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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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A life-time of inequality
— a structural analysis of housing careers and issues facing older private tenants | | Author(s) | Misa Izuhara, Frances Heywood |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 23, part 2, March 2003 |
| Pages | pp 207-224 |
| Keywords | Housing [elderly] ; Private rented dwellings ; Tenants ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Elder abuse ; Histories ; England. |
| Annotation | Whilst most householders in England have become homeowners at the turn of the 21st century, some older people still struggle on low incomes in the less privileged privately rented sector. This article draws on research in "Harassment and abuse of older tenants in the private rented sector" by N Charlton et al (2003, forthcoming) to explore the relationship between the history of housing policy and provision with people's lifecourse histories of individuals, and reasons why some older people are in the private rented sector. The findings reveal how some older private tenants have experienced different types and degrees of harassment and abuse by their landlords, from verbal and financial abuse, to disrepair of property and illegal evictions. Both strands are brought together in looking beyond individual responsibility or culpability to the structural and lifecourse causes of the problems. People's housing choices and destinations are often shaped by a combination of their lifecourse circumstances and external (both economic and institutional) barriers. Where abuse is concerned, a two-tier tenancy system has made "regulated tenants" vulnerable to their landlords; the legal remedies are endemically inappropriate; the housing benefit system is a major source of tension between landlords and tenants; and the modernised private rented sector has allowed no place for those who want secure long-term homes. In summary, this article examines how the law, housing policy and the housing market combine to produce particular problems for older private tenants. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-030403204 A |
| Classmark | KE: KEH: KET: F: QNT: 6A: 82 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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