The 27-month research project, which has been funded by a £292,000 grant from the Nuffield Foundation, will explore why and how social housing tenancies fail, paying particular attention to rent arrears accrual, as this is the main reason why tenancies fail. It will focus on the experiences of tenants receiving an income-related housing allowance through Universal Credit or housing benefit.
The project aims to provide a better understanding of the current context in which tenants pay their rent as well as identify the factors that impact on tenants’ ability to pay their rent and which groups are most likely to experience difficulties.
This is the first study of its kind since the pandemic hit and researchers will look at the impact of the lifting of temporary measures designed to mitigate its impact (furlough, Universal Credit uplift and the suspension of evictions) on rent arrears, alongside the continued roll out of Universal Credit and rapidly rising living costs.
It is vital that we better understand the financial and other pressures bearing down on low-income households
The study will explore the behaviours of tenants and landlords and provide evidence and guidance which will improve landlords’ tenancy policies and practices, making it easier for tenants to pay their rent and fewer tenancies failing.
Paul Hickman, Professor of Housing and Social Policy at the Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics at the University, will lead the study alongside its research manager Dr Kesia Reeve, from the University’s Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research.
A Tenant Steering Group will oversee all aspects of the research, ensuring that tenants are at the heart of the research process.
Prof Hickman said: “We are delighted and excited that the Nuffield Foundation have decided to fund our research. This is a really important study because social housing tenants are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their rent and are likely to continue to do so in the future.
“We hope that by improving the tenancy sustainment policies and practices of social housing landlords, our research will result in fewer tenants losing their homes as a result of accruing rent arrears.
“I am really looking forward to working with the Nuffield Foundation, my colleagues at Sheffield Hallam University and our research partners: the Chartered Institute of Housing; the Housing Quality Network and Qa Research. I am also excited about working with the Tenant Steering Group.”
Dr Reeve added: “It is vital that we better understand the financial and other pressures bearing down on low-income households, pressures which arguably have been accentuated by welfare reform, the pandemic, and the financial crisis, and which impact on their ability to sustain a tenancy and avoid homelessness. By doing so, social landlords will be able to develop more effective policies and tools to support tenants.
“I am therefore delighted that Nuffield have funded this study, and I am very much looking forward to working with them, with the interdisciplinary research team at Sheffield Hallam University, and with our tenant and industry partners to deliver this research.”
The study is inter-disciplinary drawing-on housing studies, social policy and psychology bringing together academics from the Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology, the Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research, and the Department for Natural and Built Environment.
The project gets underway in March and will run until May 2024. Further information can be found on the Nuffield website.
