Making adequate housing accessible to those entitled to it.

A Place To Call Home is a master’s thesis project that explores fair access to housing in Scotland’s private rented sector. It follows a co-design approach to design systems-level proposals that transform renting for vulnerable tenants.

The challenges of Generation Rent

Generation Rent is the term given to the increasing number of young individuals (upto the age of 40) who are spending a longer time of their lives in rented housing.

Scotland’s private rented sector is characterised by high competition and a lack of regulation. Discrimination in the form of landlord screening criteria, triggered by personal bias or surrounding imbalanced legislation, has resulted in certain tenants being routinely being denied the right to adequate housing. It has driven our community’s most vulnerable into the current housing emergency, with many struggling to access a home that supports their needs and nurtures their wellbeing.

Co-design process

What does the future of housing look like when every tenant is given a fair opportunity to build a stable life and flourish, through their homes? How can my own experiences as an immigrant & student, who has chosen a new country to be her home, contribute value? This project was developed based on lived experiences and active participation of tenants, landlords and frontline housing providers. Adopting playful research methods like provocative artefacts and game-based workshops, I engaged those involved in the housing system to inform policy changes and co-create a design outcome.

Design proposal

This proposal is an inclusive housing strategy that enables fair opportunity for disadvantaged tenants to access an adequate rented home.

It introduces the “Fair Housing Opportunity Scheme” to protect tenants’ basic right to housing. The scheme regulates the tenant screening process by having it mandatory to make rental applications through a government approved third party (the “Scottish Fair Housing Forum”). It is supplemented by recommended policy changes that aim to tackle discriminatory practices through a system built on care and social justice.

A step towards sustainable development

The UN recognises that housing inequalities can eventually affect every citizen, and the economy. This project aims to support tenants’ wellbeing, with the larger vision of making cities inclusive and sustainable. I believe that our pursuit of the broad objective of sustainable development starts by being given a fair chance. So tenants are felt included in the housing system, and can each tell their own story in calling a place Home.