Rental Sector Research Articles

Digital Arrival Infrastructures: Housing Platforms and Residency Governance in Berlin’s Rental Sector

This article explores how notions of formality and informality in housing are produced in relation to digital infrastructure and localized bordering regimes. Drawing on a research diary project conducted with “International” migrants in Berlin, Germany, I draw on scholarship in Digital Geography and Migration Studies to frame digital platforms as “arrival infrastructures,” which allow “Internationals” to negotiate the legal process of becoming formally resident in the city. Rather than entry into the long-term “formal,” rental sector, the opportunity to codify residency status becomes the decisive factor in determining housing choices. It also determines the type of housing platforms which are used to seek accommodation in the city and influences digital behavior. My contribution in this article is twofold. Firstly, I advance an understanding of housing in/formality as a concept which is formed according to one’s own positionality in relation to State mobility regimes. Secondly, I describe how the interface of platform-mediated rental sites becomes a site of knowledge production about norms and behavior within an unfamiliar housing system. This is accomplished through the proposal of a typology which classifies platform services according to the ways in which they used to negotiate residency governance regimes: large and long-term housing platforms; “medium-term” platform-mediated rentals; platforms rented and shared; and supplementary tools. I conclude by highlighting the need for further research into the role of rental platforms as a bordering technology, especially in the European context.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FEMALE GENDER IN THE PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

The private rented sector in Nigeria has been bewildered by non-lease performance, and the tenant selection process has been the center of attraction for proffering solutions to this menace. The Data for this study were obtained from sixty-eight (68) Estate Surveying and Valuation firms in Ibadan and two hundred and seventy (270) female tenants in their management portfolio. The data gathered by the researcher were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency distribution table, weighted mean score, and factor analysis). The result of the study revealed that 29 (42.6%) of the sampled estate surveying and valuation firms were rarely disposed to giving accommodation to female prospective tenants, while 14 (20.6%) and 10 (14.7%) were occasionally and never disposed to providing accommodation to female tenants. Sampled female tenants opined that discrimination against female tenants by property agents, marital status, and low income were the major factors causing delays in getting accommodation in the Ibadan private rented sector. Landlord discriminatory attitudes, property agent consideration, and security factors were the significant factors influencing discrimination against the female gender in tenant selection in the study area, as opined by the respondent Estate Surveyors and Valuers. The study underscores the crucial role of government and non-governmental organizations' intervention in sensitization against gender discrimination in Nigeria, developing and implementing a clear policy against female gender discrimination in the private rented sector, and the economic empowerment of the female gender.

Life for rent: Evolving residential infrastructure in London and the rise of Build-to-Rent

Build-to-Rent (BTR) developments have expanded rapidly in the UK since 2013, often advertised as providing better quality rented accommodation for university-educated Millennials than available elsewhere in the private rental sector. However, the implications of this type of housing development, and especially its affordability, are poorly understood at the city scale, partly due to a lack of evidence of where these developments cluster and what they add to the housing stock in terms of property type, amenities and cost. This article draws on data relating to 373 BTR developments in London (representing over 40,000 housing units) to show that developments are clustered where transport-related infrastructural investments have opened ‘rent gaps’ that can be exploited by developers. Exploring how these BTR schemes are marketed, the article shows that this accommodation is typically provided through new short-term ‘subscription services’ which allow developers to rent property at a premium. Questioning whether BTRs really add affordable ‘local’ homes to the city, the article concludes that BTR provides ‘quick-fix’ rental accommodation which is doing little to solve London’s housing crisis. We focus on the London BTR market and how the expansion of this housing type is reshaping the sociospatial geographies of the city.

One Step Further to Unsustainability: Effects of the International Crisis on Antalya Housing Market

One of the cities affected most by the war between Ukraine and Russia has undoubtedly been Antalya, which hosted many Russian and Ukrainian tourists for years. After the war broke out, those who came to this city, known by both countries’ citizens who were not subject to any restrictions, were no longer tourists but settled there and became long-term residents. The increase in sales and rentals to foreigners has affected the owner-occupied and rental housing markets in many ways. These sales and increased demand have directly caused the prices of housing units to rise and the number of rental housing units to become insufficient. This paper highlights the process and changes in the housing market in Antalya during the international crisis between Russia and Ukraine. The main findings revealed that the increasing number and prices of housing for sale in the central districts negatively affect the rental sector and limited housing provision in the face of an increase in recorded population during the periods examined. These unregulated and unsustainable housing markets result in various risks and consequences, especially for residing households, many occupational classes and development scenarios of the city. To overcome these problems, regulations on legal and policy perspectives and considering a foreign residency policy together with housing policy in Türkiye are highlighted.

