Housing Tenure Research Articles

Protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate integrated support from pharmacist independent prescriber and third sector worker for people experiencing homelessness: the PHOENIx community pharmacy study

BackgroundPeople experiencing homelessness (PEH) have complex health and social care needs and most die in their early 40 s. PEH frequently use community pharmacies; however, evaluation of the delivery of structured, integrated, holistic health and social care intervention has not been previously undertaken in community pharmacies for PEH. PHOENIx (Pharmacy Homeless Outreach Engagement Non-medical Independent prescribing Rx) has been delivered and tested in Glasgow, Scotland, by NHS pharmacist independent prescribers and third sector homelessness support workers offering health and social care intervention in low threshold homeless drop-in venues, emergency accommodation and emergency departments, to PEH. Building on this work, this study aims to test recruitment, retention, intervention adherence and fidelity of community pharmacy-based PHOENIx intervention.MethodsRandomised, multi-centre, open, parallel-group external pilot trial. A total of 100 PEH aged 18 years and over will be recruited from community pharmacies in Glasgow and Birmingham. PHOENIx intervention includes structured assessment in the community pharmacy of health, housing, benefits and activities, in addition to usual care, through weekly visits lasting up to six months. A primary outcome is whether to proceed to a definitive trial based on pre-specified progression criteria. Secondary outcomes include drug/alcohol treatment uptake and treatment retention; overdose rates; mortality and time to death; prison/criminal justice encounters; healthcare utilisation; housing tenure; patient-reported measures and intervention acceptability. Analysis will include descriptive statistics of recruitment and retention rates. Process evaluation will be conducted using Normalisation Process Theory. Health, social care and personal resource use data will be identified, measured and valued.DiscussionIf the findings of this pilot study suggest progression to a definitive trial, and if the definitive trial offers positive outcomes, it is intended that PHOENIx will be a publicly funded free-to-access service in community pharmacy for PEH. The study results will be shared with wider stakeholders and patients in addition to dissemination through medical journals and scientific conferences.Trial registrationInternational Clinical Trial Registration ISRCTN88146807.Approved protocol version 2.0 dated July 19, 2022.

Effect of Canada Child Benefit on Food Insecurity: A Propensity Score−Matched Analysis

Food insecurity-the inadequate access to food due to financial constraints-affects 1 in 6 households in Canada, with serious health implications. Family benefit programs supplementing income have shown potential in mitigating the risk of food insecurity, but there is little understanding of their protective effects. The authors aimed to estimate the impacts of the additional Canada Child Benefit provided to families with children aged <6 years on household food insecurity. The authors sampled 28,435 households receiving Canada Child Benefit with children aged <8 years from the Canadian Income Survey 2018-2020 fielded in 2019-2021 and analyzed in 2022. Households without children aged <6 years were 1:1 propensity-score matched to those with children aged <6 years, who received up to $1,068 in additional Canada Child Benefit per child annually. The authors compared the 2 groups' 12-month food insecurity likelihood after matching. Subsample analyses were performed by household income, housing tenure, and household type. Receipt of the additional Canada Child Benefit ($724 on average) was associated with 2.89 (95% CI=1.35, 4.42) percentage points lower probability of experiencing food insecurity among recipients with children aged <6 years (from 24.30% to 21.42%). The association was similar across socioeconomic subgroups and significant among all but high-income earners and mortgage-free homeowners. The authors found plausibly causal evidence that the more generous Canada Child Benefit for Canadian families with young children reduces their probability of food insecurity. Increasing benefits for economically disadvantaged households, characterized by low incomes, single parenthood, and renting (versus owning), may improve the program's efficiency and equity in supporting families' food security.

