The voices of vulnerable tenants in renovation

Abstract

Abstract This paper focuses on the intersection between agendas for housing renovation and social politics for ageing-in-place and social integration of people with psycologial disabilities. The aim is to understand how elderly tenants and people on a longer sick leave are affected by a renovation. In a sample of 79 interviews, 34 tenants decided to permanently relocate as a results of a renovation. When the renovation is a driver for permanent relocation, tenants do so to avoid disturbances and temporal evacuation. If the home is subjet to a comprehensive or deep renovation, rent increases is another reinforcing factor to relocate. While tenants that move prior to a renovation worry about how the renovation will affect their daily life and their economy, tenants that move after the renovation do so because they are dissatisfied with the results of the renovation. The findings calls for awareness for how housing renovation will affect vulnerable tenants and highlights the need for the design or appropriate communication strategies.