Susan Bright

Sue teaches land law, contract law, regulation, and housing and human rights. She has been teaching at Oxford University since 1992, after a period as a solicitor in London and teaching at Essex University. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the South African Research Chair in Property Law, and an academic member of the Chancery Bar Association, Property Bar Association and Property Litigation Association.

Much of her recent and ongoing research is concerned with complexities stemming from multi-owned property. This includes exploring the fire safety problems emerging after the tragic events of Grenfell, particularly in relation to blocks of flats, and she has set up a blog for discussion of these issues, as well as for conversations around housing and law more generally.  She is also looking at what is popularly referred to as 'Fleecehold and the Leasehold Scandal' in order to understand the legal tools used to impose positive obligations on home owners in shared spaces. 

One area she has investigated is environmental performance and the built environment. Her work includes a multi-disciplinary project exploring the challenges in energy upgrades for residential leasehold property (flats). In the commercial sector she has particular expertise on ‘green leases’.  During 2014-2016 she was a member of an interdisciplinary team on an EPSRC funded project called Wicked, that examines Energy Management in the Retail Sector. 

With Dr Lisa Whitehouse Sue has also  examined the housing possession process. Their most recent work, with pyschologist Professor Mandeep Dhami, has enabled them to explore how decision-making in possession cases, can be explained with reference to psychology and the behavioural sciences.

The eclectic nature of her research has led to Sue co-editing, with Professor Sarah Blandy, Researching Property Law (Palgrave, 2015) which explores different approaches to scholarship. She is also involved in a project that explores the dynamics of enduring property relationships.

A selection of Sue's papers can be accessed on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=529157.