Tenancy Law Research Articles

Housing in crisis: A qualitative study of the socio-legal contexts of residential evictions in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

BackgroundPeople who use drugs (PWUD) commonly experience housing vulnerability due to the intersection of drug laws, housing policies, gentrification, and social marginalization. Housing vulnerability produces social suffering amongst PWUD and is linked to health and social harms. In Vancouver, Canada, the rapid gentrification of the Downtown Eastside – a low-income inner-city neighbourhood – and the lack of affordable housing has led to residential evictions emerging as a key community concern. This study sought to understand the policies and practices that produced evictions among PWUD, situating vulnerabilities to evictions within the context of wider structural vulnerability of PWUD. MethodsBetween June 2015 and March 2016, baseline and 3–6 month follow-up qualitative interviews were conducted with recently evicted (past 60 days) PWUD in the Downtown Eastside. Participants were recruited by Peer Research Assistants. Baseline interviews (n = 56) focused on causes and socio-legal contexts of evictions, with follow-up interviews (n = 41) focusing on longer-term impacts. Interviews were analyzed thematically and interpreted by drawing on the concept of structural vulnerability. ResultsMost participants were evicted unlawfully, unfairly, and into homelessness. Participants were rendered structurally vulnerable to unlawful evictions by the shortcomings of existing residential tenancy laws and current dispute mechanisms. Residents of non-profit buildings, for whom it was unclear if provincial residential protections apply, found their housing security further undermined through the denial of rights extended to privately-housed tenants. Attempts to assert tenant rights further increased participants’ vulnerability to eviction through landlord retaliation and targeting. ConclusionFindings demonstrate the inadequacy of existing housing policies and tenancy supports to account for the structural vulnerability of PWUD and their role in driving harms. Policy reforms are needed to address unlawful evictions and increase tenancy security, and must be accompanied by low-barrier interventions to more fully address this key driver of social suffering among PWUD.

Collective influence of household and community capitals on agricultural employment as a measure of rural poverty in the Mahanadi Delta, India

The main determinants of agricultural employment are related to households’ access to private assets and the influence of inherited social–economic stratification and power relationships. However, despite the recommendations of rural studies which have shown the importance of multilevel approaches to rural poverty, very few studies have explored quantitatively the effects of common-pool resources and household livelihood capitals on agricultural employment. Understanding the influence of access to both common-pool resources and private assets on rural livelihoods can enrich our understanding of the drivers of rural poverty in agrarian societies, which is central to achieving sustainable development pathways. Based on a participatory assessment conducted in rural communities in India, this paper differentiates two levels of livelihood capitals (household capitals and community capitals) and quantifies them using national census data and remotely sensed satellite sensor data. We characterise the effects of these two levels of livelihood capitals on precarious agricultural employment by using multilevel logistic regression. Our study brings a new perspective on livelihood studies and rural economics by demonstrating that common-pool resources and private assets do not have the same effect on agricultural livelihoods. It identifies that a lack of access to human, financial and social capitals at the household level increases the levels of precarious agricultural employment, such as daily-wage agricultural labour. Households located in communities with greater access to collective natural capital are less likely to be agricultural labourers. The statistical models also show that proximity to rural centres and access to financial infrastructures increase the likelihood of being a landless agricultural labourer. These findings suggest that investment in rural infrastructure might increase livelihood vulnerability, if not accompanied by an improvement in the provisioning of complementary rural services, such as access to rural finance, and by the implementation of agricultural tenancy laws to protect smallholders’ productive assets.

The drivers of energy-related financial hardship in Australia – understanding the role of income, consumption and housing

Saunders and Bedford (2017) demonstrated that income levels are inadequate for some Australian households to maintain a basic standard of living. Analysing utility bills can extend this consideration of income adequacy issues given the essential nature of services such as electricity, telephony and water. This article builds on the work presented by Simshauser and Nelson (2014) about key demographic cohorts in Australia that have a high incidence of energy-related financial hardship. Our analysis indicates that energy related financial hardship is likely to be related to a combination of the following: family formation demographics; low-income (often reliant upon government income support); higher household size; and higher than average consumption. Our policy recommendations are relatively straightforward: development of tools to allow easier ‘shopping around’ by energy customers; cessation of credit-checking by energy retailers as a means of restricting access to energy offers; reform of state-based concessions frameworks; a lifting of income support for some key cohorts (e.g. unemployed); improvements to energy-efficiency standards; and amendments to tenancy laws to overcome potential principal-agent issues associated with uptake of new energy products and services such as embedded solar PV and battery storage.

