Geographies of housing in multiple occupation

Despite the proliferation of Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) having a transformative effect on a range of local housing markets during the last three decades, empirically-grounded investigations of geographies of HMO at various spatial scales are lacking. This thesis provides an original contribution to ongoing debates within geographic and housing studies by deepening understandings of the diversity of geographies of HMO, using the case study of Loughborough, in the East Midlands of England. First, a novel temporal examination of the HMO market is presented, via mapping and spatial analyses of the national geographies of HMO between 2011/2012 and 2016/2017. It is revealed that the HMO market grew by 30.8% between 2007 and 2017. Second, it is shown that concentrations of HMO have unfolded in diverse rural, suburban, peri-urban and other non-metropolitan locations. Importantly, this finding extends pre-existing understandings of HMO that tend to be tied to university and coastal towns/cities. Third, the relationships between geographies of HMO and broader demographic, socio-economic and cultural patterns are analysed. It is contended that the production of HMO is linked to broader processes including internal/international migration, socio-economic deprivation and processes of family formation and breakdown. By exploring student and non-student geographies of HMO in Loughborough at fine-grained geographical resolutions, the thesis thus identifies a broader range of geographies of HMO, which extend beyond university towns, largely understood as a product of studentification. A widespread non-student HMO market with distinct geographical patterns is exposed in the town. Furthermore, a mixed HMO market shared by students and non-students is shown to exist in Loughborough. Non?students are constituted by a diverse group including professionals, international migrant workers, low-skilled workers, benefit recipients and divorcees. It is argued that cross-cutting processes produce this demand for HMOs including housing affordability, and the demand for a mobile workforce in the town. Finally, the thesis provides valuable insights into the regulation of HMO. Overall, it is asserted that the changing geographies of HMO identified in this thesis are pertinent for furthering debates on housing markets, population change and cultural shifts in perceptions of shared living arrangements, particularly within the discursive context of a ‘broken housing market’

Geographies of housing in multiple occupation

Geographies of housing in multiple occupatio

Conceptualising work as a ‘safe space’ for negotiating LGBT identities: navigating careers in the construction sector

Despite sustained focus in recent years on understanding the experiences of underrepresented groups in construction, there has been a paucity of work that has explored the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. Research has shown homophobia is commonplace in the construction industry and very few gay employees feel able to be open about their sexuality. Using qualitative data garnered from 16 in-depth interviews and a focus group with LGBT workers in the UK construction sector, this article analyses how participants negotiate identities at work and navigate their careers. Drawing on the concept of heteronormativity we consider how organizational contexts frame, constrict and liberate identities in the workplace. Significantly, our findings show that despite enduring heteronormative structures, work was described by participants as a ‘safe space’. By demonstrating how workers assess, move between and create ‘safe spaces’, this article contributes novel insights into the challenging of heteronormativity in heteronormative work contexts.</p

The mobilities and immobilities of rural gentrification: Staying put or moving on?

This paper analyses census data for England and Wales to explore the ties between processes of rural gentrification and recent internal migration. Internal migrants are defined as individuals who moved subnationally to their current address in the previous 12 months, as indicated by the replies to the 2001 and 2011 census question about usual address 1 year ago. Our analysis reveals declining rural in-migration rates between 2001 and 2011, in parallel with other recent studies of internal migration. At the same time, uneven geographies of rural in-migration are identified. In rural places with declining in-migration rates, we emphasise the immobilities of settled gentrifiers that are caused by predilections to ‘stay put’ within prized, rural places for age-related personal/emotional, social/support and economic reasons. This is limiting the supply pipeline of housing for latent in-migrants and slowing flows of migration per se in saturated rural housing markets. By contrast, rural places with increasing inmigration rates may signify new frontiers of gentrification, providing channels of entry for recent migrants that are not able to buy into exclusive high-cost gentrified markets. Our novel argument is that despite gentrification being inherently a process of migration, when viewed in a broader temporal perspective, mature and exclusive forms of gentrification can also stifle migration and be the catalyst for immobilities

Conceptualising work as a ‘safe space’ for negotiating LGBT identities: navigating careers in the construction sector

Despite sustained focus in recent years on understanding the experiences of underrepresented groups in construction, there has been a paucity of work that has explored the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. Research has shown homophobia is commonplace in the construction industry and very few gay employees feel able to be open about their sexuality. Using qualitative data garnered from 16 in-depth interviews and a focus group with LGBT workers in the UK construction sector, this article analyses how participants negotiate identities at work and navigate their careers. Drawing on the concept of heteronormativity we consider how organizational contexts frame, constrict and liberate identities in the workplace. Significantly, our findings show that despite enduring heteronormative structures, work was described by participants as a ‘safe space’. By demonstrating how workers assess, move between and create ‘safe spaces’, this article contributes novel insights into the challenging of heteronormativity in heteronormative work contexts