Governing homelessness in the PRS: a capabilities perspective

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) occupies a complex position within local housing welfare systems. While PRS housing has provided an increasing resource for homelessness prevention activity, the notion of welfare is challenged through varied routes into housing benefit markets. This paper provides new theoretical and empirical insights to our understanding of the ethical legitimacy of PRS housing interventions in the governance of homelessness. By applying the lens of capabilities scholarship that is largely confined to congregate hostel accommodation, the article asks to what extent housing-led alternatives in the PRS can contribute to well-being for people experiencing homelessness and broader disadvantage. Drawing on interviews with commissioners and housing providers within a city-based case study, the article reveals how without effective mechanisms for identifying or responding to welfare needs, the precarity faced by some of the most disadvantaged people may be extended in the PRS.