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The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the role of culture in general, and social distance in particular, in influencing the choice and efficiency of various contractual modes in developing country agriculture. It aims to focus on sharecropping, but the model of social distance can be applied to any contract, mainly those in close‐knit village societies.

Principal components analysis (PCA) is used in the study to develop a social distance index for all sharecroppers, which is included as an independent variable in land productivity ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions.

Findings indicate social distance is a key determinant in sharecropping efficiency for marginal tenant farmers in rural Nepal. Specifically, social distance is found to be a significant factor in explaining land productivity differentials between owned land and sharecropped land.

Future research hopes to see whether social distance is also a significant factor in the efficiency and choice of bonded labor contracts. It intends to use simple OLS regressions for sharecroppers and bonded laborers separately in which: input use and land productivity are separate dependent variables, and the various factors or proxies of social distance are independent variables to test for their particular impact; each type of contract is the dependent variable to see the extent to which social distance affects the choice of tenancy; and social distance is the dependent variable so one can see the specific impact of different proxies. Given the small sample (although representative), the strong results in this paper are limited.

From a policy standpoint, the results suggest that a relatively egalitarian agrarian structure, insofar as it results in lower social distances among parties to land and labor contracts, would have a positive impact on productivity. Therefore, the object of agrarian reforms should not be to alter or constrain the form of contracts (for example by banning sharecropping) but rather to improve the social relations among contracting parties.

This paper is original and provides value in three ways: a conceptually and theoretically innovative model that explains sharecropping efficiency independent of standard explanations of market imperfections, transaction costs, and risk; in developing a new measure of social distance that allows the data to determine the weights of the independent variables in constructing social distance; and to see the need to more importantly study the changing social relations on which contracts are based and are often only one element of.

This paper considers the evolution of government policies regarding the provision of housing in the private rented sector and the regulation of landlord behaviour by mapping this onto known regulatory theory. It argues that the current regulatory trajectory is highly problematic both from the perspective of land law (by further attenuating the conception of property rights) and indeed regulatory compliance.

The approach maps successive governments’ policy stance, what is known of the configuration of the sector and the current demand for housing against evolving regulatory theory (in particular compliance). The piece draws on both property theory and economic analysis.

Enrolling private sector landlords to enforce policies, other than those relating to the landlord and tenant relation (as indicated by the “right to rent” provisions), and attempts at professionalizing the sector may be highly problematic. Furthermore, the growth of regulation may impose an increasing regulatory burden on a significant proportion of the sector, namely, the smaller landlord especially those owning who own only one property.

The hypothesis has not been tested aside in a generalized manner by making reference to the evidence obtained by other researchers and landlord associations. It is for other researchers who may wish to test the hypothesis empirically.

This paper includes a view that has not (to the author’s knowledge) been expressly articulated by Government or through its policies and is one which it may wish to reflect upon.

This paper adopts a novel stance by deploying regulatory theory with understandings of property to highlight potential adverse effects.

The purpose of this paper is to help landlords and property managers to understand what they can do to increase tenants’ satisfaction and propensity to renew their lease, and their willingness to recommend their landlord to other people.

This paper analyses almost 5,000 interviews with private rented sector (PRS) tenants in the UK, conducted over a four-year period, to investigate determinants of resident satisfaction, loyalty (lease renewal) and willingness to recommend their landlord. Statistical analysis is performed using respondents’ ratings of satisfaction with many aspects of their occupancy as explanatory variables. Comparisons are made between interviewees who renew their lease and those who do not renew.

The research finds that “ease of doing business” with their landlord is a strong predictor of residents’ satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy. Other key indicators for lease renewal include relationship management, rent collection and residents’ perception of receiving value for money. Tenants’ willingness to recommend their landlord depends mainly on their relationship with their landlord, how the landlord compares with tenants’ previous landlords and the property management service they receive.

Limitations to this research include the fact that the residents have a single landlord and live on a single estate, one with particular cultural significance, therefore potentially restricting the general applicability of the findings. Although the sample size is large, the number of residents who have reached the end of their lease is relatively small, because the estate has only been occupied by PRS tenants since 2014.