Renovations in lieu of rent in Spanish tenancy law

PurposeIn the context of difficulties in access to housing, the Spanish Act 4/2013 introduced a new article 17.5 into the Act on Urban Leases 1994 (LAU). This paper regulates the so-called renovations in lieu of rent (rehabilitación por renta), that is to say, a tenancy contract in which the tenant does not pay the rent in money but by performing renovation works in the same rented dwelling. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the legal regime of renovations in lieu of rent and how this scheme works.Design/methodology/approachRenovations in lieu of rent, by its own nature, allow a tenant with building skills to access affordable housing. However, due to the new regulation of this tenancy contract, which is only included in Paragraph 5 of art. 17 LAU, some problems may arise from a legal perspective.FindingsThis paper approaches the compatibility of this scheme with the LAU, detects its problems and proposes legal improvements.Originality/valueThis paper explores the application of renovations in lieu of rent and determines whether this new scheme, according to the current regulation, may represent a true residential alternative for vulnerable people or if legislative reform is needed to promote its use.

Energy efficiency retrofits in the residential sector – analysing tenants’ cost burden in a German field study

With the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and curbing climate change, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings with energy efficiency retrofits is an important task. In Germany a large share of the residential building stock is rented. This comes with barriers to energy efficiency retrofitting due to split incentive problems. Alongside existing government incentive programmes, the German tenancy law allows landlords to add a maximum of 11% of the energy-related modernisation costs onto the annual rent. Studies evaluating the actual outcomes, from an energy as well as a social point of view, are rare. This article compares calculated theoretical heating energy consumption for prior to and after retrofit with actual consumption data after retrofit. Further, the issue of household expenses is addressed by comparing increased rental costs after retrofit with household's energy expenses prior and after retrofit. Despite a reduction in energy consumption of 70%, more than half of the households faced increased costs due to higher rents after retrofit. Even when increases in energy prices are taken into account, still one third of the households faced higher costs. For a fairer and more effective distribution of costs and benefits, this article stresses the importance of alternative financing models.

Semantic types of legal norms in German laws: classification and analysis using local linear explanations

This paper describes the automated classification of legal norms in German statutes with regard to their semantic type. We propose a semantic type taxonomy for norms in the German civil law domain consisting of nine different types focusing on functional aspects, such as Duties, Prohibitions, Permissions, etc. We performed four iterations in classifying legal norms with a rule-based approach using a manually labeled dataset, i.e., tenancy law, of the German Civil Code ($$\hbox {n} = 601$$). During this experiment the $$F_1$$ score continuously improved from 0.52 to 0.78. In contrast, a machine learning based approach for the classification was implemented. A performance of $$F_1 = 0.83$$ was reached. Traditionally, machine learning classifiers lack of transparency with regard to their decisions. We extended our approach using so-called local linear approximations, which is a novel technique to analyze and inspect a trained classifier’s behavior. We can show that there are significant similarities of manually crafted knowledge, i.e., rules and pattern definitions, and the trained decision structures of machine learning approaches.

Airbnb and Residential Tenancy Laws: Do 'Home Sharing' Arrangements Constitute A Licence or a Lease?

Airbnb and Residential Tenancy Laws: Do 'Home Sharing' Arrangements Constitute A Licence or a Lease?

Problems in Residential Tenancy Law Revealed by Holler v Osaki

This article argues that the recent series of judgments in the Holler v Osaki litigation reveals concerning features of our residential tenancy law contained in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and its application by the Tenancy Tribunal and the courts. The law relating to residential tenancies is important: it regulates both tenants' ability to access the basic need of shelter and to satisfy their desire for home, and the financial investments of landlords. It is meant to allow landlords and tenants to understand their rights and obligations so that they may apply the law to their situations without legal assistance. However, Holler v Osaki illustrates the vagueness and therefore uncertainty concerning key legal rules within the Act, which led to the pre-existing understanding of the law being upended and the paralysis of the Tenancy Tribunal's ability to deal with careless damage. This article also highlights inconsistencies in the decisions of Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators, who applied completely different interpretations of the law to substantially identical facts.

