Family intervention tenancies: the de(marginalisation) of social tenants?

Abstract

This paper discusses the introduction by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 of Family Intervention Tenancies (FITs), i.e. voluntary, non-secure tenancies granted by social landlords to those against whom possession has, or could, have been ordered in relation to their current homes because of anti-social behaviour. FITs are used in conjunction with Family Intervention Projects, the aim of which is to improve behaviour by providing tenants (and/or members of their households) with intensive support services. FITs will usually run for between 6 months and 1 year. Once the support programme has ended, they may be converted into a more secure form of tenancy. The paper considers whether FITs are another example of ‘authoritarian intervention’ in the private lives of a ‘marginalised underclass’, or of welfare conditionality or whether, by contrast, they offer an opportunity for the ‘de-marginalisation’ of certain tenants, breaking cycles of deprivation and social exclusion.

Keywords:

• anti-social behaviour
• family intervention tenancies
• housing

Notes

1. Protection from Eviction Act 1977, s.5(1).

2. [2009] EWCA 587.

3. Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s.1(1).

4. Housing Act 1996, s.153A.

5. Housing Act 1985, s.85A; Housing Act 1988, s.9A.

6. [2005] HLR 28 (CA).

7. [2001] 33 HLR 58 (CA).

8. Cumming v. Danson [1942] 2 All ER 653 (CA).