Putting dignity to bed? The taxing question of the UK’s housing rights relapse

Dr Alice Diver (Ulster) The recent statutory cap on Housing Benefit in England and Wales is commonly known as the ‘bedroom tax’ or the ‘spare room subsidy’, depending upon whether one is a critic or a proponent of it. It has given rise to a small, but significant spate of domestic legal cases that examine … Read more

Budget analysis and Housing in Northern Ireland

Prof Rory O’Connell (Ulster), Mr Eoin Rooney, Prof Colin Harvey (QUB) and Prof Aoife Nolan (Nottingham, ex QUB) This presentation discusses the findings of multidisciplinary research, to develop an approach to budget analysis, as applied to housing in Northern Ireland. The research is based upon a robust methodology incorporating economic analysis and legal principles, following … Read more

Changing the Minimum Standard for Housing

Ms Lindsay Shaw (Ulster) There are social inequality issues relating to low/limited income households being less able to afford a better standard of housing. While there is a ‘Fitness Standard’ (the minimum standard for housing in Northern Ireland), this is recognised as outdated and offers inadequate protection. In England, the fitness standard’ was replaced by … Read more