Exploring the relationship between housing conditionsand capabilities: a qualitative case study of privatehostel residentsAdele IrvingDepartment of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UKABSTRACTWhile housing can facilitate many of the freedoms associatedwith a‘well-lived’life, the Capabilities Approach (CA) is yet tohave transformed housing research and evaluation. This paperexplores the relationship between housing conditions and well-being, using Nussbaum’s version of the CA as the basis for ana-lysis. It draws on data from a UK-based qualitative study of theexperiences of individuals residing in privately-run hostels in theNorth of England. The analysis reveals much diversity in terms ofthe ways in which the residents perceived their housing condi-tions and the impacts of these on their exercise of key functions,despite all living in similar environmental conditions. This high-lights the highly subjective and complex nature of the relation-ship between housing conditions and well-being. It is argued thata more robust understanding of the key factors that mediate therelationship being investigated is needed if the potential of theCA to advance housing research and evaluation is to be fur-ther realized.ARTICLE HISTORYReceived 6 June 2019Accepted 28 April 2021KEYWORDSHousing conditions,capabilities, well-beingIntroductionDissatisfaction with traditional income-based measures of individual well-being andsocietal progress over recent decades has resulted in attention turning to alternativeapproaches, with the most prominent developments coming from thinkers working inthe areas of subjective well-being and the capabilities approach (CA) (Binder,2014;Evans,2017). The CA (which is the focus of this paper) advocates that rather thanfocussing on levels of wealth and material resources (or even, desire satisfaction orpreference fulfilment), assessments of well-being should focus on the opportunitiesthat individuals have to lead the kinds of lives they have reason to value (Batterham,2019; Nussbaum,2003). The inclusion of measures focussed on opportunities (or‘capabilities’) are now increasingly commonplace in national and international strat-egies and evaluations of well-being (Diener & Tov,2012; Kimhur,2020). While theCONTACTAdele IrvingAdele2.irving@northumbria.ac.ukß2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work isproperly cited.HOUSING STUDIES2023, VOL. 38, NO. 6, 985–1005https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2021.1928004
strengths, but also complexities, of using capabilities as an evaluative space havealready been debated in a range of policy and practice contexts (see Evans,2017;Hartleyet al.,2005; Hickel,2020), this article addresses this debate in the context ofhousing. Specifically, it explores the impact of objectively poor housing conditions onexperiences of well-being, and the implications of the findings for current thinking inthe field and future housing research. This debate is highly pertinent in the contextof growing levels of homelessness and diminishing access to decent and affordableaccommodation across welfare states (Baptista & Marlier,2019; Fitzpatricket al.,2019).The paper draws upon the findings of a UK-based study of the lived experiencesof a group of individuals living in privately-run hostels, operating at the bottom endof the housing market. This is a property type noted for poor physical standards inthe UK (Barrattet al.,2015; Davies & Rose,2014; Gousy,2016; Ward,2015).Nussbaum’s(2003) version of the CA and specifically, her list of ten‘functions’con-sidered central to a‘well-lived’life, provides the main organizing framework for ana-lysis. The paper begins with a critical review of the theoretical underpinnings andoperationalisability of the CA, followed by a discussion of its relevance to and appli-cation within the field of housing. The paper then presents the findings of the empir-ical study and aims to advance understanding of the relationship between housingconditions and well-being using the language of capabilities and functionings. Theanalysis reveals much diversity in terms of the ways in which the residents perceivedtheir housing conditions and the impacts of these on their exercise of key functions,despite all living in similar environmental conditions. This highlights the highly sub-jective and complex nature of the relationship between housing conditions and well-being. It is suggested that the diversity found is likely to reflect the mediating roleplayed by a range of personal and social factors. As such, the paper advocates theutility of using capabilities as an evaluative space in housing research but argues thata more robust understanding of the nature and ways in which key factors mediatethe relationship between housing conditions and well-being is needed if the potentialof the CA to advance housing research and evaluation (and policy development) is tobe further realized.The capabilities approachAs the CA provides the main organizing framework for this paper, this first sectionwill briefly outline the key features of the approach, its main strengths and suggestedlimitations. The CA–originally developed by Sen in the 1980s–is now an inter-nationally acclaimed and widely accepted approach for conceptualizing, measuringand evaluating well-being at the individual and societal levels (Robeyns,2006).Broadly speaking, the main premise of the CA is that assessments of well-being andsocietal arrangements should not focus on resources or people’s mental states but theextent to which they have the opportunities needed to lead the kinds of lives theyhave reason to value (Alkire,2005; Claphamet al.,2018; Robeyns,2006). Centralhere are the notions of‘functionings’and‘capabilities’.‘Functionings’refers to theachievement of states of being and doing that a person has reason to value.986A. IRVING