Making rent: how forced migrant families access private rental housing in the Biqa’ Valley, Lebanon

The private rental market is a key provider of housing to forced migrants. This paper examines qualitative data from case study research in rapidly urbanizing towns in the Biqa’ Valley, Lebanon, focusing on Syrian forced migrants’ efforts to access housing through the local private rental sector. Building on literature about landlord–tenant relations and anthropological work on kin, I argue that rental agreements ought to be understood as both financial and social arrangements, which involve family members, landlords and middlemen ( shaweesh) in complex rental ecologies. I find that young Syrians are caught up in evolving financial and social obligations, which make inhabitation possible, but which perpetuate gendered and xenophobic forms of dispossession. I argue that humanitarian and development actors advocating for the right of forced migrants to settle in urban areas ought to avoid perpetuating reliance on an inequitable private rental sector.

On and beyond gentrifiers: middling transnationals, rental agents, and the housing search

Drawing inspiration from autoethnographic accounts of gentrification, this paper examines the privileges and disadvantages of middling transnationals in the private rented sector to reveal the complexity of housing decisions, thereby challenging the inclination to conceive this particular group as ‘gentrifiers’. By demonstrating the ability of middle-class migrants to prioritize their preferences while considering the challenges they face due to their newcomer status, this paper contends that housing decisions are the outcome of the interplay between migrants, rental agents, and digital platforms. In so doing, this paper highlights the gatekeeping capability of traditional and digital intermediaries in the rental market. Methodologically, this paper underscores the value of the microscopic view enabled by autoethnography, which broadens gentrification research by facilitating the recognition of emerging trends and the identification of promising areas for future research. Overall, through its reflection on the potential influences of transnational migrants on gentrification, this paper contributes to research efforts that intend to understand gentrification in relation to migration.

Local government interventions for improving the health and wellbeing of tenants in private rented housing: developing initial program theory to inform evaluation in the United Kingdom

BackgroundHousing is an important wider determinant of health. Private Rented Sector (PRS) housing is generally the worst quality of housing stock across tenures. Although a wide range of interventions are available to local governments to manage and improve the quality of PRS housing and therefore the health of tenants, there is limited evidence about the extent to which these are used. This study aims to explore what drives the use of different interventions in different local governments, to better understand and inform local strategies.MethodsAs the first realist evaluation on this topic, the range of available interventions was informed by a Local Government Association toolkit. Consistent with realist approaches, retroductive analysis of intervention-context-mechanism-outcome configurations helped to develop and refine Initial Programme Theories (IPTs). Data sources included local government housing documents, a survey and eleven semi-structured interviews with housing officers.ResultsUsing data for 22 out of the 30 local governments in the South West region of the United Kingdom, eight IPTs were developed which act on different levels from individual PRS team leaders to system wide. The IPTs include a belief in market forces, risk adverse to legal challenge, attitude to enforcement, relational approaches to partnership working, job security and renumeration, financial incentives drive action, and system-level understanding of the drivers of poor health, inequalities and opportunities for cost-savings. The findings suggest that limited objective health outcomes are being used to understand impact, which hinders interpretation of the effectiveness of all mechanisms.ConclusionInterventions that bring about positive outcomes in managing PRS housing are unlikely to be universal; they depend on the context which differs across place and over time. The proposed IPTs highlight the need for strategies to be tailored considering the local context and should be evaluated in subsequent phases of study.

Local authority intervention in private renting: from compliance to hardline enforcement

AbstractDrawing on data from two empirical projects concerned with local authority enforcement of standards in the private rented sector, this article argues that there are signs of greater use of formal enforcement approaches, and that these approaches are increasingly ‘hardline’. This finding runs counter to the existing scholarship on regulatory enforcement, which emphasizes securing compliance over formal enforcement. Securing compliance is also integral to the regulatory guidance in this sphere of activity. Further, in the context of cuts to local authority funding and greater local authority demand for private rented stock to meet household needs, the shift to hardline approaches requires explanation. Drawing on Keith Hawkins’ and Peter Manning's theory of legal decision making, which emphasizes consideration of the surround, the field, and the frame, the authors explain how changes to the field, in particular, have encouraged this shift.

