Understanding criminality in the private rented sector and co-producing solutions

In England, a fifth of all households live in the private rented sector. Recent exploratory research in England has identified a 'shadow' private rented sector where activities such as landlord fraud, letting property not designed as residential accommodation, threatening behaviour and violent illegal eviction are commonplace. Tenants at the very bottom end of the rented sector are vulnerable as a consequence of poverty, may well have experiences of street homelessness and/or 'sofa-surfing' that reflect and cause mental health issues, and may have an uncertain migrant status and 'no recourse to public funds' and so are reliant on precarious housing and may be unwilling to engage with statutory authorities. Furthermore, there is evidence that the private rented sector is a site for organised criminal activity including human trafficking, modern slavery and cannabis cultivation. In response to this challenging landscape, the proposed study will:
- Undertake a systematic examination of criminal landlord behaviour and links to other criminal activity;
- Work with local authorities and the police across Yorkshire and the Humber to explore effective interventions to disrupt criminal behaviours and effect successful prosecutions;
- Establish the number of prosecutions for different types of landlord-related crime, examine the obstacles to prosecution; and consider how decisions are made about sentencing; and
- Work co-productively with the victims of landlord crime and with third sector organisations to arrive at a better understand of how this type of crime is experienced and the kinds of support that charitable and statutory authorities should seek to develop.
The project will bring together academics working in housing, housing enforcement, crime and policing interventions and housing-related prosecutions, across the Universities of York, Sheffield and Teesside.
The research will be based in Yorkshire and the Humber and work with local authorities and police forces across four regional districts, as well as a Yorkshire-based housing charity. Elements of the research will be co-productive: that is, academics will work with practitioners within local authorities, the police and the criminal justice system. The study will also use co-production methods to work with victimized tenants to explore their experiences and define routes by which their narratives can be presented to relevant stakeholder audiences to help shape best practice guidance. The research aims to ensure that findings and recommendations are relevant and lead directly to improved policing interventions. Project advisory group members will include senior civil servants, relevant professional bodies and training agencies, and from the outset the project will explore ways to ensure that learning is disseminated nationally.