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Professor Kim McKee

Professor of Housing & Social Policy

Housing Studies Rm 3T18, R G Bomont Building, Â鶹´«Ã½AV

Professor Kim McKee

Contact details

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http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/kimmckee

About me

I am a Professor of Housing & Social Policy within the Division of Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology.

My first degree was an MA (Joint Hons) in Sociology & Social Policy followed by a PhD in Urban Studies at Glasgow University. Since then I¡¯ve worked in a range of disciplinary environments researching people, place, and policy in a housing context. I am an international expert in housing inequalities and private rented sector precarity and I have published widely on these topics. My research is both applied and theoretically informed. It is underpinned by qualitative epistemologies that emphasise lived experience and the emotions of housing.

I am currently a member of the International Editorial Advisory Board for the journal Housing Studies and the Housing Education in Scotland Steering Group. I'm also a peer-reviewer for a range of academic publishers and research funders.

I¡¯ve previously held varied leadership roles within journals, learned societies, housing organisations and research centres/groups, and been an invited member of various advisory boards, across my 20-year academic career.

My qualitative research focuses on housing inequalities, and the relations of power and governance underpinning these. I've published widely on these topics, including 45+ articles in high impact journals. Areas of expertise include:

  • precarity in the private rented sector
  • young peoples' housing and 'generation rent'
  • intersectional and place-based stigma
  • home, wellbeing and the emotions of housing
  • community ownership of social housing & place-based knowledge

My research has been supported by a wide range of funders including the ESRC, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Carnegie Foundation, the Scottish Government, and various public, voluntary and charitable sector organisations. During my career I've led/contributed to 20+ projects with a total value exceeding ?9 million. Current projects are listed on the research tab.

Divisional / Faculty Contribution

Advisor of Studies, Housing Studies Programme (2019-)

Co-Leader, Public Services and Governance Research Group (2020-)

Programme Director (Housing Studies & Housing Studies with internship) (2019-)

University Research Committee

Event / Presentation

Interviewed for Under One Roof podcast series - Making a House a Home, Rental Reform Across the UK (Nov 2024)

Invited speaker, Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Housing Online Seminar, 20 March 2025

Invited speaker: 'Inclusive Spaces - retrofitting to adapt our homes'

Invited speaker, GWSF 50th Anniversary of First Community-Based Housing Associations event, 29 April 2025

Invited speaker, OchilView Housing Association AGM, September 2024

Invited Speaker, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations Conference , 11 June 2024
Housing education panel on: What Skills Do Our Teams Need in the Future?

Invited Speaker, Share's Annual Conference 15 March 2024
Panellist on housing education session.

Invited webinar for Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities 14 March 2024
What do low-income private renters want to see change in Scotland¡¯s private rented sector? Co-presented with Dr T Simcock (Huddersfield).

Invited webinar for Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government 12 March 2025
Webinar for MHCLG on: 'the?power?of?qualitative?methods?in supporting housing and healthy ageing' (National Science Week)

Keynote, Housing Studies Association conference, 16 April 2024
Plenary: 'Housing Precarity, the emotions of housing & wellbeing impacts'

Plenary Speaker, Housing & Welfare Research International Seminar (HOUSINGWEL - Oslo Metropolitan), November 2024

Presentation on: Generation Rent, Crisis, Precarity & the Emotions of Housing

Other Academic Activities

Opinion Piece: Scotland¡¯s commitment to housing education & professionalism

Research Advisory Group member, Safe Suffolk Renters Project (2024-)

Research featured in Dazed magazine: 'Is the idea of Generation Rent a myth?'

Professional Career

Housing Education in Scotland Steering Group

Professional qualification

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research projects (5)

Intersectional Stigma of Place-based Ageing
PI: Professor Vikki McCall
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
¨C

UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE)
PI: Professor Kim McKee
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
¨C

What do lower income tenants in Scotland¡¯s private rented sector want to see from a new Rented Sector Strategy?
PI: Professor Kim McKee
Funded by: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
¨C

Choice, Constraint and Conditional Citizenship: analysing migrant homelessness within 'crimmigration' systems
PI: Dr Regina Serpa
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
¨C

Making a House a ¡®Home¡¯ in the Private Rented Sector: Good Practice Guidance for Landlords
PI: Professor Kim McKee
Funded by: Safe Deposit Scotland Charitable Trust (SDS)
¨C

Outputs (106)

Showing 100 of 106 ¡ª See all 106 outputs

Website Content

Gender and Precarity

McKee K (2023) Gender and Precarity. [Blog] 13.01.2023. https://housingevidence.ac.uk/gender-and-precarity/

Project Report

What do lower income tenants in Scotland¡¯s private rented sector want to see from a new Rented Sector? Summary Report

Simcock T, McKee K, Marsh A, Harris J, Moore T, Soaita A & James G (2022) What do lower income tenants in Scotland¡¯s private rented sector want to see from a new Rented Sector? Summary Report. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Glasgow. https://housingevidence.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Low_income_renters_priorities_for_change_scotland_synthesis_report_sept_2022.pdf

Project Report

What do lower income tenants in Scotland¡¯s private rented sector want to see from a new Rented Sector: Emergent findings briefing.

