The research–policy dialectic

Abstract

Since the 1980s, research has significantly improved understanding of rental housing in the Global South. This has informed, albeit sporadically, policy reports emanating from the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) that are yet to be translated into policy. Policymakers continue to doggedly pursue ‘ownership’ as the preferred housing tenure; renting is viewed as exploitative—tenants are seen to be the victims of unscrupulous landlords. Of course, there are exploitative landlords but research in urban Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean finds such landlordism to be exceptional. To the contrary, there is overwhelming evidence of the contribution that rental housing makes: to enhance residential mobility, improve labour market and livelihood opportunities, accommodate gender and cultural concerns, and strengthen social and economic networks. Despite the ‘virility of research’ findings, the key question is: why are policymakers reluctant to explore the rental housing option? Is it simply because their views are based on the ‘exploitation’ myth? Is it that the perceived short-term political advantage present in the mantra of ‘ownership’ accounts for the ‘impotence of action’ in formulating a rental housing policy? Alternatively, could it be that real estate interests are so powerful that governments have lost the room for manoeuvre?