Living in Non-permanent Accommodation in England: Liminal Experiences of Home

Abstract

This paper reports research on people who live in housing that is defined as non-permanent by policy makers in England, and focuses on two particular groups: residents of park homes and residential boaters. The paper emphasises how the distinctive environments in which such housing is set may facilitate particular lifestyles, contributing to residents' identities. The notion of liminality is used as a framework to help understand the views of residents, highlighting the diversity of their experiences. Both park home residents and residential boaters ascribed a range of positive qualities to the environments in which they lived, underscored by the perception that the spaces that such accommodation occupied were often associated with leisure. Nevertheless, the nature of tenure relations in both settings potentially leads to vulnerabilities in the way that some people can maintain these lifestyles. These positive and negative facets were reflected in ambivalent feelings towards home both between groups of respondents and within individuals.

Keywords:

• Non-permanent
• park home
• boat
• meaning of home
• liminality
• lifestyle

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the Economic and Social Research Council for funding the research upon which this paper is based (project RES 000-22-2279). Thanks are also due to the anonymous referees for providing very helpful advice and criticism on the paper.