Beyond the multi-ethnic metropolis: minority ethnic housing experiences in small town England

Evidence of racialised inequalities in housing in England has been accumulating for more than 40 years. While recognising the strengths and importance of this evidence base, this paper identifies a fundamental gap in current understanding of minority ethnic housing situations and experiences; the failure of analysis to acknowledge and understand the extent to which situations and experiences vary between places. Few studies have been sensitive to the particulars of minority ethnic housing experiences in different locations and those that have tend to have focused on the same small number of major towns and cities. Small town and rural experiences have remained largely invisible, despite increasing numbers of minority ethnic households living beyond the multi-ethnic metropolis. This paper recognises and responds to this situation by venturing beyond the current evidence base to explore the neglected housing experiences of minority ethnic people in small town England. Two key points are asserted. First, that minority ethnic people living in small towns encounter many of the same housing inequalities as their counterparts in metropolitan England. Second, that small town England presents a series of unique challenges demanding distinct responses and resulting in experiences very different to those recognised within the existing evidence base.