Privatization Of Public Housing Research Articles

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE NEOLIBERAL HOUSING POLICY: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

In recent years, there has been a burgeoning discourse surrounding the influence of neoliberalism on housing policy, governance, and affordability. The evolution of housing policies has coincided with the global ascent of neoliberal principles. The ideological underpinnings of neoliberalism, characterized by a focus on private property rights, unrestricted flow of capital, reliance on self-regulation in free markets, and the process of deregulation, exert a substantial impact on the trajectories of housing policies and urban governance in numerous countries. This article conducts a comprehensive review of the existing literature on housing policy and neoliberalism, adhering to the PRISMA guidelines and systematic review statements, utilizing 'housing policy and neoliberalism' as keywords. The objective of this study is to identify prevalent research themes within the realm of affordable housing and neoliberalism. The primary themes influencing affordable housing policy, as indicated by the results, encompass privatization, deregulation, and privatization once more. Subthemes within this context include the privatization of public housing, the elimination of zoning restrictions or the adoption of inclusionary zoning, and the adoption of a market-driven approach. The outcomes of this study aim to streamline existing research, offering valuable insights for future research endeavors and aiding relevant stakeholders in formulating effective affordable housing policies and enhancing the governance of housing delivery mechanisms.

Investigating alternatives to privatization of public housing: an analysis based on the Quattro Corti project in Italy

After the long-lasting divestment in the Italian public housing system and the privatization of over 20% of the stock, many public dwellings are vacant or in substantial need of maintenance. The article aims at contributing to the literature that addresses the crisis of public housing, by investigating alternatives to its privatization in Italy, a context of heavy divestment and devolution. It draws on original material from the case study of the Quattro Corti project, an unprecedented form of hybrid collaboration between public housing providers and housing cooperatives for the regeneration and management a small portion of the public housing stock in Milan. We investigate the context at different scales (state, neighbourhood, building) and analyze the partnership through extended field work and interviews to stakeholders, tenants and managers. Finally we address opportunities and challenges for a wider implementation of such partnerships in Italy, as part of a strategy to prevent privatization.

Organizational model of municipal housing stock management in the contracting system–A case study of Poland

Social housing management across Europe is evolving towards a more market-oriented approach in response to the progressing decentralization of public services and privatization of public housing. In Poland, these trends are particularly related to changes in the organization of municipal housing stock management. One recommended option for such changes has become the evolution from an indirect system based on municipal units into a contracting system based on private entities.This paper presents the organizational model of municipal housing stock management in Poland in the contracting system. The model was designed as an organizational management standard for a typical urban municipality. The model was developed by integrating theoretical solutions and the results of empirical research conducted in Polish cities in view of the key organizational principles. The methodology for developing the model was based on the diagnostic-functional approach to designing organizational systems with the use of the Hijmans competence tables technique. This model strives to enhance the quality and efficiency of municipal housing management services by improving their organization in line with the New Public Management concept. The proposed model could be of interest to other countries where the management of social housing is subjected to restructuring and privatization pressure.

Dispersed privatization of council housing: Some structural effects in the municipal housing stock in Olsztyn, Poland

Council (public) housing privatization, as the basic instrument for transforming housing systems, has significantly affected the tenure structure and created millions of new owners across Europe. In Poland, the concept of the dispersed privatization was adopted and implemented in the long term primarily through preferential sales of council dwellings from the municipal housing stock to sitting tenants. The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of the dispersed privatization of municipal dwellings in the spatial and ownership structure of the municipal housing stock of the city of Olsztyn in Poland. The results showed that poorly controlled processes of the dispersed privatization of municipal housing caused unfavorable structural effects in the surveyed housing stock. The stock has shrunk significantly, losing buildings in better locations and conditions and the undesired fragmentation of municipal ownership and its mixing with private ownership has increased. The results and proposals are important to other cities and countries facing the challenge of slow privatization of public housing.

