Hybridity in the housing sector: examining impacts on social and privaterented sector tenants in Scotland

摘要

Housing Associations in many countries exhibit increasing levels of ‘hybridity’, asreductions in state financing for social housing, exacerbated by austerity policies sincethe 2008 crash, have instigated ‘enterprising’ approaches to maintaining income. Alongsidethis, hybrid organisations have emerged in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), responding tosectoral growth and consequent increases in vulnerable households entering privaterenting. These developing hybridities have been considered at a strategic level, but therehas been little exploration of the impacts on tenants. This article examines twoorganisations, operating across the social and private rented sectors, to elucidatepotential implications for tenants. The research suggests that different forms ofhybridity can affect tenant outcomes and, moreover, that examining such impacts isimportant in understanding hybridity itself. Furthermore, the study suggests that emergingforms of hybridity, particularly in the PRS, may be blurring the boundaries betweenhousing sectors, with implications for policy and research.