My research interests focus on a group of inter-related topics: policy processes; public governance; markets and regulation.

The primary focus of my research is housing markets and housing policy, with a particular focus on regulating the private rented sector in the UK. Recent work has engaged with both price regulation (rent control) and non-price regulation (landlord compliance with property standards).

I’m interested in housing policy for its substance but also as a vehicle for thinking about policy processes more generally. Recurrent interests here relate to the role of evidence; complexity and systems approaches; narratives and framing; the role of futures and foresight.

More recently I have also been looking at smart cities, urban technologies and sociodigital futures. The role of citizens in shaping – or, more typically, not shaping – the sociotechnical direction of urban development. In this work I have, in collaboration with colleagues, been developing distinctive institutionalist approaches. Much of this work has been undertaken in collaboration with colleagues at Anáhuac University in Mexico City.

My current research activities are in the following area:

• Collaborating with Professor Dave Cowan of Cardiff University in writing a book entitled Housing: themes and perspectives. Publication is due in early 2027.
• Phase three of a project developing a systems-informed analysis of compliance in the private rented sector, focusing on non-deterrence mechanisms for influencing compliance.
• Investigating the supported housing system for homeless households in Bristol and how it might be improved, working with my colleague Dave Ingerslev.
• Collaborating with Professor Ken Gibb on an analysis of the last decade of rent control policy in Scotland.
• Starting a project thinking critically about the role of artificial intelligence in policy analysis, working with my colleague Dr Julian Molina.