Housing Corporation Research Articles

Innovation and good practice database: The Housing Corporation

Innovation and good practice database: The Housing Corporation

Performance standards: What's good about the new published guidelines?

The Housing Corporation claims that its new standards give greater focus and clarity to service standards in supported housing. How true is this? What will be the benefits — and problems — for the various stakeholders?

公的賃貸住宅の修繕費実態に関する研究 : 大阪府住宅供給公社賃貸住宅の事例研究

This study analyzes the maintenance cost of rented houses owned by Osaka Prefecture Housing Corporation with the aim to examine the relations between the maintenance cost and the provisions for maintenance. The analytic objects are 34,802 cases carried out from 1952 to 1995. I classified the cases into fundamental repairs and additional ones according to the significance to tenant. Main points are summarized as follows. 1. The cost of general repairs of old house tends to be expensive. And the difference of the cost of general repairs between houses becomes large. 2. The costs of planned maintenance don't differ between old and new houses. And they reach considerable amount in an early time after building. 3. The improvement cost of old house amounts much. 4. For about 15 years after building, the provisions for maintenance are enough, but 15 years later they are insufficient. 5. The unexpected maintenance cost will be needed for the old houses. The financial resources for the maintenance must be ensured.

Financing social housing without guarantee: An English case study

The paper examines the way that the market for private finance for social housing has matured over the eight years since its introduction. It reports on two surveys of private lenders in 1993/94 and 1996 respectively which show how the range of lenders has increased, the different approaches that particular categories of lenders have for evaluating financial viability, and the changing terms and conditions on which loans are available. The results of the surveys suggest that the market has become more competitive, with falling margins and greater consistency among lenders' approaches to evaluating the financial strengths of housing associations. There is, however, concern that lenders may be offering such good terms because of the lack of other business in recession but also because the regulatory role of the Housing Corporation is seen as protecting lenders so that fundamental market risks do not have to be fully evaluated.

The Dominion Housing Act

Since its inception fifty years ago, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has played a dominant role in the development of Canadian housing. Although the policy mechanisms and directions have expanded over the years, the primary role of CMHC has remained consistent since 1946; to promote home ownership by reducing the risk inherent in mortgage loans, to financial institutions. This policy predates CMHQ in 1935 the Dominion Housing Act (DHA) initiated joint lending on mortgages between lenders and the federal government The joint-lending arrangement continued with the National Housing Act in 1938 and responsibility for its administration was inherited by CMHC A basic shift in policy occurred in 1954 when joint lending was replaced with the current programme of mortgage insurance. Although state-assisted mortgage policy is often cited to have been central to the building of the post-war suburb in Canada, empirical analysis is lacking. This paper analyses the socio-spatial impact of the DHA through use of original mortgage files. DHA-sponsored mortgage lending featured pronounced class and geographical biases. Although a suburban orientation was present from the beginning, the middle classes were generally unable to participate.

Feedback Service for Reducing Losses due to Building Problems

To try to improve the feedback that currently exists in the building industry, an effort was made to set up a feedback service based on building problems in Canada. The concepts for an effective feedback service are described in this paper. A field trial of such a feedback service was carried out by the National Research Council and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The experience of the field trial shows that such a service has considerable potential, but that it must be carefully planned and designed in cooperation with all segments of the building industry.

The Status Of Lone And Partnered Women Seeking State Housing Assistance In Two New Zealand Cities

Women householders living alone or with children have been identified as one of a number of marginalised groups within the housing markets of Western cities. An extensive literature suggests that many such women are likely to experience discrimination, poverty and inadequate housing. In this paper we review the status of lone women parents in New Zealand housing policy as a prelude to reporting on the housing experiences of a sample of applicants seeking state housing assistance in Auckland and Christchurch. The samples, drawn from the waiting lists of the (former) Housing Corporation of New Zealand (1989-90), included both women with partners (n=50) and women living alone or with children (n=119). The lone women were slightly poorer, they had less access to private transport, and they reported higher levels of residential mobility. However, these women reported that the physical condition of their housing was significantly better, and characteristics of the neighbourhood such as safety and proximity to friends were more important influences on their housing satisfaction than for partnered women. We conclude that lone women appear to make more demands on their neighbourhood, and more often seek housing assistance from the state for reasons of refuge than is the case for partnered women.

Research and Development Highlights from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Research and Development Highlights from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Challenges of public housing in the 1990s: The case of Ontario, Canada

Abstract Public housing makes up almost one‐third of Canada's social housing stock. As Canada's earliest form of social housing, public housing is confronted with a great number of management challenges. Using the Ontario Housing Corporation as a case study, the article reviews the challenges confronting public housing and how housing management practices have changed in response. These challenges include a general residualization of tenants, the aging in place of seniors (who occupy nearly half the stock), and the physical deterioration or functional obsolescence of a significant share ofthat stock. The conclusions argue for reform of management that focuses on the modernization of management systems and the development of more appropriate organizational structures that can more readily adapt.