Znevýhodnění mezi znevýhodněnými? Prediktory bydlení na ubytovnách v českých sociálně vyloučených lokalitách

This study explores the relationship between social exclusion and housing tenure. It seeks to identify the factors that increase the chance that inhabitants of socially excluded localities (SELs) in Czechia will live in a hostel (a single room occupancy hotel). Do these factors indicate a higher intensity of social exclusion among people who live in hostels? Do hostels house the more disadvantaged segment of the disadvantaged population, such as the inhabitants of SELs? Our aim is to produce a more nuanced understanding of the different needs of the heterogeneous population of socially excluded localities, which can be used to implement socially inclusive measures. We analyse data obtained in a survey of the population of SELs. We apply binary logistic regression using socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of respondents and their households and variables measuring victimisation and respondents&#8217; risk behaviour as predictors. Along with descriptive statistics we present the results of the simple and multiple binary logistic regressions. The multiple model revealed the following predictors to be statistically significant: the share of rent in household income, household size, residential mobility, citizenship, labour status, criminal activity not punished by imprisonment, nationality/ethnicity, and property victimisation of the household. Except for the last two, these factors increase the chance of socially disadvantaged persons living in a hostel. Future research directions and the political implications of our findings are discussed in the conclusion.

Housing and Inequality in Australia

AbstractIn Australia and many other advanced economies, housing is playing a central role in accentuating and perpetuating inequality. This paper, drawing on primary and secondary data, discusses the various ways in which housing tenure in Australia contributes to wealth and income inequality. It argues that a neoliberal housing policy framework and accompanying financialisation of housing have facilitated a dramatic increase in house prices, the neglect of social housing, and a deepening wealth and income divide based on housing tenure. With respect to wealth, the key divide is between outright homeowners versus low-income private renters and low-income households in mortgage stress. The wealth of outright homeowners has grown substantially in recent decades and many have been able to acquire a holiday home and/or investment properties, thereby intensifying the wealth divide. Approximately a third of Australian households are now locked out of home ownership for an extended period or even lifelong. Housing tenure status also has an impact on the disposable income of households. For example, low-income outright homeowners are invariably in a far better position with respect to disposable income than their counterparts who have large mortgages or are private renters.

Migrants’ perceived social integration in different housing tenures in urban China

Housing is often identified by the government and scholars as a key dimension of strategy for promoting migrant social integration. Yet, existing studies often pay attention to homeownership without distinguishing various housing tenures. This paper examines the effects of tenures on migrant social integration. Drawing on 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey data collected by the National Health Commission of China, this study examines migrants’ perceived social integration in 11 housing tenures, which vary from informal to formal, private to public, and rental to ownership. It is found that migrants’ social integration increases from those living in informal housing, to the private rental, to the public rental, to informal owned, to privately owned, and to public owned housing. Homeownership plays an important role in affecting migrants’ perceived social integration. It is worth pointing out that migrants who live in public housing, whether rented or owned, tend to have a higher level of social integration within each group (renters and owners). Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the positive effects of owned housing and public housing on migrant social integration are significantly strengthened in first-tier cities and cities with advanced industrial structures and higher housing-price-to-income ratios.

Evaluating Substitution as a Strategy for Handling U.S. Postal Service Drop Points in Self-Administered Address-Based Sampling Frame Surveys

Most addresses on modern address-based sampling frames derived from the U.S. Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence file have a one-to-one relationship with a household. Some addresses, however, are associated with multiple households. These addresses are referred to as drop points, and the households therein are referred to as drop point units (DPUs). DPUs pose a challenge for self-administered surveys because no apartment number or unit designation is available, making it impossible to send targeted correspondence. The authors evaluate a method for substituting sampled DPUs with similar non-DPUs, which was implemented in the 2021 Healthy Chicago Survey alongside a concurrent survey of the originally sampled DPUs. Comparing aggregate distributions of DPUs and the non-DPU substitutes, the authors observe certain differences with respect to age, employment status, marital status, and housing tenure but no substantive differences in key health outcomes measured by the survey.

