Caroline Hunter

Profile

Biography

Professor Emerita Caroline Hunter

BA (Oxon), PG Dip., Barrister

Professor

I joined York Law School in 2008.

Previously I worked at the University of Manchester, Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Nottingham. I have also been a guest scholar at the Law School, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.

Prior to my academic career, I worked as a barrister and developed a specialist practice in relation to housing and local government.

In December 2025, I was accorded the status of Professor Emerita in York Law School at the University of York.

Research

Overview

My research focus is on the boundaries between law, policy and practice, particularly in the area of housing policy and law. My research has a strong empirical element and I have been a worked of projects funder by Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now DCLG), Department for Constitutional Affairs, Home Office, Housing Corporation, Nuffield Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the ESRC. These have included both small and large (involving several collaborators) scale projects on a number of which I have acted as project director.

I have an ongoing interest in property guardians.

Publications

Selected publications

• Carr, H, Edgeworth, B & Hunter, CM (2018), Law and the Precarious Home: Socio Legal Perspectives on the Home in Insecure Times. Oñati International Series in Law and Society, Hart Publishing.
• Hunter, CM & Meers, JG (2018), The ‘Affordable Alternative to Renting’: Property Guardians and Legal Dimensions of Housing Precariousness. in H Carr, B Edgeworth & C Hunter (eds), Law and the Precarious Home: Socio Legal Perspectives on the Home in Insecure Times. Hart Publishing.
• Cowan, D, Dymond, A, Halliday, S & Hunter, CM (2017), 'Reconsidering Mandatory Reconsideration' Public Law, pp. 215-234.
• Hunter C. (2017) “Caring for the homeless: Westminster City Council and anti-homeless bye-laws” in ReValuing Care in Theory, Law and Policy: Cycles and Connections, eds. Rosie Harding, Ruth Fletcher and Chris Beasley Taylor and Francis, p. 48-64
• Hunter, C. M., Bretherton, J., Halliday, S. & Johnsen, S (2016) “Legal Compliance in Street-Level Bureaucracy: A Study of UK Housing Officers” Journal of Law and Policy 38(1) 81-95
• Hunter, C. M., (2015) “Solar Panels, Homeowners and Leases: The Lease as a Socio-Legal Object” in Exploring the 'Legal' in Socio-Legal Studies, eds. Cowan, D. & Wincott, D. (eds.). (London: Palgrave Macmillan), p. 137-155

External activities

Memberships

• Part-time tribunal judge – Residential Property Tribunal
• Member of the Socio-Legal Studies Association and Society of Legal Scholars.

Editorial duties

• Deputy General Editor Journal of Housing Law

Teaching

Undergraduate

I taught on the following modules:

• Optional LLM module in Law and Society