Political Economy, Inequality, and the Private Rental Sector

As societies struggle to respond to the revival of private renting, this book offers the first comprehensive and critical account of the inequality at the heart of contemporary housing systems. Bringing together cutting-edge research and case studies from a host of countries — from the USA to Australia, from Spain to Germany — Michael Byrne examines inequality, financialization, the rise of 'generation landlord' and evictions. He analyses the everyday power dynamics between landlords and tenants and the social and economic structures that mean the ownership of residential property is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Moving beyond the kind of thinking that treats landlordism as natural and inevitable, Byrne's political economy framework demonstrates how declining homeownership and its consequences for inequality and housing justice are major political challenges for contemporary societies. At the same time, a new generation of tenant activism can point the way to fairer housing systems.

A groundbreaking study, Beyond Generation Rent is crucial reading for housing researchers, policy-makers, activists and anyone who cares about decent housing for all.