Housing Governance

Abstract

Over recent decades, the management and delivery of housing assistance measures in many developed economies has become more complex as a wider range of actors have become involved in the sector. This trend reflects a shift in social policy and services generally, with a movement away from large-scale and monolithic state agencies to a more complex set of arrangements involving government agencies, not-for-profit organisations, and the private sector. Social scientists across the globe have studied this phenomenon and have argued that established patterns of government have been replaced by governance arrangements that are more fluid, inclusive but at the same time potentially vulnerable. This article examines governance in the housing sector in developed economies. It notes that there has been relatively little explicit analysis of housing governance and its associated issues within the research community or among policy-makers. Drawing upon the experience of a number of nations, it considers the origins and characteristics of housing governance and its expression in a number of settings. It notes that the work that has been completed on housing governance has addressed two distinct, but related, sets of concerns, both of which reflect broader shifts in economy and society.