Simcock T, McKee K, Soaita A, Harris J, Moore T, Marsh A & James G (2021) What do lower income tenants in Scotland¡¯s private rented sector want to see from a new Rented Sector: Emergent findings briefing.. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence. Glasgow. https://housingevidence.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Tenant_Insights_Scotland_CaCHE_Briefing_DEC2021.pdf

Newspaper / Magazine

The role of PRS landlords in making a rented house a home

Rolfe S & McKee K (2021) The role of PRS landlords in making a rented house a home. Housing Quality Magazine. 11.03.2021, pp. 13-14. https://hqnetwork.co.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n17645.pdf&ver=39978

Website Content

The Role of PRS Landlords in Making a Rented House a Home

Rolfe S & McKee K (2021) The Role of PRS Landlords in Making a Rented House a Home . Housing Studies Association [blog] 04.02.2021. https://www.housing-studies-association.org/articles/276-the-role-of-prs-landlords-in-making-a-rented-house-a-home

Technical Report

Making a home in the private rented sector: An evidence review

McKee K, Rolfe S, Feather J, Simcock T & Hoolachan J (2021) Making a home in the private rented sector: An evidence review. SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust. Â鶹´«Ã½AV: Â鶹´«Ã½AV. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bURQzv7G6-hAuGPqNT_yVqFNIVr0KshF/view

Website Content

Housing Exclusion in the English Rental Market

McKee K & Preece J (2020) Housing Exclusion in the English Rental Market. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence [Blog post] 03.03.2020. https://housingevidence.ac.uk/housing-exclusion-in-the-english-rental-market/

Research Report

Forms and Mechanisms of Exclusion in Contemporary Housing Systems: a scoping study

Preece J, Bimpson E, Robinson D, McKee K & Flint J (2020) Forms and Mechanisms of Exclusion in Contemporary Housing Systems: a scoping study. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE). Glasgow. https://housingevidence.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/200204-forms-and-mechanisms-of-exclusion-in-contemporary-housing-systems_final.pdf

Newspaper / Magazine

Life renting puts young under stress

Bugler T (2018) Life renting puts young under stress. McKee K (Researcher) & Soaita AM (Researcher) The Times. 31.08.2018.

Project Report

The 'frustrated' housing aspirations of generation rent

McKee K & Soaita AM (2018) The 'frustrated' housing aspirations of generation rent. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence Research Report, R2018_06_01. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. http://housingevidence.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/R2018_06_01_Frustrated_Housing_Aspirations_of_Gen_Rent.pdf

Website Content

BLOG: HSA Sponsored Event - the Immigration Act and Public Services

McKee K & Leahy S (2018) BLOG: HSA Sponsored Event - the Immigration Act and Public Services. HSA: The Forum for Housing-Related Research and Debate (HSA News) [Blog post] 04.07.2018. https://housing-studies-association.org/2018/07/blog-hsa-sponsored-event-the-immigration-act-and-public-services/

Research Report

Household Changes and Housing Provision (invitee chapter)

Graham E, Fiori F & McKee K (2017) Household Changes and Housing Provision (invitee chapter). National Records for Scotland. Edinburgh. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/stats-at-a-glance/registrar-generals-annual-review/2016/chapter-10-invited-chapter

Edited Book

Decentring Urban Governance: Narratives, Resistance and Contestation

Bevir M, McKee K & Matthews P (eds.) (2017) Decentring Urban Governance: Narratives, Resistance and Contestation. Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy. New York and London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Decentring-Urban-Governance-Narratives-Resistance-and-Contestation/Bevir-McKee-Matthews/p/book/9781138229372

Article

'Generation Rent' and The Fallacy of Choice

McKee K, Moore T, Soaita A & Crawford J (2017) 'Generation Rent' and The Fallacy of Choice. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 41 (2), pp. 318-333. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12445

Policy Document

CHR Briefings 5: Immigration Act 2016 - more harm than good?

