Comparing rights based & non-rights
based approaches to homelessness
A comparison of Scotland & the Republic of Ireland
Beth Watts
University of York
bw577@york.ac.uk
HSA Conference, 14th April 2011
Introduction
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Rights based approaches to homelessness are popular
Global/national; natural/socially constructed; moral/legal;
enforceable/unenforceable; abstract/specific?
Housing as a human right (moral framework)
Specific and enforceable legal rights to housing (policy
tool)
Do enforceable legal rights to housing for homeless
people achieve good outcomes?
Research questions
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Do legal rights to housing for homeless households ameliorate
the stigma that can be associated with accessing statutory
services targeted at specific ‘needy’ groups?
To what extent do legal rights to housing for homeless
households empower service users?
Do legal rights to housing for homeless households mean that
those in greatest need access suitable housing?
Do legal rights to housing for homeless households create an
adversarial climate and/or divert time and resource into legal
process and away from tackling housing need?
Are the perverse incentives created by legal rights to housing
for homeless people acted upon by homeless households?
Scotland’s rights based approach
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Homelessness Task Force established in 1999, final report
2002
Landmark legislation in 2001/2003
Phasing out of ‘priority need’ category by 2012
Scottish Executive received Human Rights Award in
recognition of these reforms
Ireland’s ‘social partnership’ approach
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Approach developed since the mid 1990s in response to
failure of 1988 Housing Act
Stakeholder negotiation and deliberation: a problem
solving and consensual approach
Authoritative government coordination through
homelessness strategies, key legislation and evaluation
Transparency and monitoring: ratcheting up of standards
Sustained political will and significant investment (€53.4m
in 2011)
Method: Comparative qualitative research
Scotland
Republic of Ireland
National key informant
interviews
Policy makers and civil
servants (3)
Voluntary sector
representatives (5)
Academics (2)
Policy makers and civil
servants (5)
Voluntary sector
representatives (4)
Academics (3)
Local Authority case
studies
Edinburgh
Dublin
Local Informants
interviews
Strategic (3) and
operational local authority
staff (4)
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Service user interviews
Single homeless men who
are owed full statutory
duty (11)
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Emerging themes
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Stigma
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Empowerment
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No consensus that legal rights help weaken stigma. Some concern
they could exacerbate it
Stigma attached to homelessness itself (as well as mental health
issues, addiction etc) not nature of policy response.
Conceptual/definitional issues
Service user involvement; choice; ‘structural empowerment’; a sense
of entitlement?
Housing need
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Legal rights don’t eliminate competition for scarce resources
But do they lead to fairer outcomes?
Rights place focus on resolving homelessness (settled
accommodation) as opposed to managing homelessness.
Emerging themes
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Legalistic and adversarial? Scotland misunderstood.
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Consensus and adversary in both systems.
Consensual, problem solving approach consistent with and
possible within framework of legal rights.
Scottish legislation led to surge in acceptances which led to
innovation and focus on prevention, problem solving and
‘housing options’.
Legal challenges are rare; service user awareness of legal rights
not key; internal reviews and regulator as (more?) important as
legal redress.
Emerging themes
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Perverse incentives
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Series of perverse incentives within the Scottish system.
Distinction between perverse incentive existing; perverse
incentive being acted upon and perverse incentive undermining
entire system.
Perverse incentives will be created where there is allocation
based on need, not only in systems based on legal rights.
Concerns in Ireland about unintended consequences of service
expansion.