Focus of the PhD

The UBDC’s role is to enhance access for researchers to a range of novel data on the urban system. These include data on housing from a wide range of administrative systems such as those on welfare benefits, on social housing allocations, on private renting or on house sales. They also include data which provide insights into other areas of life, such as education, social care, health or crime. There are increasing opportunities to link data from different administrative systems securely while protecting individual rights to privacy.

This PhD will be based around the use of these kinds of data to address an important contemporary issue for housing policy in UK. The candidate will develop the focus of the studentship in conjunction with the supervisor. In broad terms, the context for the work is provided by the on-going process of ‘austerity’ or the sharp reductions in public expenditure. Welfare expenditures have been particularly severely hit, including welfare benefits and local public services such as social care. More generally, the context is the move away from a system where low income households were able to access social housing towards a greater reliance on private renting and home ownership.

The research might focus on the impacts of the rapid growth of private renting in the UK. It could examine the consequence of this for different areas of the city or for the welfare of different groups. Another focus might be on the impacts of welfare reform which has reduced benefit entitlements for many groups, especially those of working age. This includes caps on total benefit payments as well as greater limits on housing benefits in particular (the ‘bedroom tax’). A third focus might be on the changing operation of the homelessness system. While the legal rights of homeless households have not changed a great deal in recent years, practice has clearly moved towards an increasing reliance on directing people towards the private rented sector, rather than rehousing in secure social tenancies. These topics are indicative but not meant to exclude other suggestions.

Practical details

Studentship award

Funding is available to provide a three-year (+3) award. Candidates should have completed advanced methods training at Masters level or have equivalent research experience. The award will cover fees (Home/EU or International), and provide an annual stipend at the standard ESRC rate (for 2015/16, this is £14,002 tbc) plus an annual allowance for research or training expenses (£750 per year).