Demolition after decline: Understanding and explaining demolition patterns in US and German shrinking cities

Demolition is one of shrinking cities' most important strategies to deal with vacant and abandoned properties, but processes and outcomes vary between nations. How do demolition patterns differ or agree between shrinking cities in different nations, and what explains agreement or difference? This study analyzes demolition patterns in two mid-sized, isolated shrinking cities, the U.S. city of Flint and the German city of Dessau, between 2002 and 2016. We found significantly different patterns of demolition in the two cities. Demolition is more concentrated in Dessau, and more diffuse in Flint. We explain this difference in demolition patterns through three factors: housing tenure, social and physical structure, and demolition policy. Compared with Flint, Dessau has a much higher level of rental housing that concentrates in its urban center, facilitating tenant relocation into analogous units and permitting concentrated demolition. Flint's urban structure is homogenous with repetitive blocks of privatelyowned single-family housing, presenting a barrier for public intervention in vacancy. Dessau's demolition is financed by federal policy with explicit spatial intentions, whereas Flint's demolition is complaint-driven without substantial spatial consideration. The study findings indicate that demolition pattern is embedded in structural, historical, and national factors.

Unmet Needs for Help With Mobility Limitations Among Older Adults Aging in Place: The Role of Rurality.

This study identifies differences in unmet mobility needs among older adults living in rural versus urban areas. We used data from Round 9 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), limiting our analyses to respondents who had not moved since baseline (average housing tenure of 27years; n = 3343). We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to detect rural/urban differences in unmet mobility needs, adjusting for socio-demographics, health status, and housing characteristics. Rural residence was associated with higher odds of any unmet mobility needs for older adults aging in place (adjusted odds ratio: 1.64, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-2.44, p < .05). The relationship between rurality and unmet needs for help with mobility limitations remained significant in fully adjusted models. Rural older adults aging in place have greater unmet needs for help with mobility limitations. This study highlights several important gaps in supporting rural older adults aging in place.

Housing Tenure of Older Asian Minorities in Hong Kong

One of the major motivations to pursue dreams in a host country is to have a better living, especially for later-life well-being. Since homeownership is an indicator of social status, integration and security, this paper examines the housing tenure of older Asian minorities in an Asian global city. This article compares the housing tenure of older Asian minority immigrants with that of natives and their likelihood of living in public rental units, subsidized sales flats or private housing. While 28.95% and 18.38% of natives were living in public rental housing and subsidized sales flats respectively, the corresponding shares for Asian minorities stood at 34.84% and 19.38%. After controlling for personal characteristics, Asian minorities have the highest likelihood of living in public housing. Among the immigrant population, Asian minorities were more likely to be living in public housing but less likely to be owner-occupiers. The public housing policy of Hong Kong treats natives and immigrants equally. As private housing owner-occupiers enjoy a higher social status, most Asian minorities were not very successful in climbing the social ladder. However, they can stay in affordable public rental housing which enables them a reasonable later-life well-being in the least affordable city. To win in this global war for talent, the government is encouraged to introduce more measures to attract international talent.

How does housing tenure mix affect residents' mental health through a social environment lens? An empirical examination from Guangzhou (China).

This study demonstrates the mechanisms of housing tenure mix affecting residents' mental health via intervening community social environment within public housing practices in urban China. Using a purposive sampling data of six representative public housing estates, we used structural equation models to examine total, direct, and indirect effects of housing mix status on mental health, highlighting the intermediatory roles of social environment variables. On the whole, we find no significant impact of housing tenure mix on mental health; however, housing tenure mix thwarted mental health in a direct way but contributed to it through the mediation of social participation. Regarding the neighborhood effects, we unfold the behavioral, psychological, and socially interactional mechanisms for affecting mental health, by highlighting the direct health implications of social capital, and the mediation of sense of community and social control between social capital and mental health. Finally, we suggest to consider social effects on health grounds into mixed housing strategies in future.