Proptech and the private rental sector: New forms of extraction at the intersection of rental properties and platform rentierisation

Private renting increasingly comprises a complex ecosystem of actors who assemble housing within the market, and collect rental income and data from tenants, and data on the material assets themselves. Our analysis – at the intersection of rentier and platform capitalism – focuses on landed (material real estate) and technological (digital infrastructure and data) property in Australia’s private rental system. Drawing out relationships between the various actors – landlords, rental property managers and real estate agencies, software developers and providers, property developers and investors – and both their properties and their uses of Proptech (property technology), we show how housing and technology are being leveraged for profit in new ways. In Australia, landed property retains its precedence for established (individual and institutional) landlords, whose interest in Proptech relates to enhancing or value-adding to rental housing assets. For Proptech and institutional real estate players seeking to consolidate both landed and technology property, capturing the tech landscape is increasingly important; indeed, securing control and/or consolidation of technology property is a key motivation for building and/or using Proptech among the largest property developers. Our findings show how rent extraction operates across and between different types and scales of property and market actors, and in new ways that differentiate the figure of the rentier while upholding the dynamics of the rentier model.

Implementasi Model Prototye Dalam Pembuatan Aplikasi Pemesanan dan Perawatan Taxi Berbasis Website

Travel Janyakng Group is a travel company that operates in the car rental sector, where currently the company is facing several problems such as consumer inconvenience in ordering, apart from that, there are also difficulties in managing car maintenance data at the company. Seeing these problems, with the era of information technology Currently, companies can take steps, namely creating a website-based information system with the aim of improving the taxi ordering and maintenance process, as well as improving service to consumers. There are several methods used, namely the software development method using a prototype model and the data collection method using observation, interviews and literature study, while for building website-based applications the PHP and MySQL languages ​​are used, while for the application prototype the Balsamiq Wireframes application is used. In this application there will be three activities involved, namely user, admin and taxi driver. By using this application, it is hoped that the company can improve the quality of service to customers, make the ordering and maintenance process more efficient and the company can make better strategic decisions

Leveraging the potential of local government scrutiny: a case study of Southampton City Council scrutiny inquiry into its private rented sector

ABSTRACT Drawing on the authors’ experience of being involved as technical experts in Southampton City Council’s interrogation of the private rented sector, the paper considers the potential and the limitations of local government scrutiny inquires as a mechanism for assisting in the achievement of social justice. Scrutiny Inquiries are a relatively new democratic initiative introduced to provide a counterbalance to the greater concentration of powers in the council executive brought about by the Local Government Act 2000. The paper contributes to the literature on local government scrutiny, which is currently driven by public administration scholarship, by developing a holistic socio-legal analysis that seeks to embed a single case study within the wider complex legal, political and social environment. Although Scrutiny Inquiries empower back-bench local councillors and, to a lesser extent, promote community engagement in local government decision making, the paper identifies how austerity localism and reforms to the broader accountability environment have exposed gaps in the system of oversight of local government performance. Nonetheless we found there was political potential in the scrutiny inquiry process because it mobilised landlords and tenants in the city and provided a template for local action on private renting.

Does Digital Status Unlawfully Penalise EU Citizens Accessing the UK's Private Rented Sector?

In the past few years, more than six million EU citizens living in the UK have transitioned to a new immigration status. The only evidence they have of this new status is in digital form. This group is now navigating the UK's ‘compliant environment,’ designed to deter unauthorised migration, with this new form of status. This has created an unpredictable new dynamic with serious risks of discrimination in everyday interactions, such as when people are trying to rent a property. In this article, we explore the impact of this digital‐only status by drawing on a large‐scale discrete choice experiment with private rented sector landlords, which shows that people with digital‐only immigration status are substantially penalised on the private rental market due to the form of their ID. We argue that this discrimination is not only troubling in substance but also arguably amounts to a breach of non‐discrimination and equal treatment provisions under the Withdrawal Agreement (Article 12 and Article 23 respectively). The apparent lack of effective enforcement points to the potential limits of such protections after Brexit.

Sharing risk in shared housing: rental regulations and housing justice in Australia

Shared housing in the private rental sector (PRS), where people rent with non-family, is becoming more significant across many countries. However, from a housing justice lens, it is unclear whether housing policies and regulations based on normative understandings of households are equipped to effectively support shared housing renters. Through a case study of Australia, which operates on a ‘consumer protection’ model of rental regulation, we ask how current Australian rental regulations enable or restrict housing justice for people in shared housing in the PRS. We conduct a critical discourse analysis of consumer-oriented tenancy information published by Australian state governments and identify explicit or implicit risks in the text that may be experienced by shared housing renters. Results indicate that risks in relation to finance, eviction, and disputes are variously not acknowledged within the text or responded to with warning, guidance, or stated inability to help. We argue that the unfair distribution of risk in shared households, coupled with the severity of the consequences, constitutes a form of housing injustice. We suggest how the consumer protection framework of rental regulation could be amended to advance housing justice and assist shared housing renters.