Mullins, D. et al., "An Evaluation of the Housing Corporation Regional Programme" (Book Review)

Mullins, D. et al., "An Evaluation of the Housing Corporation Regional Programme" (Book Review)

Book Reviews

Abstract Different Places, Different Voices: Gender and Development in Africa, Asia and Latin America Janet H. Momsen and Vivian Kinnaird, editors. Routledge, New York, 1993.322 pp. $55.00 (cloth), $16.95 (paperback). Rethinking the Latin American City Richard M. Morse and Jorge E. Hardoy, editors. Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Washington, DC, 1992. 231 pp. $27.50. Urbanization in Post-Apartheid South Africa Richard Tomlinson. Routledge, New York, 1990. 256 pp. $49.95. Land and the City: Patterns and Processes of Urban Change Philip Kivell. Routledge, New York, 1993. 223 pp. $19.95 (paperback). Cities Without Suburbs David Rusk. Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Washington, DC, 1993. 147 pp. $13.95 (paperback). Regulation for Revenue: The Political Economy of Land Use Exactions Alan A. Altshuler and Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez with Arnold M. Howitt. Brookings Institution, and Lincoln Institution of Land Policy, Washington, DC, 1993. 175 pp. $29.95 (cloth), $11.95 (paperback). The Political Culture of Planning: American Land Use Planning in Comparative Perspective J. Barry Cullingworth. Routledge, New York, 1993. 350 pp. $39.95. Scarcity by Design: The Legacy of New York City's Housing Policies Peter D. Salins and Gerard C. S. Mildner. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. 168 pp. $29.95. House, Home and Community: Progress in Housing Canadians 1945-1986 John R. Miron, editor. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, Quebec and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Ottawa, Ontario, 1993. 456 pp. $55.00. Creating Community in the City: Cooperatives and Community Gardens in Washington, D.C. Ruth Landman. Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT, 1993. 147 pp. $45.00. The Politics of Expertise: Creating Using and Manipulating Scientific Knowledge for Public Policy Anthony Barker and B. Guy Peters, editors. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 1993. 129 pp. $49.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paperback). Spreadsheet Models for Urban and Regional Analysis Richard E. Klosterman, Richard K. Brail, and Earl G. Bossard, editors. Center for Urban Policy, New Brunswick. NJ. 1993. 476 pp. and software. $39.95. Cross-Cultural Studies and Urban Form Amos Rapoport. Urban Studies and Planning Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 1993. 55pp. $7.50 (paperback). Cleaning Up the Mess: Implementation Strategies in Superfund Thomas W. Church and Robert T. Nakamura. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1993. 250 pp. $34.95 (cloth), $14.95 (paperback). A Guide to Community Visioning: Hands-On Information for Local Communities Steven C. Ames, editor. Planners Press, American Planning Association, Chicago, 1993. 35 pp. $25.00 (paperback). Cash Management For The Design Firm Frank A. Stasiowski. Wiley, New York, 1993. 302 pp. $49.95.

Reviews Section

Journal Article Reviews Section Get access TENANT PARTICIPATION IN HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS: Report of Two Workshops, Hester Blewitt and Charlie Garratt (eds.), Community Development Foundation, Tenant Participation Advisory Service and the Housing Corporation, London, Birmingham and Leicester, 1993, viii + 56 pp. Charlie Cooper Charlie Cooper Charlie Cooper, Senior Lecturer in Housing, University of HumbersideHull Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Community Development Journal, Volume 29, Issue 1, January 1994, Pages 105–107, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/29.1.105 Published: 01 January 1994

Resident Management Initiatives in Nonprofit and Public Housing: Two Sites, One Blueprint

Attempts have been made to involve residents of subsidized housing in the management of their buildings or projects for over 20 years. Resident initiatives, both indigenous and imported, have met with varying degrees of success. Two questions should guide those who would implement resident management initiatives (RMI). One, do resident empowering approaches enhance the opportunity for safe and decent housing; and two, what administrative features are necessary? This study examines RMI in a nonprofit housing corporation and in a large public housing authority and offers answers to those questions.

Exercising the Condominium Tenure Option: A Case Study of the Canadian Housing Market

With data from the National Survey of Condominium Occupants conducted by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the relevant differences between a sample of renters who decided to purchase a condominium and a sample of homeowners who decided to sell their dwelling to buy a condominium are described. The subpopulation differed with respect not only to life-cycle stages and household economic resources but also to stated housing preferences and future housing plans. For example, previous renters were found to be younger households in the earlier stages of the life cycle who purchased lower priced condominiums with more borrowed funds than previous homeowners. A proportion of previous renters, however, were found to be entering the condominium sector late in life. Previous owners, the majority of whom moved from the freehold ownership market, preferred condominium ownership as means of gaining greater physical security and less direct maintenance responsibilities and, therefore, searched for only condominium housing. On the other hand, tenants sought initially to gain entrance into the freehold ownership market before deciding on the purchase of condominiums. Previous tenants are planning to use the equity of their condominiums to move into single detached houses within a short period of time, whereas for previous owners the condominium sector presents a final stage in housing demand. It is concluded that life-cycle stages and household economic resources continue to dominate a household's tenure transition, but this must also be combined with tenure and housing preferences as well as long-term or future housing plans.

