Beyond Generation Rent: Political Economy, Inequality, and the Private Rental Sector

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Michael Byrne

Beyond Generation Rent

Political Economy, Inequality, and the Private Rental Sector

Michael Byrne

$113.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Polity Press
15 January 2026

Homelessness; Social discrimination; Central government policies; Political economy

As societies struggle to respond to the revival of private renting, this book offers the first comprehensive and critical account of the inequality at the heart of contemporary housing systems. Bringing together cutting-edge research and case studies from a host of countries – from the USA to Australia, from Berlin to Barcelona – Michael Byrne examines inequality, financialization, the rise of ‘generation landlord’, and evictions. He analyses the everyday power dynamics between landlords and tenants and the social and economic structures that mean homeownership is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Moving beyond the kind of thinking that treats landlordism as natural and inevitable, Byrne’s political economy framework demonstrates how declining homeownership and its consequences for inequality and housing justice are major political challenges for contemporary societies. At the same time, a new generation of tenant activism can point the way to fairer housing systems.

A groundbreaking study, Beyond Generation Rent is crucial reading for housing researchers, policy makers, activists, and anyone who cares about decent housing for all.

By: Michael Byrne
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781509563418
ISBN 10: 1509563415
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 15 January 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Michael Byrne is Lecturer in Political Economy at the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice at University College Dublin.