The decommodifying capacity of tenancy law: comparative analysis of tenants’ and landlords’ rights in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

Tenants all over the globe face the challenges of increasing rents and even forced evictions, particularly in the private urban rental sector. Affordable housing shortage and displacement have become severe societal problems for the lower- and middle-income segments. Certain legal institutions, including tenancy law, provide a decommodifying capacity for more tenure security and stability. This paper studies this capacity of tenancy law by comparatively examining the tenants’ and landlords’ rights in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland through the lens of decommodification. The focus is (1) on the rules of access to housing for new residents entering the housing market and (2) the rules of exit that govern the ability of the occupants to continue living in their apartments. Findings show that while tenants’ rights in Switzerland are weakly protected by law, tenants in Austria and Germany receive robust protection. Austrian and German tenants cannot be evicted at short notice, nor are landlords allowed to dismiss them unless they declare legitimate self-usage. Also, tenants remain protected from arbitrary rent increases in case of rental upgrading. Conclusions help practitioners to consider tenancy law as an influential way to counteract the market-driven dynamics in housing and to enhance the protective capacity within renting property.

Revolutionizing the Rental Services in Siargao Island: Basis for Developing an Online Vehicle Rental Management System

The research paper addresses the inefficiencies faced by tourists and local rental service providers in the vehicle rental sector of Siargao Islandin the Philippines. Despite the thriving tourism industry in the island, the current manual processes for vehicle rentals are fraught with challenges such as unreliable service, booking difficulties, and inefficient fleet management. This study aims bridge the gap between these traditional practices and modern technological solutions by proposing an online vehicle rental management system designed to streamline operations and enhance customer experience. Using a mixed-methods approach, the exploration integrates qualitative insights from ethnographic studies and interviews while quantitative data from the surveys targeting tourists, residents, and rental service providers. This methodology enables a thorough understanding of the operational challenges and user needs within the rental ecosystem. The findings revealed significant inadequacies in manual booking thus highlighting a strong demand for an automated and user-friendly online platform. The proposed system incorporates advanced system software to automate bookings, optimize fleet management, and provide real-time updates and notifications by enhancing operational efficiency, reducing errors, and improving service reliability. Additionally, it seeks to empower local rental businesses through provision with tools to manage their operations more effectively and compete in the digital age. The research underscores the potential of the proposed system to revolutionize rental services in Siargao Island by improving accessibility, convenience, and customer satisfaction. The future implementation of this online platform is expected to contribute significantly to the sustainable growth of Siargao's tourism industry, ultimately benefiting tourists, local businesses, and the broader community

Exploring factors of service adoption using SERVQUAL paradigm: Its impact on millennials’ adoption of services in the self-drive rental sector

The self-drive rental sector has witnessed exponential growth in recent years due to rising demand for long and short-distance drives among millennials. This study aims to investigate the quality of services in the self-driving rental sector and its impact on customer adoption or rejection of service in India. The conceptual framework was developed using the SERVQUAL model and other important factors affecting consumers’ service adoption. A quantitative research method was deployed, and data were gathered through a survey method using a structured questionnaire (based on a 5-point Likert scale). The sample size comprised 385 respondents, 23-38 years old millennials (with 69% of males and 31% of females). The population sample was chosen from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, India. The data were collected in March 2023. The factor and regression analyses were applied along with chi-square and SEM analyses to test the research hypotheses. The results indicated that the absence of low prices (42%), customer assistance (28 %), and security issues is responsible for consumer rejection. The factors leading to dissatisfaction are the absence of consumer schemes and discounts, a lack of staff interaction and assistance, and poor service quality. The brands must focus on the negative impact arising from the absence of these factors and effectively address the areas of improvement to regain customer trust and garner customer loyalty.

