Housing rites: young people’s experience of conditional pathways out of homelessness

Abstract

Since devolution, Scotland has been perceived as an international trailblazer in homelessness policy. This is principally due to The Homelessness Etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 which led to the 'priority need' category being abolished in 2012, thus placing a statutory duty upon local authorities to provide settled accommodation to nearly all homeless households. This has been widely praised for extending citizenship rights to those experiencing homelessness. In contrast to this, this paper examines the experiences of young people (aged 16-24) where judgements on whether they were 'housing ready' delayed them being provided settled accommodation. Drawing on Bourdieu's writing on rites of institution, it is shown how the symbolic categories deployed by support services and landlords operated as a means of "vision and division" (Bourdieu 2000: 96), creating new social positions that lengthened the pathway out of homelessness. In a complimentary move, there was a fusion of support with control mechanisms to determine a person's readiness for settled accommodation.

Conditionality in the context of housing‐led homelessness policy: Comparing Australia’s Housing First agenda to Scotland’s “rights‐based” approach

“…Research and investigations into homelessness and rehousing practices have consistently revealed the deployment of ideas of “tenancy readiness” or “housing readiness” in some Scottish local authorities. Based on research with formerly homeless young people in ten areas, Stewart () argued that “the rights‐based legislative framework [is] instilled with a Housing Ready ethos” (p. 17), with the result that young people experience “conditional pathways” out of homelessness which appear to be in tension with the narrative of a housing‐led and entitlement‐based approach. A recent study of temporary accommodation in Scotland identified a ubiquitous logic of “tenancy readiness” in several local authorities (Watts et al ).…”

“…However, as recent work in critical policy studies teaches us (McCann & Ward ; Clarke et al ), policymaking is never a straightforward process of rational decision making and implementation, but is instead characterised by contingency, ambiguity and the persistence of “older” policy logics alongside new ones. Homelessness policy is, of course, no exception to this; hence, there is emerging evidence that conditionality often remains a feature of homelessness service systems that adopt a housing‐led approach (Stewart ; Watts et al ; Clarke et al ). In this paper, we examine the persistence of conditionality in Australia’s ostensibly “housing‐led” approach to homelessness and explore how this contradiction might be addressed.…”

“…"older" policy logics alongside new ones. Homelessness policy is, of course, no exception to this; hence, there is emerging evidence that conditionality often remains a feature of homelessness service systems that adopt a housing-led approach (Stewart 2018;Clarke et al 2019). In this paper, we examine the persistence of conditionality in Australia's ostensibly "housing-led" approach to homelessness and explore how this contradiction might be addressed.…”

Making home? Permitted and prohibited place-making in youth homeless accommodation

“…Room checks were felt as intrusive and the prohibition of cannabis inside the hostel influenced the ways in which the residents went about their place-making. As mentioned in the earlier literature review, these arguments are entangled in debates over whether the rules and regulations in hostels are an unfair or unethical means of social control or whether they are a necessary form of support as they help to ensure that hostels are safe for everyone (Parsell et al, 2015) and that residents are equipped with the skills to become 'housing ready' (Stewart, 2019). This article contributes to these debates by arguing that home/place-making practices are not morally-neutral.…”

“…In one Scotland-based study, formerly homeless young people described being assessed on their abilities to cook, budget, clean, shop, keep their living spaces tidy and not be noisy. The conditionality of these practices, ironically, compromised their sense of home as they could not fully relax or maintain their space as they would have liked (Stewart, 2019). Similarly, a study of transitional housing in Germany documented how social workers interpreted tenants' housing readiness based on the 'look and feel' of their living spaces and their creation of a 'cozy and personal atmosphere' dependent on furnishing and accessorising (Marquardt, 2016).…”