Simeonova M, Leahy S & McKee K (2016) CHR Briefings 5: Immigration Act 2016 - more harm than good?. Unfunded. St Andrews, Scotland. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/9493/CHR_Briefing_5.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Preprint / Working Paper

CHR Briefing 4 - Housing Young People in Rural Areas

Hoolachan J, McKee K & Moore T (2016) CHR Briefing 4 - Housing Young People in Rural Areas. Centre for Housing Research. CHR Briefings, 4. St Andrews. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/8395/CHR_Briefing_Paper_4.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Book Chapter

Social Housing and the "New Localism": A Strategy of Governance for Austere Times

McKee K (2016) Social Housing and the "New Localism": A Strategy of Governance for Austere Times. In: Bevir M (ed.) Governmentality After Neoliberalism. Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy, 25. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 111-134. https://www.routledge.com/Governmentality-after-Neoliberalism/Bevir/p/book/9781138923447

Project Report

Affordable Housing Need in Scotland, Final Report - September 2015

Powell R, Dunning R, McKee K & Ferrari E (2015) Affordable Housing Need in Scotland, Final Report - September 2015. Shelter Scotland, CIH Scotland and SFHA. Edinburgh. https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1190871/7909_Final_Housing_Needs_Research.pdf

Preprint / Working Paper

CHR Briefing 3: Housing Aspirations of People in Scotland

McKee K, Moore T & Crawford J (2015) CHR Briefing 3: Housing Aspirations of People in Scotland. Scottish Government. University of St Andrews. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/7541/CHR_Briefing_3.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Other

Mind the Housing Wealth Gap WS4: summary research design

McKee K (2015) Mind the Housing Wealth Gap WS4: summary research design. Leverhulme. University of St Andrews. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/8278/mckee_2015_Research_Design_WS4.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Research Report

Housing 'Generation Rent'

McKee K & Hoolachan J (2015) Housing 'Generation Rent'. Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. CHR Briefing, 2. St Andrews. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6895

Policy Document

Young people: tenure choices and welfare - summary findings

Soaita AM & McKee K (2015) Young people: tenure choices and welfare - summary findings. Leverhulme. St Andrews. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/8280/End_Briefing_WS4.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Policy Document

CHR Briefing 2: Housing 'Generation Rent'

McKee K & Hoolachan J (2015) CHR Briefing 2: Housing 'Generation Rent'. Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. St Andrews. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/6895/Generation_Rent_Briefing_Paper.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Article

The Ownership of Assets by Place-based Community Organisations: political rationales, geographies of social impact and future research agendas

Moore T & McKee K (2014) The Ownership of Assets by Place-based Community Organisations: political rationales, geographies of social impact and future research agendas. Social Policy and Society, 13 (4), pp. 1-13. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-policy-and-society/article/ownership-of-assets-by-placebased-community-organisations-political-rationales-geographies-of-social-impact-and-future-research-agendas/6A90860EBD5F28ECBAFD51EB869E20A6; https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746413000481

Preprint / Working Paper

Briefing 2: Localism and New Housing Futures

Moore T & McKee K (2014) Briefing 2: Localism and New Housing Futures. ESRC. St Andrews. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/5106/Localism_Housing_Futures_Briefing_2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Policy Document

Briefing 1: The Big Society and Welfare Reform

McKee K, Moore T & Muir J (2014) Briefing 1: The Big Society and Welfare Reform. ESRC. The Big Society, Localism and Housing Policy, ES/J021172/1. Swindon. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4975

Book Chapter

Foucauldian Analysis

McKee K (2012) Foucauldian Analysis. In: Smith SJ (ed.) International Encyclopaedia of Housing and Home. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Consultancy Report

Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations' Response to the Scottish Government's Regeneration Discussion Document: Building a Sustainable Future

McKee K (2011) Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations' Response to the Scottish Government's Regeneration Discussion Document: Building a Sustainable Future. Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations. Glasgow: Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/1849

See all 106 outputs

Teaching

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Since 2019 I have been Director of the PGDip/MSc in Housing Studies programme, which is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Housing and was successfully revalidated in 2020. This is a flexible distance learning programme for part time students, and includes an internship route for those wishing to develop a new career in housing. I have also written and presented on topics relating to housing education and reflective practice.

I co-ordinate HOUP001 (Housing Services) & HOUP002 (Sustainable Communities) and HOUP009/HOUP011 (Housing Research Project). I also contribute to undergraduate teaching & supervision within Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology programmes (SPCU902, SPCU9PB ).

I am an experienced PhD supervisor and examiner, and I've also mentored externally funded postdoctoral fellows. I'm open to supervising PhD students/postdocs in my areas of expertise and with a focus on qualitative methods:

CURRENT PhD STUDENTS: Player (2020-) Narratives of People who use Drugs in Deindustrialised areas of Scotland (part-time) & Mshaye (2021-) Asylum Seekers in Glasgow: gendered and racialised lived experiences; SGSSS studentship starting 2025 (Housing Precarity in the Scottish PRS - disabled people, their families & their carers' experiences).

Research programmes

Research centres/groups

Research themes