Water insecurity, housing tenure, and the role of informal water services in Nairobi’s slum settlements

Presently, about one billion people reside in slums around the world, creating an ongoing urbanization and development challenge. Slum settlements lack tenure security, posing an additional challenge for municipal and national governments in providing basic services. In particular, safe and affordable access to water for slum residents remains unmet, as slum settlements often lack municipal water supply coverage and rely on small-scale informal water services. We examined the dynamics between housing tenure status (tenancy vs ownership), water service types, and water insecurity among households in three slum settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Using a cross-culturally validated 11-item Household Water Insecurity Experience (HWISE) scale, we identified a key link between housing tenure status and water insecurity, based on survey data from 556 households. We found that water insecurity in the study sites is a significant challenge because of the link between housing tenure and access to different water service types. As such, water insecurity scores among tenants were significantly higher than homeowners, and this association persists even after controlling for household characteristics. Furthermore, a higher percentage of homeowners had access to formal water services than tenants and accessing water from informal water providers was related to higher water insecurity. Our results highlight the need for development interventions in slums to consider housing tenure of residents when planning interventions to alleviate water insecurity. To meet the goal of ‘equitable water for all’ set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), governments must also take key steps to resolve housing tenure injustice and expand home ownership in slum settlements.

Exploring the effects of socio-economic inequalities on health and disability in Northern Irish adolescents: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal study.

Although a negative association between socio-economic inequalities and health has been established, there is a dearth of robust longitudinal studies examining this relationship in adolescents. This study used a large, nationally representative longitudinal data set to investigate the association between socio-economic inequality, subjective health status and disabilities among young people in Northern Ireland over a ten-year period. Data were from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, a census-based record linkage study (N = 46,535). Logistic regression models were estimated in which health and disability variables from the 2011 census were predicted by household deprivation in education, housing quality, housing tenure and employment from the 2001 census. Models were adjusted for health and disability status in 2001. Deprivation in employment, housing tenure and coming from a single-parent household in 2001 independently predicted poorer subjective health and disability status ten years later [ORs = 1.28-1.93]. Deprivation in education in 2001 was also associated with increased risk of disability in 2011 [OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.06-1.25]. These results show that there is a need to dedicate more resources and support for economically disadvantaged children and young people in Northern Ireland, where child health outcomes are poorer than in the rest of the UK.

Housing inequality in relation to housing tenure: Evidence from Ho Chi Minh City

Unfair distribution of social resources, including valuable assets such as housing, leads to inequality and threatens the sustainable development of countries. This phenomenon is a hot issue, attracting the attention of many researchers worldwide. Ho Chi Minh City is considered one of the economic-financial centers of Vietnam, with a high average annual GDP growth rate, rapid urbanization, and the flow of migrant workers to live and work has increased rapidly in recent years. Although many achievements are based on outstanding developments, Ho Chi Minh city has faced many difficulties in housing policy due to the limited urban land fund, colossal population, and housing prices many times higher than the residents’ income. It is shown that there are difficulties in access to affordable housing in Ho Chi Minh City, especially for the population's low- and middle-income segments. This creates inequality and considerable pressure on housing development policy in urban areas. The article uses OLS regression to analyze issues related to housing inequality in Ho Chi Minh City in the relaion to living space and homeownership, then gives some implications for housing policy toward improving the quality of living standards in terms of residential conditions. Research data is taken from a survey of 700 households in Ho Chi Minh City conducted by the author in 2020. The results show that household income, working time, age, education, household size, and a household with small business activity at home affect the household living space area. In addition, these factors have different impacts on families with housing tenure. The author believes that in the future, the government should focus on improving education, providing stable jobs, and planning suitable housing places to ensure equitable distribution of social resources, including housing.

Essays on Perceived Racial Discrimination among Asian Americans and the Link between Health and Residential Moves into Different Housing Tenure Among U.S. Older Adults

Essays on Perceived Racial Discrimination among Asian Americans and the Link between Health and Residential Moves into Different Housing Tenure Among U.S. Older Adults

The external housing environment of participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC): a resource for studies of influences on health.