Do private rental tenants pay for energy efficiency?: The dynamics of green premiums and brown discounts

ABSTRACT The rental market, notably within the UK, is facing increased scrutiny with the tightening of regulation in relation to energy performance and the increases in energy costs and rental unaffordability. Whilst a sizeable volume of research has examined the pricing effects of EPCs and house prices, scrutiny of this relationship within the private rental sector remains more embryonic. This study, using 2,914 transactions for Northern Ireland, extends the traditional analysis beyond the conditional mean estimate by examining the quantiles of the relationship between EPCs and rental prices. The findings provide evidence of a rental premium of 0.2% for a one-point improvement in energy efficiency. In terms of EPC ratings, we find premiums for B- and C-rated dwellings of 8.2% and 2.4% and also discount effects for E, F and G-rated properties ranging between 3.9%-5.5%. The quantile findings exhibited a parabolic effect across the price distribution demonstrating the lowest and highest priced properties to comprise higher price premiums of 13% and 16% for B-rated dwellings, however more pronounced discount effects for F- and G-rated properties at the lowest and highest deciles. The findings provide evidence to help alleviate the split-incentive problem between landlords and tenants within the UK.

Discrimination in the time of digital real estate: Illustrating a rental schema in the Australian setting

Digital real estate technologies (Proptech) have rapidly become ubiquitous in many nations—including Australia—their presence reshaping how tenants, landlords and agents navigate private renting. How Proptech are mediated by regulatory settings and responses shapes their presence, impacting on their potential for both subtle and overt forms of discrimination. In this paper we draw on our Australian-based research to illustrate the utility of a rental schema to develop understandings of digital reconfigurations and their discrimination effects in the private rental sector. Our research sought to identify and examine discrimination against renters across the entire experience of renting—particularly in relation to new and emerging forms of discrimination arising from, or exacerbated by, digital technologies. By focusing on the experiences of renters, the schema that we employed inverts Proptech approaches that create and target new assets for financial extraction through the rental sector, instead recognising the discriminatory potential of such approaches. We signal the utility of this renter-experience-centred approach to examine the rental sector through a discrimination lens, and the real and potential role for regulation including, but not limited to, a focus on digital technologies. Incorporating research, alliance-building and advocacy into our schema bolsters its renter-centredness and reiterates the necessity of these efforts at housing justice for urgent regulatory reform. We point to our own nascent efforts in collaboration with Australian tenant advocacy groups—inspired by others—to use digital technologies to subvert embedded power imbalances that drive discrimination in Australia's private rental sector.

Hybrid housing models for older Australians: institutional framework and policy challenges

Older people seeking affordable housing in the mainstream housing tenures such as home ownership, private renting and social housing face increasing difficulties in accessing and remaining in appropriate housing. The mainstream housing tenures face pressure due to widening housing affordability problems in home ownership and the private rental sector in many advanced economies, exacerbated by declining investment in social housing. Hybrid housing models are often promoted as affordable and sometimes appropriate and adequate housing options for older people. These models combine aspects of ownership and renting in diverse ways, often posing challenges for tenure-based housing policies. Drawing on the case of Australia, the paper presents the findings of an institutional review of the production, consumption, management, and exchange of land lease communities, often marketed as a more affordable form of housing for older people compared to the more established hybrid form of retirement villages. Noting difficulties in scoping the size and significance of the land lease community sector from current data collections, we find (a) entry of large institutional investors risks undermining the relative affordability of the sector for older people; (b) security of occupancy is a critical policy issue and (c) concentration in rural areas raises concerns around risk of natural disasters and access to aged care and other services. These issues are often overlooked in housing policy and pose challenges for other policy domains including income support, social care, and health services.

Mediating access: unpacking the role of algorithms in digital tenancy application technologies

ABSTRACT Digital tenancy application technologies (DTATs) are becoming the dominant means through which renters in the private rental sector (PRS) apply for housing. These PropTech tools, which claim to streamline application processes to save renters and lessors time and effort, necessitate the collection of data. Though the collection of certain data – such as income and rental history – has long been a standard part of rental application processes, DTATs now facilitate the collection of additional data including social media activity, behavioural data, and more. Increasingly, DTATs offer the ability to ‘make sense’ of this data, evaluating applicants through the use of algorithms. Drawing on lessons from banking and insurance sectors, this article outlines how DTAT algorithms can reshape individuals’ access to essential services delivered through competitive markets. It explains how algorithmic processes can introduce and exacerbate the unfair and unlawful treatment of renters, which can result in significant harms. To identify, redress, and prevent these harms, I argue that it is crucially important to use shared terminology to describe how DTATs are collecting and using data. This article introduces a framework for understanding how algorithms ‘screen’ and ‘sort’ applicants based on the data that is collected through DTATs. The process of ‘sorting’ is further broken down into three categories – ‘scoring’, ‘rating’, and ‘ranking’. The article concludes by explaining how this framework can assist researchers and policymakers to identify, analyse and prevent harms that are catalysed, or exacerbated by DTATs.