Public aesthetics versus personal experience: Worker health and well-being in 19th-century Lowell, Massachusetts

Documentary and archaeological evidence provides seemingly contradictory views of conditions of sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition under the boardinghouse system in Lowell, Massachusetts. Archaeological evidence, for example, reveals that public expression of corporate concern for worker welfare often failed to result in actions that would improve living conditions in the boardinghouses. On the other hand, boarders and keepers alike made efforts to humanize and personalize the anonymous surroundings of corporation housing. This situation is revealed through personal accounts as well as by objects of everyday life recovered from archaeological deposits in the backlots of two Boott Corporation boardinghouses. Both documents and archaeology reveal that despite the penetration of elements of 19th-century domestic ideology (e.g., notions of economy and scientific housekeeping) into the design, operation, and maintenance of the Lowell boardinghouses, workers and keepers retained traditional notions of health and nutrition. Historical research and zooarchaeological analysis reveal that workers living in corporation housing had a diet dominated by fatty meats and foods high in starch and carbohydrates, but documents do not imply there was dissatisfaction with food in the boardinghouses; on the contrary, workers believed that their diet was nutritious and healthful. It is suggested that the tendency to interpret the archaeological evidence for sanitary conditions and food remains according to the strictly “objective” criteria of current ideas about health and nutrition can be misleading or at best can bring into focus only part of the picture. Documentary analysis aimed at eliciting the emic perspective of contemporary observers must temper efforts at “science.”

Implementing supported housing in state and local mental health systems.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health has aggressively promoted the development of supported housing--affordable, permanent community housing along with a system of needed support services--for adults with serious mental illness. The authors outline the development of supported housing programs by the state and by Franklin County, Ohio, beginning in the mid-1980s. The county's program, implemented mainly through the county authority for substance abuse and mental health services and a separate nonprofit housing corporation, was assisted by a major grant and loan from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program on Chronic Mental Illness, federal Section 8 housing certificates, and special grants from the Ohio Department of Mental Health. Both the state and the county formulated and followed comprehensive housing development plans. Both entities used creative financing mechanisms, including leveraging, to bring in additional public and private funds, and they worked to involve consumers and families in formulating policies and developing services.

Housing Associations Stock Issues

Considers the legal status of the typical housing association. Discusses the role of The Housing Corporation in monitoring housing associations. Describes the funding requirements of housing associations and how those requirements are met by the private sector. Examines the issues arising where a housing association raises private finance by way of debenture stock issue. Concludes that although the issue of stock is still an unfamiliar concept for many housing associations, it is becoming better known and will become increasingly commonplace.

The stress of incipient homelessness

Abstract This paper describes a longitudinal study of dwelling‐related stress among a sample of inadequately housed urban New Zealanders. At the time of the first interview, the respondents were asked to describe the housing problems they were encountering and to list some of the coping strategies they were planning. From an analysis of the survey data we conclude that housing stress has a significant negative effect on the well being of the respondents, particularly in the area of mental health. In the second interview, conducted six months later, we were able to determine which of the households had moved. Our analysis suggested that individuals in households that were rehoused by New Zealand's public housing agency (the Housing Corporation of New Zealand) reported significantly improved mental health after the move, largely as a result, we hypothesise, of living in dwellings that were less stressful. These findings are discussed in light of the diminishing state presence in the provision of public hous...

Black‐led housing organisations and the housing association movement

Abstract This article discusses the development and contributions of the black voluntary housing movement in the context of a broader review of trends within the housing association field. Material is drawn from a completed north of England study of black and minority ethnic housing organisations, and from research in hand on the responses of mainstream housing associations to minority ethnic needs. Particular attention is given to the role of mainstream associations in assisting emerging black‐led and minority ethnic housing organisations, and to the dependency encouraged by national financial regimes. Central government policies on funding after 1988 were having inhibiting and distorting affects on the activities of recently established and emergent minority ethnic housing organisations. Attempts were being made to offset this situation by efforts from the Housing Corporation at regional level and from some mainstream associations.

From local politics to state regulation: The legislation and policy on race equality in housing

Abstract This article reviews the implications of recent fundamental change in housing legislation and policy for race equality in housing. A restructuring of social housing provision; involving investment shifts from local authorities to housing associations, the attempt to introduce market mechanisms and the encouragement of tenants and housing providers to ‘opt out’ of the local state have challenged the local political model of race equality. In its place is a regulatory model, policed by the Housing Corporation and the Commission for Racial Equality, both of whom have attained new powers under this legislation which has restructured social housing. These important changes are, however, of less significance than the overall decline in social housing investment for black and ethnic minority households in housing need.