Understanding criminality in the private rented sector and co-producing solutions

在英格兰，五分之一的家庭居住在私人租赁部门。英国最近的一项探索性研究发现，私人租赁行业存在着一种“影子”，在那里，房东欺诈、出租非住宅用途的房产、威胁行为和暴力非法驱逐等活动屡见不鲜。处于租赁部门最底层的租户由于贫困而容易受到伤害，他们很可能有过街头无家可归和/或沙发冲浪的经历，这反映并导致了精神健康问题，他们的移民身份可能不确定，无法求助于公共资金，因此他们依赖不稳定的住房，可能不愿与法定当局打交道。此外，有证据表明，私人租赁部门是有组织犯罪活动的场所，包括贩运人口、现代奴隶制和大麻种植。针对这一具有挑战性的情况，拟议的研究将：-对犯罪房东的行为及其与其他犯罪活动的联系进行系统的审查；-与约克郡和亨伯河的地方当局和警方合作，探索有效的干预措施，以扰乱犯罪行为并成功地进行起诉；-确定不同类型的与房东有关的犯罪的起诉数量，审查起诉的障碍；以及考虑如何就判刑作出决定；和-与房东犯罪的受害者和第三部门组织合作，更好地了解此类犯罪是如何发生的，以及慈善和法定当局应寻求发展的支持类型。该项目将汇集约克大学、谢菲尔德大学和蒂赛德大学在住房、住房执法、犯罪和治安干预以及与住房有关的起诉方面工作的学者。这项研究将在约克郡和亨伯区进行，并与四个地区的地方当局和警察部队以及约克郡的一家住房慈善机构合作。研究的内容将是共同产生的：即学者将与地方当局、警察和刑事司法系统内的从业人员合作。这项研究还将使用联合制作的方法与受害租户合作，探索他们的经历，并确定向相关利益攸关方受众展示他们的叙述的途径，以帮助形成最佳做法指导。这项研究旨在确保调查结果和建议具有相关性，并直接导致改进警务干预措施。项目咨询小组成员将包括高级公务员、相关专业团体和培训机构，该项目将从一开始就探索确保在全国传播学习的方法。

In England, a fifth of all households live in the private rented sector. Recent exploratory research in England has identified a 'shadow' private rented sector where activities such as landlord fraud, letting property not designed as residential accommodation, threatening behaviour and violent illegal eviction are commonplace. Tenants at the very bottom end of the rented sector are vulnerable as a consequence of poverty, may well have experiences of street homelessness and/or 'sofa-surfing' that reflect and cause mental health issues, and may have an uncertain migrant status and 'no recourse to public funds' and so are reliant on precarious housing and may be unwilling to engage with statutory authorities. Furthermore, there is evidence that the private rented sector is a site for organised criminal activity including human trafficking, modern slavery and cannabis cultivation. In response to this challenging landscape, the proposed study will: - Undertake a systematic examination of criminal landlord behaviour and links to other criminal activity;- Work with local authorities and the police across Yorkshire and the Humber to explore effective interventions to disrupt criminal behaviours and effect successful prosecutions;- Establish the number of prosecutions for different types of landlord-related crime, examine the obstacles to prosecution; and consider how decisions are made about sentencing; and - Work co-productively with the victims of landlord crime and with third sector organisations to arrive at a better understand of how this type of crime is experienced and the kinds of support that charitable and statutory authorities should seek to develop.The project will bring together academics working in housing, housing enforcement, crime and policing interventions and housing-related prosecutions, across the Universities of York, Sheffield and Teesside. The research will be based in Yorkshire and the Humber and work with local authorities and police forces across four regional districts, as well as a Yorkshire-based housing charity. Elements of the research will be co-productive: that is, academics will work with practitioners within local authorities, the police and the criminal justice system. The study will also use co-production methods to work with victimized tenants to explore their experiences and define routes by which their narratives can be presented to relevant stakeholder audiences to help shape best practice guidance. The research aims to ensure that findings and recommendations are relevant and lead directly to improved policing interventions. Project advisory group members will include senior civil servants, relevant professional bodies and training agencies, and from the outset the project will explore ways to ensure that learning is disseminated nationally.