Class-based punishment? How legislation to evict social tenants involved in riots is unjust

Part of the ‘fightback’ by the Coalition Government against the 2011 riots was to take tough action on sections of Britain’s society that were supposedly ‘without control’. Gareth Young outlines the effects of unjust amendments to a Department for Communities and Local Government paper that suggested social housing providers can take possession of a property where a tenant is involved in a riot. Despite vociferous opposition from much of the housing sector and a U-turn by one local authority attempting to pursue the eviction of a tenant, the proposal transitioned into legislation in March 2014.