Understanding the influence tenure has on meanings of home and homemaking practices

AbstractWithin Anglophone societies, the concept of home is closely tied to homeownership, and consequently, importance is placed on owner‐occupied tenure in the meaning and making of home. However, understanding home in this way is problematic because it excludes the significant proportion of people who rent both publicly and privately. This article provides an overview of the small amount of literature that examines the impact tenure has on the meaning and making of home within Anglophone societies, in particular, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Two key arguments are made. Firstly, tenure laws and policies make an important contribution in shaping how we understand, experience, and make home, yet tenure is often overlooked in literature that explores theories of home and homemaking. Secondly, the small amount of literature that does examine the experiences of renters focuses on how tenancy law could negatively impact or restrict renters within their homes. The cultures and practices of homemaking among renters are, for the most part, overlooked. Given the recent changes in housing trends, now, more than ever, it seems pertinent that we begin to understand some of the ways tenure might influence meanings of home and homemaking practices.

Beyond economics—understanding the decision-making of German small private landlords in terms of energy efficiency investment

The German government aims to achieve virtually climate-neutral building stock by 2050 to tackle climate change. To realise this goal, comprehensive policy packages based on neoclassical economic theory are in place to foster energy efficiency investment. However, in the building sector, there is increasingly a gap between this aspiration and the reality. It is claimed that one of the main reasons for this is that the existing policy framework fails to address the specific characteristics and needs of different groups of building owners. This is a particular challenge in Germany, where 80% of all dwellings are owned privately and 37% are rented out by small private landlords (SPL). Despite the significant numbers of SPL, they often follow black box decision-making processes when considering energy renovations. In this study, the author uses an explanatory model to understand the decision-making processes of SPL, combining theoretical aspects from different research disciplines. This model was applied to a low-demand housing market in a neighbourhood in the Ruhr area. Eighteen semi-structured interviews (each lasting between 37 and 115 min) were conducted, demonstrating that in addition to economic factors, the values, beliefs, norms and routines of SPL—as well as their personal capabilities and contextual factors—play an important role in their decision-making. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for enhancing the effectiveness of existing energy efficiency policies and other supporting instruments (e.g. tenancy law and social legislation), tailored to the specific needs of SPL.

The Residency Discount for Rents in Germany and the Tenancy Law Reform Act 2001: Evidence from Quantile Regressions

AbstractMost countries show a residency discount in rents for sitting tenants. In the wake of strong rent increases and housing shortages, Germany implemented a reform in 2001 to curtail rent increases. Based on linked housing-tenant data for Germany, this paper estimates panel OLS and quantile regressions of rents within tenancies. The results show that rents deflated by the CPI increase strongly from 1984 until the reform in 2001, and there is a reversal in the trend afterwards. Before the reform, there is a significant residence discount which decreases in absolute value with tenure. The reform reduces rents, in particular for expensive apartments and for new leases. There is no residency discount after the reform.

The Residency Discount for Rents in Germany and the Tenancy Law Reform Act 2001: Evidence from Quantile Regressions

Most countries show a residency discount in rents for sitting tenants. In the wake of strong rent increases and housing shortages, Germany implemented a reform in 2001 to curtail rent increases. Based on linked housing-tenant data for Germany, this paper estimates panel OLS and quantile regressions of rents within tenancies. The results show that rents deflated by the CPI increase strongly from 1984 until the reform in 2001, and there is a reversal in the trend afterwards. Before the reform, there is a significant residence discount which decreases in absolute value with tenure. The reform reduces rents, in particular for expensive apartments and for new leases. There is no residency discount after the reform.

Farm Business Income across Land-size Classes and Land Tenure Status: A Field Study in Assam Plains

Using farm level data from the plains of Assam, the paper has estimated farm business income across different land-size classes and land tenure status. The analysis has been carried out at the aggregate level as well as at disaggregate level for three specific crops, viz. winter paddy, summer paddy and winter vegetables. It has been found that sharecropping and fixed rent tenancy contracts have a negative and significant impact on farm business income. The lower level of farm business income on leased-in land, especially under sharecropping, can be attributed to payment of a significant amount as rent, which is higher than even that stipulated in the tenancy law. Accordingly, certain reforms in the existing tenancy law have been suggested. The study has suggested a shift in the cropping pattern from the presently predominant winter paddy to more remunerative crops such as vegetables, which is also desired for a healthy transition of Assam agriculture from subsistence cultivation to a profitable venture.

