Kath Scanlon

Kath Scanlon is Distinguished Policy Fellow at the London School of Economics and Deputy Director at LSE London– an urban research group specialising in policy-focused research on housing, urban and economic issues in Britain and Europe.

Kath's work examines how housing and urban policy shape residents' lives, neighbourhoods, and public resources. An economist and planner, she designs and directs research projects that investigate housing markets, housing finance, social housing provision and urban development across Europe and beyond. Her research employs mixed methods—combining economic analysis, surveys, ethnographic observation and comparative policy research—with a consistent focus on translating findings into actionable policy recommendations. Kath regularly engages with policymakers, local authorities, housing associations, and civic groups, and has appeared in the Financial Times, BBC, and Sky News, among other media.

Since 2015 she has focused on ways of accelerating new housing development in London, looking at a range of solutions from cohousing and other collaborative approaches to the potential of large-scale private rented schemes. In 2025 she directed a study for London Councils looking at how the current funding arrangements for temporary accommodation for homeless households affect local authority finances. She has also been researching cohousing for more than a decade and is interested in ways of expanding access to the benefits of collaborative housing; in 2020 she led a research project for the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), looking at the effects of community-led housing on loneliness.

Kath is secretary of the coordination committee of the European Network for Housing Research, the foremost international organisation for housing scholars. For several years,she chaired LSE’s Research and Policy Staff Association, which she founded in 2012. She has conducted policy-focused research for a range of UK and international funders, including the Greater London Authority (GLA), several London boroughs, Homes for Scotland, the Council of Europe Development Bank and Denmark’s Realdania foundation. She has lived and worked in the USA, Spain, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Kuwait and Peru.

Scanlon, K., Provan, B., Whitehead, C., Lane, L., and Gaganis, A. (10/2025). The temporary accommodation subsidy gap in London: Analysis and implications. LSE London report

Scanlon, K., Provan, B., Rowan, J., and Gaganis, A. (09/2025). Rapid Evidence Assessment: Evaluating the value for money of support in safe accommodation. LSE London Report as part of the Domestic Abuse Duty evaluation.

Scanlon, K., Benton, E., and with Whitehead, C. (03/2024), Homesharing for renters: Barriers and opportunities, An LSE London report commissioned by Airbnb.

West, K., Hudson, J., Izuhara, M., Fernandez Arrigoitia, M., Felstead, A., Scanlon, K., Porteus, J., Smith,R. (10/2024), Collaborative Housing and Innovation in Care (CHIC): Project Report, Report by University of Bristol in partnership with LSE, NIHR and Housing LIN.

Whitehead, C., Crook, T. and Scanlon, K. (01/2024), A road map to a coherent housing policy, Commissioned by Family Building Society.

Whitehead, C., Scanlon, K., Voigtländer, M., Karlsson, J., Blanc, F. and Rotolo, M. (06/23), Financialization in 13 cities: an international comparative report, Report by LSE, LSE London, Realdania and Boligøkonomisk Videncenter. ISBN 978-87-93360-43-3.

Scanlon, K., Pannell, B., Williams, P., and Whitehead, C. (03/2023), Releasing the Mortgage Prisoners: Proposed solutions and illustrative costings, LSE London Report.

Scanlon, K (02/2023), Measuring Wellbeing: The approach taken by Grosvenor Property UK, Report for Grosvenor.

Barnes, June; Beharrell, Andrew; Robinson, Dickon; Scanlon, Kath; et Al. (02/2023), What is the future of high-rise housing? Examining the long-term social and financial impacts of residential towers.

Scanlon, K., Provan, B., Ivandić, R., Fernández-Reino, M., Whitehead, C. and Blanc, F. (12/2022), Cost-benefit analysis of extending support to domestic abuse victims with NRPF, LSE London and CASE.

Holman, N., Whitehead, C., Scanlon, K., Crook, T., and Kemp, P. (22/08/2022), Evidence to the Levelling Up Select Committee on Rental Reform. LSE London's submission.

Benton, E., Karlsson, J., Pinter, I., Provan, B., Scanlon, K. and  Whitehead, C. (2022), Social Cost Benefit Analysis of the no recourse to public funds (NRPF) policy in London, LSE London and CASE.

Scanlon, K., Whitehead, C. and Blanc. F. (2021), Private Landlords and Tax Challenges. Report for the National Residential Landlords Association.

Scanlon, K., Hudson, J., Fernández Arrigoitia, M., Ferreri, M., West, K., & Udagawa, C. (2021) 'Those little connections': Community-led housing and loneliness. Report for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Edge, A., Whitehead, C., Blanc, F., Karlsson, J., and Rotolo, M. (2021), Capital Letters: Final Report, LSE London.

Scanlon, K., Whitehead, C. and Blanc, F. (2021), Lessons from the Stamp duty holiday, LSE London report for Family Building Society. London, United Kingdom.

Blanc, F., Boyle, J., Crook, T., Scanlon, K., Smith, S. and Whitehead, C. (2021), The Value, Incidence and Impact of Developer Contributions in Scotland, Scottish Government.

Whitehead, C., Scanlon, K., Edge, A., Holman, N., Rotolo, M., and Blanc, F. (2021), Homelessness and rough sleeping in the time of COVID-19. Published by LSE London, London School of Economics and Trust for London. London, United Kingdom.