Over the past five years, the PRS has become a significant asset class for institutional investors in the UK. This research should help to improve the landlord – tenant relationship in the PRS, and to increase occupancy rates without compromising rents.

The large sample size in this research, and the use of repeat interviews at various stages of a resident’s occupancy, highlight early signs of discontent that a landlord can act upon to reduce the risk of a tenant moving elsewhere.

This study aims to offer a mid-range theory conceptualization of factors central to understanding and facilitating business actor engagement (BAE). Reports on a study of real estate companies and their sustainable development goal (SDG) driven business initiatives. The aim is to identify the factors that need to be in place to facilitate positive engagement amongst actors in business-to-business (B2B) settings.

A case study of real estate companies (landlords of business premises) and their business customers (tenants of offices and warehouses) – comprising interviews and workshops – offer insights related to the factors that need to be in place to facilitate BAE types and outcomes.

The identified central factors of BAE – needed to understand and facilitate positive engagement to unfold – are the actors’ perception of: willingness (to act), resourcefulness (to contribute and solve issues) and influence (to affect decisions) regarding solutions related to the business initiative at hand. Failing to facilitate these factors may result in negative outcomes of BAE where “engagement” merely constitutes perceived obligations and responsibilities.

The study offers theoretical and managerial insights on how to manage the factors needed for BAE. It also sheds light on how actors can use SDG-driven business initiatives to achieve sustainability goals.

It contributes to the concept of BAE, by emphasizing the dynamics of engagement, from the motivational and behavioral dimensions specific to B2B settings. It offers insights how to managerially cogovern rather than control BAE. It presents central factors needed to include and capacitate customers, facilitating successful implementations of SDG-driven business initiatives to reduce absent or negative outcomes.

In February 1984 Mr Ian Gow, the then Minister of Housing and Construction, established a Committee of Inquiry on the management of privately owned blocks of flats, under the chairmanship of the distinguished barrister Edward Nugee QC. The committee's report was published in the summer of 1985 and many of its recommendations are now set to become law. The proposed legislative changes will have major implications for both landlords and tenants of blocks of flats. The Nugee Report was the culmination of a series of papers in the past few years reflecting an increasing concern over the state of many blocks of flats. Recent publications on the subject include the James Report, produced by a working party established by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and a paper emanating from the Building Societies Association entitled ‘Leasehold — Time for Change’ which urged the adoption of a system of strata title for properties in multiple occupation. No one should underestimate the difficulties which the Committee of Inquiry faced. ‘Bad flat management’ covers a multitude of different situations which can be viewed from numerous different perspectives. Disputes are not just confined to those between landlord and tenant. There are conflicts between the tenants themselves, particularly in older blocks built to be rented but broken up by the grant of long leases. Add to this the further complication that many blocks are now run by managing agents who may themselves be involved in battles with either the landlord or his tenants, and it will rapidly become clear that there were no simple solutions to be found. Each recommendation had to take account of all the potential problems and not simply tackle one at the expense of exacerbating another.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the emic theme of “unqualified social work” as part of the process of property management in a self-described “letting agency with a difference” in Edinburgh, set in the context of the rapid expansion of the private rented sector.

The paper is based upon ethnographic data from participant observation in a letting agency and unstructured interviews with their employees.

The paper suggests that the shift in Scotland in terms of the provision of housing and housing-related services from the public sector to the private rented sector in recent decades has engendered new social and economic relations in which property managers become “unqualified social workers”.

The paper aims to exemplify how anthropology and ethnographic research may contribute to the understanding of the private rented sector and of property management.

The paper aims to contribute to the wider literature on the private rented sector by foregrounding the role of the property manager. The paper also brings an analysis derived from the anthropology of ethics to an ethnographic understanding of property management and the private rented sector.

Much like their residential counterparts, commercial leases have a reputation problem. Although often derided as painfully dull and mundane documents, residential leases have begun to be interrogated by socio-legal scholarship with renewed interest. This paper aims to continue this line of work in the commercial context through a detailed examination of a widespread form of leasehold in the pub sector: the “tied lease”.

The paper draws on interviews with 14 publicans and archival research.

The author argues that the lease is a decisive actor in determining the balance of power between publicans and pub-owning companies and shaping the physical environment of pubs in the UK.