The Residency Discount for Rents in Germany and the Tenancy Law Reform Act 2001: Evidence from Quantile Regressions

Most countries show a residency discount in rents for sitting tenants. In the wake of strong rent increases and housing shortages, Germany implemented a reform in 2001 to curtail rent increases. Based on linked housing-tenant data for Germany, this paper estimates panel OLS and quantile regressions of rents within tenancies. The results show that rents deflated by the CPI increase strongly from 1984 until the reform in 2001, and there is a reversal in the trend afterwards. Before the reform, there is a significant residence discount which decreases in absolute value with tenure. The reform reduces rents, in particular for expensive apartments and for new leases. There is no residency discount after the reform.

Forced relocation and tenancy law in Europe

Tenants are in a vulnerable position in relation to investments by landlords in their homes. Both, overinvestment, resulting in gentrification, and underinvestment, resulting in deterioration, are processes that have been well analysed in studies on gentrification and rent control. Much less is known about institutions that seek to ensure a balance between overinvestment and underinvestment. Tenancy law may be one of these institutions. Based on a Europe-wide survey of tenancy law produced by the FP7 TENLAW project, this paper analyses the role of tenancy law in the legal positions of tenants towards investments by landlords in their properties. A special focus is on the position of tenants in urban renewal, especially since urban renewal may result in the relocation of current tenants through the force of law. The legal relationships between landlord and tenant are classified by four ideal typical positions — namely short-term contracts, in which security ends with the termination of the contract, long-term contracts, which provide tenants more security of tenure, but which have also provisions to terminate the contract for reasons of urban renewal, protected tenants, who can only be relocated if a suitable alternative dwelling is provided, and informal users, who cannot rely on the safeguard of a rental contract, but have some legal protection based on the European Convention of Human Rights.

Life Time Contracts. Social Long-term Contracts in Labour, Tenancy and Consumer Credit Law, edited by L. Nogler and U. Reifner

Life Time Contracts. Social Long-term Contracts in Labour, Tenancy and Consumer Credit Law, edited by L. Nogler and U. Reifner

Housing Problems and Residential Tenancy Law Developments in South Korea

Housing Problems and Residential Tenancy Law Developments in South Korea

Human Rights and Protection against Eviction in Anti-social Behaviour Cases in the Netherlands and Germany

The European Court of Human Rights requires that any person at the risk of losing their home should be able to have the proportionality of the eviction determined by an independent tribunal in the light of the relevant principles under Article 8 echr. Consequently, member states of the Council of Europe are obliged to implement a minimum level of protection against the loss of the home. This paper analyses how the requirements are implemented in Dutch and German tenancy law with a focus on eviction cases concerning anti-social behaviour. With the help of a comparative analysis several methods of implementing the European requirements are identified. The Netherlands and Germany seem to comply technically with the requirements because of national built-in proportionality checks. However, it is questionable whether the European requirements really improve the position of tenants or whether they should be characterised primarily as a procedural hurdle that courts have to meet.

Does Tenure Status Affect the Adoption of Land Productivity Enhancing Practices and Input Intensities? Evidence from Assam Plains in India’s Northeast

Using farm level data from Assam plains in Northeast India, the present article examines the question whether tenancy and its various forms influence input intensities in crop production and adoption of land productivity enhancing practices by the farmers. It has been found that the sharecroppers do not make intensive use of land and undersupply labour input. An unanticipated finding which has not been reported in the existing literature in this context is that the fixed rent tenants use chemical fertilizers more intensively compared to even the owner-operators. Excessive application of fertilizers by the fixed rent tenants which has adverse environmental consequences and the Marshallian inefficiency that ensnares the sharecroppers can both be ascribed to some restrictive provisions in the existing tenancy law of the state. Reforms of tenancy regulations for incentivising efficient utilisation of agricultural land have been suggested.

The Effects of World War I on Austrian Private Law

The effects of World War I on the development of Austrian private law represent a field of research widely neglected by Austrian legal history, even though they were intensively discussed by Austrian legal scholars from 1914 to the early 1920s. This essay deals with the far-reaching restrictions on liberty of contract that were imposed in order to guarantee the functioning of the economy in wartime conditions and in order to mitigate the social consequences of the war. It will be shown that almost all areas of private law (from labour law to torts law) were temporarily affected by war-induced regulations, creating step-by-step a system called ‘state’ or ‘war socialism’. However, apart from tenancy law, the lasting effects of the war on Austrian private law remain marginal.