When homes earn more than jobs: the rentierization of the Australian housing market

This article develops the concept of housing market ‘rentierization’ to describe the shift in the treatment of housing away from its use as a consumption good to an asset from which economic rent can be extracted. Rentierization encompasses, but goes beyond, the ‘financialisation of housing’ that has been the focus of attention in the recent political economy of housing literature as it involves changes across land and housing market policy, fiscal-policy as well as financial policy spheres. We examine Australia as a canonical example of rentierization, conducting a historical case study that examines the returns to land and housing over the 20th century and trace its roots to developments that preceded the financial liberalization of the 1980s, including the privatization of public housing in the 1960s and 70s.

In the name of “social mixing”: The privatization of public housing to non-governmental organizations

ABSTRACT This paper explores the invocation of “social mixing” to camouflage the reduction of public housing through state-led gentrification processes. I focus on the use of social mixing in Israel to justify the privatization of public housing projects, transferring state assets to not-for-profit organizations. These organizations encourage middle-class families and students to relocate to disadvantaged neighborhoods. Exploring this practice reveals tensions between stakeholders regarding their perceptions of social mixing. Data for this study were drawn from interviews conducted with policymakers, NGO members, and public housing tenants, supplemented by analysis of press articles and policy and NGO documents. Findings highlight use of the social mixing discourse to contextualize benefits accrued via differential access to public housing stock. Such benefits are viewed specifically by long-term tenants as displacement and gentrification. This study further assesses the advantages and disadvantages of this policy, explicating the links between gentrification and social mixing.

Homeownership, mobility, and unemployment: Evidence from housing privatization

Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mobility costs that limit their job search to local labor markets. Empirical tests of this prediction have yielded mixed results so far, possibly due to the endogeneity of homeownership. This paper proposes that the privatization of public housing in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain was a substantial policy shock that generated largely exogenous assignment of homeownership to individual households. This facilitates a new test of the effects of homeownership on mobility and unemployment: First, our empirical results do not reject that homeownership reduces mobility. Second, our results are inconsistent with homeownership increasing unemployment.

Financial flow models in municipal housing stock management in Poland

The privatization of public housing in Poland has contributed to the rise of a hybrid municipal housing management system where financial operations are carried out in both public and private finance sectors. The paper identifies and analyzes the existing model of financial flows in municipal housing stock management in Poland and proposes a modification to improve the quality and efficiency of these services. The existing model was developed using a multi-stage top-down research methodology combining various descriptive, explanatory and analytical methods. The model presents the standardized structure and mechanisms of financial flows in municipal housing stock management in a synthetic, consistent and universal approach. It provides a platform for detailed research aiming to improve the analyzed management processes, and it can be deployed to perform analytical, diagnostic and normative functions as a tool for promoting good management practices. The existing model was modified based on the results of an empirical analysis. The modified model proposes a general framework for the financial transformation of municipal housing management systems in Poland in line with the New Public Management concept. The identified models could be of interest to other countries where social housing management leans towards the narrower property-based approach.

Market-based low-carbon retrofit in social housing: Insights from Greater Manchester

ABSTRACTIn recent years, social housing providers in the UK have become influential actors in realizing the national government’s decarborization agenda. However, when decarbonization is considered in light of austerity measures and the privatization of public housing, a number of contradictions arise. From interviews and a workshop with policymakers and registered providers in the city-region of Greater Manchester, three tensions are highlighted. First, since the 1980s, the housing stock condition has been used as a political pawn in successive reforms to demunicipalize social housing. Second, local authorities continue to harness the collectivities that remain in the social housing sector to realize their decarbonization goals. Third, the retrofit practices of social landlords are only superficially aiming for carbon control; instead, they focus on the social aims that are seen as important to the ethos and business model of the landlord. The article concludes that there are unavoidable conflicts between the interests of different actors whose low-carbon economy is conceived at different spatial scales and with different underlying objectives. As social landlords are foregrounded in subregional low-carbon policy, they are effectively co-opted into market-based retrofit, resulting in unintended consequences for the social housing sector.

