Homeownership Policy Research Articles

Public Homeownership, Housing Finance and Socioeconomic Development in Singapore

This paper first presents an analytic review of Singapore public homeownership policy developments over the past 35 years. The analysis will then focus on the two main reasons contributing to the success of Singapore public homeownership: the country’s model of public housing finance; and the significant role public homeownership has played in its economic development. Finally, the paper concludes that the Singapore public housing system is not a ready package that can be applied anywhere, but that it does offer experiences that could be useful for other countries.

Low-Income Homeownership Policy as a Community Development Strategy

Summary Homeownership for the poor increasingly is on the political agenda in the United States. This is due largely to the assumptions made by policy makers and citizens about the benefits of homeownership. Despite this emphasis in recent administrations, little theoretical literature has been developed that specifies the impact of homeownership on community development. This essay reviews relevant theoretical and empirical literature and suggests that homeownership affects communities through the promotion of increased wealth accumulation, improved property upkeep, decreased residential mobility, and increased community participation. This article addresses the special needs of poor communities and households, and the implications for low-income housing policy. Overall it is suggested that community economic development and low-income homeownership be pursued in tandem.

Housing and American Privatism: The Origins and Evolution of Subsidized Home-Ownership Policy

In the late 1980s, congressional investigations revealed patterns of influence peddling, lack of oversight, and poorly targeted expenditures at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, criticizing both the content and administration of various federal housing initiatives. Some commentators have concluded that the dogged preference for a private-sector strategy and the privatization of public activities in the Reagan administration—goals pursued while the agency suffered dramatic budget cuts—are at the root of recent HUD embarrassment.

Home ownership policy in Singapore: An assessment

Abstract Since independence in 1965, housing conditions in the city‐state of Singapore, with a population of 2.6 million in 1988, have improved considerably. Much of the credit for this must be attributed to the government's policy of building homes for the lower income groups. One objective of the housing policy is 100 per cent home ownership for public housing. In pursuing this policy the political and social aspects are often emphasised. This paper attempts an economic evaluation of the 100 per cent home ownership target. It examines the demand and supply side policies that are employed to achieve the target. In analysing the economic implications of the policy, it is observed that such a policy distorts household expenditure, leads to overconsumption of housing and results in a thinner rental market and constrains tenure choice. These economic losses need to be recognised even while accepting the political and social importance of the policy.

The Demand for Housing in Developing Countries: Empirical Estimates from Household Data

Cities in developing countries are growing at extraordinary rates, often compressing into decades the urbanization process that has taken centuries in developed countries. In coping with this growth, public authorities have devised a wide range of policy instruments to influence the rate and character of city expansion, to meet the needs of people for shelter and urban services, and to allocate resources in ways that redistribute both the costs and benefits of urban growth. Ideally, such policy formulation should be informed by a careful understanding of the behavior of urban markets; in fact, little information on market behavior is available to the policymakers of developing countries. Such basic information is needed for improved project design and, even more important, for improved sector-wide policies. This paper reports on research conducted at the World Bank to increase understanding of developing country housing markets; in particular, of housing-demand behavior. While the overall project examines both the demand for housing characteristics' and the demand for housing as a composite good, this paper addresses only the latter. The objectives of this paper are (1) to review briefly previous evidence on housing-demand parameters in developing countries; (2) to present new evidence on housing-demand parameters based on application of standardized models and comparable variable definitions in 16 cities in eight developing countries (Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Korea, and the Philippines); and (3) to examine similarities and differences among cities in housing demand and, in a preliminary way, offer explanations for place-to-place differences. Limited comparisons are also made to two U.S. cities in order to begin comparison of developing and developed country market behavior.

Low income home ownership and housing policy

Public Housing and Private Property 1970–1984. by Stephanie Cooper. Aldershot: Gower. 1985. pp. 178. £18.50. Low Cost Home Ownership. edited by Philip Booth and Tony Crook. Aldershot: Gower. 1985. pp. 264. £18.50. Home Ownership in the Inner City: Salvation or Despair? by Valerie Karn, Jim Kemeny and Peter Williams. Aldershot: Gower. 1985. pp. 162. £16.50.

Privatisation of Housing and the Impact of the Conservative Government's Initiatives on Low-Cost Homeownership and Private Renting between 1979 and 1984 in England and Wales: 3. Impact and Evaluation of Low-Cost Homeownership Policy

This is the third in a series of four papers describing and evaluating the British Government's policies of privatising housing. In this paper the research on the short-run impact of the low-cost homeownership programme is examined, by looking at the right to buy, shared ownership, improvement for sale, and homesteading, and at starter homes and licence schemes. The purchasers who have benefited from the programme are identified and the reasons for some of the failures of the policy to reach priority groups and areas of need are examined. An evaluation of the programme is made under three headings: the extent to which new investment is generated, the extent to which benefits are restricted to groups in need, and the long-term consequences of expanding homeownership amongst low-income groups. It is concluded that privatisation cannot be achieved without continued state support and regulation.

Privatisation of Housing and the Impact of the Conservative Government's Initiatives on Low-Cost Homeownership and Private Renting between 1979 and 1984 in England and Wales: 2. Implementation of Low-Cost Homeownership Policy

This is the second in a series of four papers describing and evaluating the British Government's policies of privatising housing. This paper is concerned with the number of houses sold under the ‘right to buy’ and of the other houses sold under each of the low-cost initiatives. It is concluded that, with the exception of right to buy, sales have been few in number and that sales have occurred to the greatest extent in the more prosperous parts of England and Wales.

Home ownership, socialism and realistic socialist policy

Norman Ginsburg's article, Home ownership and socialism in Britain: A bulward against bolshevism, CSP, Issue 7, contains a programme for action which might have made good sense following a Labour victory in the recent election. It now seems clear that this programme is unrealisable. The article aims to and an alternative socialist programme based on universal home ownership.