The ‘double precarity’ of housing and energy conditions: Lived experiences and structural drivers

This paper examines the combined impacts of precarious housing and energy conditions on ‘at risk’ groups in the Irish context. The notion of ‘double precarity’ is used to interrogate the interactions and mutually reinforcing impacts of both phenomena, particularly under conditions of poor quality and thermally inefficient housing. Drawing on qualitative data from 15 interviews with individuals at risk of housing-energy precarity, we examine the embodied effects and lived experiences of precarious conditions across different housing tenures, socio-economic and demographic groups, including renters, low-income households, lone parents and vulnerable families. We highlight the emotive and psycho-social implications of housing-energy precarity, as well as the impacts on individual ill-health and social isolation. Vulnerable households are far from passive in accepting these conditions, and often deploy inventive and resilient coping strategies, yet also face significant barriers and structural inequities within both housing and energy markets, over which they have little influence. The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of the findings for theory and practice.