Background: Early life environmental health exposures related to housing can have a significant impact on an individual's physical and mental health and physical development. Housing exposures can fall into two main areas - a representation of social circumstances and physical conditions. Methods: During pregnancy and post-delivery, self-completion questionnaires concerning the housing environment were administered to the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children) study mothers and their partners until the study offspring were aged 18. Data collected included types of housing, housing tenure, numbers of rooms in the home, whether shared or sole use of kitchen and indoor flushing toilet, household moves, Council Tax band, difficulties in affording rent/mortgage and becoming homeless. Here we also describe the historic development of housing in the Bristol and surrounding Avon areas. Results: Data collected included the tenure (e.g., owned/rented) of the home, its size (indexed by the number of rooms), the presence of over-crowding (measured by the number of residents per room), presence of amenities, and frequency of household moves. This information was collected on over 13,000 women during pregnancy >8000 at age 10 and >4000 at 18 years. Council Tax bands were asked at 10 and 18 years. Conclusions: This is the first of two Data Notes on the housing type and housing circumstances of the families enrolled in ALSPAC. The second Data Note will detail their internal housing conditions. The data provides an excellent resource for researchers when considering the influences of housing on physical and mental health and development.

Socioeconomic and sex inequalities in parent-reported adolescent mental ill-health: time trends in four British birth cohorts.

Studies using symptom-based screeners have suggested that mental ill-health has increased in adolescents in recent decades, however, few studies have tested the equivalence of their instruments, which is critical for inferring changes in prevalence. In addition, little research has explored whether socioeconomic position (SEP) and sex inequalities in adolescent mental health have changed over time. Using structural equationmodelling, we explored SEP and sex differences in harmonised parent reports of emotional and behavioural problems, using data from four UK birth cohorts: the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS'58; n=10,868), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS'70; n=8,242), the 1991-92 Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC'91; n=5,389), and the 2000-01 Millennium Cohort Study (MCS'01; n=9,338). Compared with the two earliest cohorts, members of MCS'01 had higher latent mean scores on emotional problems (both sexes), and lower scores on behavioural problems (females only). The associations between four indicators of SEP and emotional problems were strongest in MCS'01, with housing tenure having the strongest association. All four SEP indicators were associated with behavioural problems in each cohort, with housing tenure again more strongly associated with problems in the MCS'01. Mediation analyses suggested that the increase in emotional problems occurred despite broadly improving socioeconomic conditions. Our findings suggest that parent reports of adolescent emotional problems, but not behavioural problems, have risen in recent generations and this trend is not solely due to reporting styles. A failure to address widening social inequalities may result in further increases in mental ill-health amongst disadvantaged young people.

‘An essay in civilisation’? - Stevenage and the post-war New Towns programme

After some wartime planning, the British New Towns were launched in 1945-6 by the post-war Labour government. The New Towns were essentially statist, top-down initiatives to relieve the problems of congested urban areas and intended as self-contained and balanced communities for work and living. This paper critically examines the experience of Stevenage, the first New Town (designated November 1946), in light of changing political, economic and social circumstances at local and national levels. Its early years were very unsuccessful in fulfilling the foundational aims of the programme. This reflected a combination of strong local opposition, excessive government impatience and clumsy management so that, before 1951, it had a very poor record of housing completions. The 1950s and 1960s were highly successful for Stevenage’s growth and, to a large extent, in meeting the foundational aims of New Towns. It was outstandingly successful in becoming self-contained as regards employment. There were however limitations in the extent to which it was a socially balanced community that was truly relieving the problems of Greater London, whence most of its new arrivals had come. Because new residents gained house tenancies in Stevenage on the basis of the main breadwinner’s job, there was soon an upper working-class/lower middle-class predominance. The unskilled working class, ethnic minorities and older people were markedly underrepresented, present in much lower proportions than in congested inner London. There was also underrepresentation of managers, higher professional groups or the self-employed, reflecting both residential choices and the branch plant nature of its manufacturing economy. Several of these aspects became more problematic during the 1970s and 1980s, as the weaknesses of inner metropolitan areas grew. There were efforts henceforth to make housing tenancies less directly related to jobs. However, in 1980 the Stevenage Development Corporation was wound up and, during its final years, initiative had already been passing to other hands. Its rental housing stock was transferred to the local council while home ownership also grew markedly during the 1970s. The shift to private initiative went further when the Conservative Government after 1979 insisted that industrial and commercial assets soon be sold to help finance the remaining New Towns in the programme. These important and continuing changes, together with wider shifts such as manufacturing job decline, rise of service employment, growing car-based mobility and growing place of women in employment had further impacts for Stevenage. They raised further questions about how far it fulfilled the original New Town conception and whether that conception was even any longer relevant. The last section shows that Stevenage, although continuing to be an attractive location for employers, is now a much less self-contained and balanced community than in earlier decades.

