Bad apples, rogue tenants and blights on localities: a comparative analysis of the social construction of resistance to rental reforms across the UK

Across the UK the regulation of the private rented sector is diverging, re-converging, and under significant reform. Scotland has already implemented the end to “no fault” evictions for new tenancies, while in England the Government has recently announced plans to end S.21 “no fault” evictions. In contrast in Wales, the Government has recently consulted on extending the required notice period under the “no fault” s173 of the Renting Home (Wales) Act 2016 to 6 months. These reforms have received different responses from stakeholders from across the UK, with a conciliatory debate in Scotland, and more defensive resistance in England and Wales. Using a social constructionist framework, we undertake a critical discourse analysis of published responses to these actual and proposed reforms and highlight the contours of resistance to rental reforms by stakeholder organisations across the UK. We consider how this resistance is articulated identifying techniques, tools and tropes. We further consider the implications of these findings for research on the use of evidence by different policy networks to inform housing related policy.