10 Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19
-
Rowan Alcock
Abstract
This chapter examines what COVID-19 and the response to it has revealed, in the context of housing and homelessness. Our argument is that responses have been limited by what is deemed possible by current housing politics. It goes on to consider the possibilities for a different housing politics, post-pandemic, suggesting that we need to find something new, something between the promotion of the entrepreneurial individual and a collective response characterized by uniformity, exclusion and authoritarianism. Perhaps the description of classical music’s response to COVID-19 restrictions may provide a useful metaphor. Socially distanced performances and reduced numbers of instrumentalists produce what has been described as an ‘orchestra of soloists’. Applied to housing, this suggests a possibility of combining the individual expression of identity through home and housing simultaneously with a collective effort to achieve a minimum standard of provision. The method may be as important as the goal. We should not be afraid to explore alternatives, to trial messy and slow interventions as long as they reflect an inclusive, democratic and accountable politics as we search for an alternative to the current failed model of marketized housing provision and a discredited albeit collective past.
COVID-19 ratchets up the cruel consequences of the poor-quality housing and homelessness provision that have been a long-standing feature of England’s housing settlement. Mortality statistics suggest a correlation between likelihood of death from the virus and overcrowded, shared or temporary housing, a correlation with particularly devastating implications for BAME people who are disproportionately poorly housed. Housing conditions make it difficult to self-isolate, shared facilities enable the spread of the virus, and a lack of access to outside space exacerbates poor mental and physical health.
Abstract
This chapter examines what COVID-19 and the response to it has revealed, in the context of housing and homelessness. Our argument is that responses have been limited by what is deemed possible by current housing politics. It goes on to consider the possibilities for a different housing politics, post-pandemic, suggesting that we need to find something new, something between the promotion of the entrepreneurial individual and a collective response characterized by uniformity, exclusion and authoritarianism. Perhaps the description of classical music’s response to COVID-19 restrictions may provide a useful metaphor. Socially distanced performances and reduced numbers of instrumentalists produce what has been described as an ‘orchestra of soloists’. Applied to housing, this suggests a possibility of combining the individual expression of identity through home and housing simultaneously with a collective effort to achieve a minimum standard of provision. The method may be as important as the goal. We should not be afraid to explore alternatives, to trial messy and slow interventions as long as they reflect an inclusive, democratic and accountable politics as we search for an alternative to the current failed model of marketized housing provision and a discredited albeit collective past.
COVID-19 ratchets up the cruel consequences of the poor-quality housing and homelessness provision that have been a long-standing feature of England’s housing settlement. Mortality statistics suggest a correlation between likelihood of death from the virus and overcrowded, shared or temporary housing, a correlation with particularly devastating implications for BAME people who are disproportionately poorly housed. Housing conditions make it difficult to self-isolate, shared facilities enable the spread of the virus, and a lack of access to outside space exacerbates poor mental and physical health.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Preface xiii
- Series Editor’s Preface xv
- Introduction 1
-
Justice
- Ruling the Pandemic 15
- Remote Justice and Vulnerable Litigants: The Case of Asylum 27
- Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online? 41
- Genera-Relational Justice in the COVID-19 Recovery Period: Children in the Criminal Justice System 53
- Racism as Legal Pandemic: Thoughts on Critical Legal Pedagogies 65
- Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19 79
- COVID-19 PPE Extremely Urgent Procurement in England: A Cautionary Tale for an Overheating Public Governance 93
-
The Social
- Accountability for Health and the NHS under COVID-19: The ‘Left behind’ and the Rule of Law in Post-Brexit UK 107
- COVID-19 in Adult Social Care: Futures, Funding and Fairness 119
- Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19 131
- Education, Austerity and the COVID-19 Generation 143
- What Have We Learned about the Corporate Sector in COVID-19? 155
- Social Security under and after COVID-19 171
- Maintaining the Divide: Labour Law and COVID-19 187
- From Loss to (Capital) Gains: Reflections on Tax and Spending in the Pandemic Aftermath 199
- Index 209
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Preface xiii
- Series Editor’s Preface xv
- Introduction 1
-
Justice
- Ruling the Pandemic 15
- Remote Justice and Vulnerable Litigants: The Case of Asylum 27
- Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online? 41
- Genera-Relational Justice in the COVID-19 Recovery Period: Children in the Criminal Justice System 53
- Racism as Legal Pandemic: Thoughts on Critical Legal Pedagogies 65
- Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19 79
- COVID-19 PPE Extremely Urgent Procurement in England: A Cautionary Tale for an Overheating Public Governance 93
-
The Social
- Accountability for Health and the NHS under COVID-19: The ‘Left behind’ and the Rule of Law in Post-Brexit UK 107
- COVID-19 in Adult Social Care: Futures, Funding and Fairness 119
- Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19 131
- Education, Austerity and the COVID-19 Generation 143
- What Have We Learned about the Corporate Sector in COVID-19? 155
- Social Security under and after COVID-19 171
- Maintaining the Divide: Labour Law and COVID-19 187
- From Loss to (Capital) Gains: Reflections on Tax and Spending in the Pandemic Aftermath 199
- Index 209
