Academic Profile

After graduating in Law from the University of Warwick, I qualified and practised as a solicitor for ten years. I then worked for the Housing Department at Sheffield City Council, before starting my academic career at Sheffield Hallam University. From 2005 I held various academic posts at the School of Law, University of Leeds, and I joined Sheffield in 2012.

My research concerns ‘law in the real world’, a perspective I try to integrate into my teaching. In my role as co-Director of the FreeLaw legal advice clinic I enjoy working with student volunteers and making good use of my previous experience as a practitioner. I am also co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Law in Society, and a member of the executive committee of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.

Qualifications

LLB, Hons, University of Warwick
Solicitor

Teaching and Learning

I enjoy teaching at all levels, and aim to convey my enthusiasm for the subjects I teach and to encourage students in creative thinking and critical analysis. I bring a socio-legal focus to my teaching based on my research, which means that the material covered is related to the real world.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
Understanding Law	Commercial Property Law (Convenor)
Equity and Trusts (Convenor)
Land Law
FreeLaw (Joint Convenor)

Research

My research is interdisciplinary and empirical, focusing on socio-legal aspects of property law, including:

• tenure and rights
• collective and individual property rights
• multi-owned property
• the interaction of family and property law
• regulation of conduct, dispute resolution, and access to justice, amongst residential occupiers
• the spatial boundaries of law, especially in relation to gated communities

I am currently working on publications about collective property, and about fortress homes (with Dr Rowland Atkinson, School of Sociology, University of York).

Member of the Centre for the Study of Law in Society (Co-director) and of the Centre for Criminological Research Clusters.

Areas of Research Supervision

I would be delighted to hear from students wishing to carry out research in those aspects of Property Law in which I have expertise.

Key Publications

Blandy, S. and Wang, F (2013) Curbing the power of developers? Law and power in Chinese and English gated urban enclaves, Geoforum. 47, 199-208.

Blandy, S. (2011) Gating as governance: the boundaries spectrum in social and situational crime prevention. In Crawford, A. (ed) International and Comparative Criminal Justice and Urban Governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Blandy, S., Dixon, J. and Dupuis, A. (eds) (2010) Multi-owned Housing. Law, Power and Practice. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-7566-2

Blandy, S. and Sibley, D. (2010) Law, Boundaries and the Production of Space. Introduction to Special Issue, Social & Legal Studies, 19(3), pp.275-284.

Atkinson, R. and Blandy, S. (2007) Panic Rooms: The Rise of Defensive Homeownership. Housing Studies, 22(4), pp.443-458.

Blandy, S. and Hunter, C. (2006) Judicial attitudes to landlord and tenant law: different policies for different sectors. In Bright, S. (ed.) Landlord and Tenant Law: Past, Present and Future. Oxford, Hart.

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

• Modern Studies in Property Law conference, University of Southampton, Collective property: owning and sharing residential space, 21-23 March 2012.
• School of Law, York University, Legal consciousness and common parts: residential owners' hopes and experiences of the law, 22 February 2012.
• School of Law, University of New South Wales, Common parts: implications for residents and for concepts of property, 13 April 2010.

Key Projects/Grants

Title/Description:	Homelessness Prevention for Women and Children Who Have Experienced Domestic and Family Violence: Innovations in Policy and Practice
Awarding Body:	Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
People Involved:	Dr. Angela Spinney, Swinburne University, Australia
Dates:	2010-2012
Amount:	AUS $101,570

Title/Description:	The Role Of Legality In Multi-Occupied Residential Settings: A Legal Consciousness Approach
Awarding Body:	British Academy
People Involved:	Sarah Blandy
Dates:	2007-2008
Amount:	£3,000

Title/Description:	Evaluation of ODPM programme to address problem private rented housing in areas of low demand
Awarding Body:	Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
People Involved:	PI: Professor Ian Cole, Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University
Dates:	2003-2006
Amount:	£200,000

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Elected member of the Executive Committee of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.
• Membership of the Advisory Board for the journal Housing, Theory and Society.
• Member of the Scientific Committee, Gated Communities and Private Urban Governance International group