The author’s broader agenda is to argue that socio-legal scholars’ renewed interest in leases should not be confined to the residential context: commercial leases warrant far greater socio-legal scholarly attention.

The Immigration Act (2014) at Part 3 established a new regime with private landlords incurring penalties (and potentially criminal liability from 1 November 2016) if they allow a person disqualified, by reason of migration status, to reside in a property as their only or main home. Known colloquially as the “right to rent”, the provisions restrict access to accommodation and impose onerous duties on landlords to check tenants’ migration status. The purpose of this paper is to consider how a change in the emphasis of regulation introduced by the provisions, resulted in the coalescence of opposition by landlords and renters in a way that historically would have been unthinkable.

Using the lens of Foucault’s governmentality, it is possible to see how Government sought to shift the locus of control from itself to the landlord, which through its legislative and policy stance resulted in such fierce opposition as evidenced by the first instance challenge to the provisions in R (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants) v SS for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 452 (Admin).

The focus of regulation introduced by the provisions resulted in the coalescence of opposition by landlords and renters in a way that historically would have been unthinkable. Landlords and renters are usually thought of as being in opposition, but not so here. This may offer hope for more productive regulatory outcomes where both parties work together. It may also suggest that encroaching on the notion of private rights and interests in law could result in counterproductive consequences.

Unlike Foucault’s notion of surveillance and control, governmentality shifts the emphasis from a hierarchical conception of government to practices including self (imposed) governance – with here, the landlord being required to act as a proxy for border agents. This suggests that there may exist boundaries beyond which, in a given context, it might be unwise for Government to step without adverse consequences. Foucault’s ideas provide a starting point, but do not give us all of the answers.

The coalescence of opposing actors can be a significant force to challenge government given the extent of their knowledge of the given context. It may also suggest a route to a more collaborative form of regulation.

A novel theoretical take on an issue of concern raised by practitioners and interest groups alike.

The covenant strength of flexible workspace (FW) providers as tenants is debatable. There is the argument that providers are risky mainly due to the very nature of their business which consists of volatile revenue streams obtained from subletting the space in membership format, paying little attention to covenants. On the other hand, there is also the argument that the presence of a provider can add vibrancy and diversity to a building whilst also offering an additional amenity to existing tenants through overflow space, making FW providers desirable. This paper aims to explore this ambiguity by comparing rents paid by FW providers and other tenants within the same building in London over the period 2011 to 2021.

Using a dataset of 1,042 leases in London over the period of 2011–2021 which was extracted from CoStar, the rent conditions of FW providers and their peers within the same building were analysed employing a hedonic pricing model.

The results of the analysis suggest that FW providers have a negative and statistically significant effect on the effective rent in comparison to other tenants within the same building over the analysed period.

This analysis has the potential to identify how FW providers are perceived in the market and offers both academics and practitioners valuable insights.

The relationship between landlords and FW providers as tenants does not have a major coverage in the literature.

It was not until the late 1960s that housing attracted much attention from academic social scientists. Since that time the literature has expanded widely and diversified, establishing housing with a specialised status in economics, sociology, politics, and in related subjects. As we would expect, the new literature covers a technical, statistical, theoretical, ideological, and historical range. Housing studies have not been conceived and interpreted in a monolithic way, with generally accepted concepts and principles, or with uniformly fixed and precise methodological approaches. Instead, some studies have been derived selectively from diverse bases in conventional theories in economics or sociology, or politics. Others have their origins in less conventional social theory, including neo‐Marxist theory which has had a wider intellectual following in the modern democracies since the mid‐1970s. With all this diversity, and in a context where ideological positions compete, housing studies have consequently left in their wake some significant controversies and some gaps in evaluative perspective. In short, the new housing intellectuals have written from personal commitments to particular cognitive, theoretical, ideological, and national positions and experiences. This present piece of writing takes up the two main themes which have emerged in the recent literature. These themes are first, questions relating to building and developing housing theory, and, second, the issue of how we are to conceptualise housing and relate it to policy studies. We shall be arguing that the two themes are closely related: in order to create a useful housing theory we must have awareness and understanding of housing practice and the nature of housing.