Margate was once a thriving seaside town but with loss of local tourism it is now multiply deprived, its many hotels and guest houses converted into privately rented houses in multiple-occupation (HMOs). The community is transient, demographically skewed, with greater numbers of children in care and economic migrants who present a special demand on local services. Despite a growing interest in setting policy in respect of other issues, there is little published on the state of the privately-rented housing sector in seaside towns and how conditions might be addressed effectively