Displacement frames: How residents perceive, explain and respond to un-homing in Black San Francisco

Few urban phenomena command as much attention as displacement. Scholars continue to refine conceptualisations of displacement to more effectively capture its diversity in forms, scales and temporalities. Recent research advocates a more inclusive conceptualisation, attuned to the processes of ‘un-homing’ – that is, the more subtle, ‘non-catastrophic’ forms of ‘slow violence’ that rupture residents’ phenomenological attachments to place and home. Advocates of the un-homing approach call on researchers to develop the data and analytical frameworks necessary for capturing the perceptions and lived experiences of displacement from the perspective of longtime residents. This article develops one such analytical framework, which we refer to as displacement frames. Building on the conceptual tools of cultural sociology, displacement frames are the evaluative schema through which residents make sense of, and act towards, the slow violence and micro-events of un-homing. Drawing on 32 interviews with long-time Black residents in San Francisco’s rapidly gentrifying Bayview Hunters Point neighbourhood, we identify three primary displacement frames: (1) displacement-by-design, (2) displacement-as-predation and (3) displacing-the-problem. As a product of residents’ historical experiences, networks and housing tenure, these frames simplify complex (and often ambiguous) experiences into a coherent narrative about the primary causes, conditions and consequences of displacement. In turn, displacement frames influence how and to what extent residents attempt to resist, prevent or perhaps even accept and support local displacement.

A spatial examination of solar PV adopters in Northern Ireland: the role of housing market and socio-economic characteristics

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine whether PV uptake is associated with key housing market determinants and linked to socio-economic profiles. An abundance of extant literature has examined the role of solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption and user costs, with an emerging corpus of literature investigating the role of the determinants of PV uptake, particularly in relation to the built environment and the spatial variation of PV dependency and dissimilarity. Despite this burgeoning literature, there remains limited insights from the UK perspective on housing market characteristics driving PV adoption and in relation spatial differences and heterogeneity that may exist.Design/methodology/approachApplying micro-based data at the Super Output Area-level geography, this study develops a series of ordinary least squares, spatial econometric models and a logistic regression analysis to examine built environment, housing tenure and deprivation attributes on PV adoption at the regional level in Northern Ireland, UK.FindingsThe findings emerging from the research reveal the presence of some spatial clustering and PV diffusion, in line with several existing studies. The findings demonstrate that an urban-rural dichotomy exists seemingly driven by social interaction and peer effects which has a profound impact on the likelihood of PV adoption. Further, the results exhibit tenure composition and “economic status” to be significant and important determinants of PV diffusion and uptake.Originality/valueHousing market characteristics such as tenure composition across local market structures remain under-researched in relation to renewable energy uptake and adoption. This study examines the role of housing market attributes relative to socio-economic standing for adopting renewable energy.

Obstacles to urban redevelopment in squatter settlements: The role of the informal housing market

Formation of an informal housing market in a squatter settlement stratifies the inhabitants into social classes within the settlement. By focusing on different interests among de facto housing tenure, this study demonstrates that the informal housing market is an obstacle to the redevelopment of squatter settlements. Our research is based on an extensive quantitative and qualitative survey of two squatter settlements in Buenos Aires and seeks to better understand inhabitants' preferences for spatial planning policies. This study highlights that urban redevelopment of squatter settlements would contradict the existing informal housing market. The importance of this research lies in understanding the numerous conflicts of interests surrounding housing tenure in the informal housing market, which needs to be resolved prior to carrying out urban redevelopment in squatter settlements.