The housing crisis goes to law

Cowan, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9750-8262 and Marsh, Alex 2026. The housing crisis goes to law. Journal of Law and Society 10.1111/jols.70046

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Abstract

This paper considers how constructions of a "housing crisis" have impacted on judicial consideration of the rights of applicants for social housing and homelessness assistance. Drawing on Bacchi’s framework for appreciating problematisations (“What’s the problem represented to be?), and understandings of housing crisis, we examine how crisis is translated into three elements of the passage of homelessness law: decision-letters, witness statements, and judgments. This can lead to narrowing of interpretations of the rights of homeless people. Even when that is not the outcome, crisis is accepted as a “fact” and embedded as the context for decision-making.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff Centre of Law and Society (CCLS)
Subjects:	K Law > KD England and Wales
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0306-3704
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 January 2026
Date of Acceptance:	21 January 2026
Last Modified:	26 Feb 2026 11:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183936

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