cultural and social capital –Over simplification of housing circumstances? Two alternatives...

Economic –Cost of accommodation –Asset building (housing wealth, Right to Buy, shared ownership) Security –Legal security –Stock conditions and safety Social status –Social status and/or stigmatisation of housing tenure –Social status and/or stigmatisation of stock and location Housing circumstances: Three key axes?

Assessing Savage's categorisation against housing circumstances Is there an elite who benefit from high levels of security, social status and economic gain from their housing? Is there a precariat with little or no housing security, social status or economic gain? What is happening to the housing circumstances of the 'fragmented middle'? Is there an increase in precarity which cuts across tenure categories? Revisiting housing and class

Thought experiment: classifying circumstances Young family with 2 children living in South East. They have just purchased a flat which needs substantial work in a less desirable area. They have a large mortgage but are starting to gain significant wealth as prices rise

There is clear evidence of profound changes in housing circumstances across the UK Uncritical use of housing tenure as a proxy for housing circumstances can mask understanding of these changes There is a need to update our analytical and conceptual understanding of housing circumstances In particular, more analysis is required to understand the extent to which there is growing precarity in housing circumstances Conclusions

Clapham, D. (2005) The Meaning of Housing: A pathways approach. Bristol, The Policy Press. Flint, J. (2003) Housing and ethopolitics: constructing identities of active consumption and responsible community. Economy and Society. 32 (4), 611–629. Hochstenbach, C. & Boterman, W. (2014) Navigating the field of housing: housing pathways of young people in Amsterdam. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. ifirst. McKee, K. (2011) Challenging the Norm? The ‘Ethopolitics’ of Low-cost Homeownership in Scotland. Urban Studies. 48 (16), 3399–3413. Rex, J. & Moore, R. (1967) Race, Community and Conflict: A study of Sparkbrook. London, Oxford University Press. Ronald, R. (2008) The Ideology of Home Ownership: Homeownership societies and the role of housing. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Savage, M. (2015) Social Class in the 21st Century. London, Pelican. Wacquant, L., Slater, T. & Pereira, V. (2014) Territorial Stigmatization in Action. Environment and Planning A. 46, 1270–1280. References

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