Lockdown. Rundown. Breakdown. The COVID-19 lockdown and the impact of poor-quality housing on occupants in the North of England

The study ‘Lockdown, Rundown, Breakdown’ was rapidly mobilised in May 2020 in response to the UK national lockdown, which was implemented in March 2020 as a means of containing the spread of COVID-19. It draws on the analysis of visual representations and semi-structured interviews with 50 residents living in poor-quality accommodation and eight professionals in the North of England, UK. The fieldwork concluded in July 2020, and the findings reflect the concerns, impacts and lived experiences of households living through the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. The research had the following objectives:

1. To document the day-to-day lived experiences of the lockdown of people living in poor-quality accommodation in the private rented and owner-occupied sectors.
2. To identify coping strategies, associated issues and concerns of people living in those housing situations (e.g. employment, welfare, wellbeing, health and care).
3. To identify whether and in what ways poor-quality accommodation has impacted on people’s experiences of the lockdown.
4. To ascertain the views and experiences of those working to support people in their homes from organisations in the statutory and community and voluntary sectors.