The organizational challenges of mixed-income development: privatizing public housing through cross-sector collaboration

One of the largely undocumented dimensions of public housing transformation in the United States is the multi-sector, multi-organizational collaborations whose charge is to manage the local implementation of mixed-income developments. In Chicago, private real estate developers entered into partnerships with the Chicago Housing Authority to finance, design, build, and manage the new developments. Key topics considered in this paper include the structures and processes of new organizational working relationships that have been established, how they are evolving over time, and the key operational challenges confronted in creating and sustaining them. We argue that these cross-sector collaborations within the context of the privatization of public housing generate complex organizational roles and dynamics that would benefit from far greater intentionality, clarity, and support to promote effectiveness and accountability.

Homeownership, Mobility, and Unemployment: Evidence from Housing Privatization

Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mobility costs that limit their job search to local labor markets. Empirical tests of this prediction have yielded mixed results so far, possibly due to the endogeneity of homeownership. This paper documents that the privatization of public housing in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain resulted in a quasi-experimental assignment of homeownership to individual households. This facilitates a new test of the effects of homeownership on mobility and unemployment. We find only weak evidence that homeowners are less willing to move and no evidence of higher unemployment risks relative to renters.

Privatizing public housing redevelopment: Grassroots resistance, co-operation and devastation in three Dublin neighbourhoods

This article examines variations in residents' responses to proposals to redevelop three public housing neighbourhoods in Dublin using Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and the outcomes their resistance achieved. It investigates the important role that structures of participation and representation and local social cohesion play in developing effective resident resistance to displacement and gentrification through regeneration. In two of these neighbourhoods community representative structures were strong and although one community co-operated with the PPP plans and the other opposed them, both were broadly successful in achieving their campaign objectives. Community structures in the third neighbourhood were weak however and the imposition of PPP redevelopment devastated this community which is now almost entirely vacant. This article provides some important insights for the literature on grassroots resistance to urban redevelopment, welfare state restructuring and public housing redevelopment. It reveals that, despite their lack of power, residents' resistance can significantly influence public housing redevelopment strategies particularly where community representative structures are strong. However for vulnerable communities, where representative structures are weak, the over emphasis on poverty de-concentration and refurbishing the built environment in public housing redevelopment policy can have devastating consequences. Thus, it concludes that the rationale for grass roots resistance to redevelopment is centred upon a strong place attachment, but also opposition to the privatization of public housing and the desire for poverty to be addressed in an holistic manner.

The impact of privatization of public housing on housing affordability in Beijing: An assessment using household survey data

Housing affordability has long been on the agenda of China’s policy makers. Imperfections in the housing system and growing disparities in income and wealth have been central to the problem of affordable housing. Housing reforms in China led to the creation of a market-oriented housing system, but also increased economic and social stratification. This article considers the effect of privatization of public housing on the problem of housing affordability in Beijing. We draw on a household survey to assess affordability for households according to occupants’ family structures, educational attainments and employment status, using a ‘residual income’ approach. The implications for policies designed to improve housing affordability are discussed.

The impact of housing reform on durables consumption in China

The privatization of public housing in the 1990s in China had a considerable impact on the wealth of urban households. This paper analyzes the effects of the wealth change on household consumption of nine durable goods in urban China, including air conditioner, computer, color TV, washing machine, refrigerator, camera, microwave, telephone, and VCD/DVD. Our results show that households affected by the housing reform had a significantly higher level of durables consumption than those unaffected by the program. In the short term, their probabilities of purchasing air conditioners and computers increase by 2%–10% and 2%–7% respectively. In the long term, the effect on air conditioner consumption increases over time during our study period but effect on computer does not increase monotonically. Further, the effects of the housing reform on the consumptions of more commonly owned durables, such as color TV, washing machine, refrigerator, and telephone have diminished over time.

