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In most nations homelessness remains a major injustice. A key response in Wales has been the introduction of a pioneering justiciable right to homelessness prevention and relief assistance. This paper explores the complexities of the new welfare bureaucracy this has created. We explore whether these housing rights invoke a paradox, whereby the positive impacts for citizens are accompanied by distancing and exclusion. The study reveals both a faceless bureaucracy characterised by processes of silencing and subordination propped up by tools of exclusion, particularly impenetrable paperwork, but also a system that can work to grant housing rights to those in need of support. There is no evidence for an utterly 'faceless tyrant' of a bureaucratic system, due to the often-inclusive ways that frontline staff operate, frequently at the margins of the law (Arendt 1970). Thus, this paper draws attention to the complexities inherent in a rights-based homelessness system and the paradoxical nature of attempting to grant housing rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The housing experiences of young people are a contemporary global concern, with the exacerbation of young people's housing problems in many countries reported widely in the media and raising important policy questions. In response, this special issue of theInternational Journal of Housing Policypresents new empirical research from Europe and East Asia and seeks to identify key areas for improvement in national housing policies. This editorial summarises the main housing issues identified in the special issue articles and identifies the emergence of two cross-cutting policy challenges. The first challenge is to ensure all young people have an equal opportunity to leave the family home and live independently. This will require a much greater awareness of the political, economic and cultural forces restricting young people's transitions. The second key policy challenge is to improve the suitability and availability of housing for young people, with studies in this special issue specifically pointing towards an improved private rented sector and further provision of shared housing. Articles in this special issue indicate that a failure to respond to these significant housing policy challenges will have wide reaching social and economic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paradigm shift in international homelessness policies towards a prevention focus has resulted in proven benefits to society and most importantly to individuals at risk of homelessness. Across the developed world, homelessness prevention is being pursued with vigour alongside existing homelessness interventions and yet there has been no pause for a systematic evaluation of how prevention fits alongside existing systems. Wales provides the first case where homelessness services have been systematically reviewed since the prevention turn. This paper critically examines the implementation of homelessness prevention in Wales, identifying how deficiencies echo emerging global concerns about the prevention turn. Drawing upon evidence gathered during a review of homelessness legislation in Wales, the paper examines the extent to which emerging proposals for legislative change will overcome problems with prevention. The emerging Welsh homelessness prevention and alleviation duty is seen as a desirable and replicable model of prevention, albeit it offers no panacea to the social tragedy of homelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Informal trading in the global South, particularly in Latin America, is the subject of revanchist urban policy and yet few studies have examined the longer-term impacts of such intolerant policies on traders. This article explores the evolution and impacts of revanchist policies directed at informal traders in the Andean city of Cusco. It makes two key contributions. First, it documents a shift from early revanchist policies to a post-revanchist era where policies have become more tolerant of informal traders. However, contemporary policies fall short of a supportive environment for informal trading, hence the authors recommend changes that will ensure informal traders can access the city's streets and become an accepted part of the urban fabric. Second, given the lack of theoretical attention given to the impacts of revanchism, a battlegrounds framework is developed, consisting of spatial, political, economic and socio-cultural battlegrounds. This framework provides a comprehensive insight into the complex set of interactions that exist between informal traders and the state. It is hoped that the framework will provide a tool for further research into the highly damaging impacts of revanchism across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of enforcement action on individuals and families living in social housing as a mode of intervention for dealing with anti-social behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – Relevant housing legislation and policy documents are reviewed. The paper then draws on empirical data from Shelter Cymru's case file records of households in social housing who have been subject to enforcement action following an allegation of anti-social behaviour. Evidence obtained from other studies on housing intervention projects is used to contrast the position of the households studied with those in similar situations who have been provided with support as an alternative to enforcement action. Findings – The legislative framework favours enforcement as a means of dealing with anti-social behaviour. A number of remedies utilise the management role of social landlords, and the framework of housing tenure, to introduce the concept of "conditionality" into housing entitlement. This approach to the management of anti-social behaviour compounds the social disadvantage of already vulnerable households by undermining long-term security of tenure and thereby increasing the risk of homelessness and social exclusion. These outcomes contrast with those from studies of similar households in receipt of support within housing intervention projects which have been shown to deliver reductions in anti-social behaviour and sustainable outcomes for families, communities, and landlords. Social implications – The findings provide important lessons for the future direction of anti-social behaviour policy throughout the UK and beyond. In the context of devolved polity in the UK the paper argues for the Welsh Assembly Government to take a lead in developing policies and legal responses which recognize the housing rights of marginalised groups, and for the introduction of support into social housing to counter the trend toward punitive treatment of social tenants as a response to anti-social behaviour. Originality/value – The unique nature of the empirical data set from Shelter Cymru's case file records provides an important insight into the social impact of anti-social behaviour law and policy on some of the most vulnerable members of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on child traders in the Peruvian city of Cusco highlights the roles that children play, revealing that children work as traders, either alone or alongside an adult, in 13 per cent of all observed informal trading units in the city centre. More specifically, on the streets, children comprise an even higher proportion: 21 per cent of traders. Interviews with the child street traders reveal the children's agency, with children setting their own prices, occupying different sites to maximise the efficiency of their trading activities, and with those of different ages and gender adopting different roles within an apparent trader hierarchy. Given their considerable resilience to a large police presence, the child traders are entrenched in the city centre, and achieving the policy goal of removing them from the central streets is likely to require consumer education against buying from children, as well as cooperation from the parents and children themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]