ABSTRACT

Evictions are a common contributing factor to homelessness and are experienced overwhelmingly by vulnerable populations, including low-income households, single parents, and minority groups. At the same time, social and affordable housing providers serve increasingly vulnerable populations. Although all evictions are potentially problematic, those that occur in social and affordable housing can carry particularly severe consequences. Little research exists on evictions in social and affordable housing, and there is even less on eviction prevention practices in this sector. This project seeks to fill this research gap by exploring emerging eviction prevention practices in social and affordable housing in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Our findings show that evictions are a complicated process for both tenants and housing providers, and most commonly occur because of rent arrears. Housing providers try to prevent evictions, and toward this end, they have adopted four broad eviction prevention practices, centered on financial management, regular communication with tenants, provision of tenant supports, and community development. However, housing providers are often constrained in their ability to prevent evictions, in particular by human resource and financial limitations. These challenges lead to complex negotiations between housing providers’ social mandates to provide affordable housing to vulnerable households and their regulatory and operational environments.

摘要

驱逐是导致无家可归的一个常见因素，弱势群体绝大多数都经历过驱逐，包括低收入家庭、单亲父母和少数群体。与此同时，社会保障房和经济适用房供应商为日益脆弱的人群提供服务。尽管所有驱逐都可能存在问题，但发生在社会和经济适用房中的驱逐可能会带来特别严重的后果。关于社会住房和经济适用房中的驱逐的研究很少，关于该部门的驱逐预防做法的研究更少。该项目旨在通过探索加拿大艾伯塔省埃德蒙顿社会和经济适用房中新兴的驱逐预防实践来填补这一研究空白。我们的调查结果表明，驱逐对租户和住房提供者来说都是一个复杂的过程，最常见的原因是拖欠租金。住房提供者试图防止驱逐，为此，他们采取了四种广泛的驱逐预防做法，以财务管理、与租户的定期沟通、提供租户支持和社区发展为中心。然而，住房提供者通常在防止驱逐的能力方面受到限制，特别是受到人力资源和财务限制。这些挑战导致住房提供者为弱势家庭提供经济适用房的社会使命及其监管和运营环境之间进行复杂的谈判。定期与租户沟通，提供租户支持和社区发展。然而，住房提供者通常在防止驱逐的能力方面受到限制，特别是受到人力资源和财务限制。这些挑战导致住房提供者为弱势家庭提供经济适用房的社会使命及其监管和运营环境之间进行复杂的谈判。定期与租户沟通，提供租户支持和社区发展。然而，住房提供者通常在防止驱逐的能力方面受到限制，特别是受到人力资源和财务限制。这些挑战导致住房提供者为弱势家庭提供经济适用房的社会使命及其监管和运营环境之间进行复杂的谈判。