The Winners in China's Urban Housing Reform

Housing reform in China has proceeded on two tracks: privatization of public housing and development of a new private housing sector. During this period of transition, rents have remained relatively low in the remaining public housing, and purchase prices offered to occupants of public housing have been well below market prices. Although these rents and prices are partly based on known formulas, there is considerable variability in how much people pay for similar apartments. This study uses 2000 Census data to estimate the housing subsidy received by the remaining renters in the public sector and purchasers of public housing, based on private sector prices for housing of comparable quality and size. The paper also analyzes variation in the estimated discount from market prices that these people receive. The findings show that the biggest winners in China's transition from socialist housing allocation are those who were favored in the previous system, based on such factors as residence status, education and occupation.

Liberalization and the privatization of public rental housing in Kolkata

The paper focuses on the privatization of public rental housing in Kolkata. The State government has decided to sell to its sitting tenants, due to high maintenance costs and loopholes in the rent setting and allocation processes. The success of privatization of public housing in Kolkata is contingent upon the government’s capacity to turn its liabilities into assets for the future, fending off possible negative externalities of privatization on the low income households that constitute the majority population in the city. The paper suggests that considerable benefits can be accrued from the privatization and concludes with two possible alternatives, within a conducive liberalized environment. The alternatives are not conclusive, but designed to promote alternatives in future research.

Favoured Owners, Neglected Tenants: Privatisation of State Owned Housing in Hanoi

This paper presents selected findings from the project ‘Privatisation of public housing in Hanoi, the impacts on housing quality and social equality’ which was financed by the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). The project analyses the consequences of privatisation on the housing conditions of those tenants and owners who live in privatised and partly privatised multi-family apartment buildings. This paper focuses on the consequences of privatisation on the housing and living conditions of tenants compared to those of owners, and presents findings. The paper concludes that privatisation actually helps to strengthen the existing inequity between different social groups, in the sense that the privatisation policy supports senior government officials, many of whom are well situated both financially and socially, and ignores poor and low-income households. Privatisation also contributes to enhancing the inequality between better-off housing areas and poorer ones. Mixed ownership, and the lack of regulations about the duties and rights of owners and tenants after privatisation, also lead to serious degradation of common areas in all residential blocks.

Privatization of public housing in Hong Kong: a genuine agenda or propaganda

It has been 25 years since the first initiative of privatization of public housing was implemented in Hong Kong and a rich literature on the subject has been developed, but most researchers only focus on individual privatization initiatives rather than the big picture. That is, why the privatization process remains stagnant? No attempt has been made to analyse whether the privatization policy and its initiatives are on the right track, or whether those initiatives are compatible and adequate, in order to find out the underlying reason for the stagnant progress on privatization. This paper attempts to fill this gap by first discussing methods of privatizing public housing, then the sequential model is applied to examine every stage of the privatization process. Results of the analysis indicate that the government has committed and continued to ignore numerous mistakes in the privatization process. More important, the government has done nothing to replace market interventions with market mechanisms. The mistakes and shortcomings of existing privatization initiatives are quite obvious and easy to rectify, and yet the government allows them to persist. The evidence leaves many wondering if the stagnant progress of the privatization policy is the result of incompetence in carrying out a genuine agenda or the policy itself is simply propaganda.

When Hope Falls Short: HOPE VI, Accountability, and the Privatization of Public Housing

When Hope Falls Short: HOPE VI, Accountability, and the Privatization of Public Housing

Housing, privatization and the 'Right to Buy'

This paper proffers the first formal econometric analysis into the privatization of public housing under the Conservative Government's ‘Right to Buy’ (RTB) legislation. Results reveal that both actual and prospective RTB beneficiaries exhibit significantly different demographic and attitudinal characteristics from other owneroccupiers and council tenants. Given the close links between housing tenure and labour mobility, a closer analysis of these differences would be informative in any analysis of the RTB scheme, and in any future review of housing policy.