Quality Of Housing Services Research Articles

Demographics, Human Capital, and Housing Demand

This paper aims to investigate how demographics determine the amount and the quality of housing services demanded. It contributes to the current debate in three ways: First, based on a very detailed 2001 cross-section of English households, it finds that human capital is a key driver for housing demand. Second, it refines the existing methodology by distinguishing between life-cycle variables that are expected to change with age for each household, and cohort variables, that are determined by the household's birth-cohort and not by age. Third, its findings are relevant to other European countries that already experience population shrinkage at an unprecedented magnitude. A scenario analysis with different population pro jections shows that in case of stagnating household numbers total demand can still increase as the population grows older.

Increased Competition in the Swedish Housing Market and Its Effect on Rents and Quality of Housing Services for Households

There has been a general trend in society during the last two decades towards privatization. Although privatization has been discussed for many years in Western Europe, the rental housing sector has not yet been affected very much, with the exception of the UK. This article utilizes empirical data to explore the effects on rents and quality of housing services of the privatization of apartments by municipal housing companies located outside metropolitan areas in Sweden. Quasi‐experimental methodology has been used, partly as a test of this methodology and partly because it was expected to yield better results in this context than traditional multiple regression methods. The development of the apartment stock in one town/city is compared with that in carefully selected comparison town(s). It appears that 2–5 years after privatization, rent development was lower in areas where apartments had been privatized. There are also indications that the development of the quality of housing services during the period investigated was dependent more on the specific housing company than on the type of owner (private or public). These data therefore indicate that public authorities should probably not be too worried about the short‐ and medium‐term effects of privatization if the buyer is carefully selected. However, data availability was limited and the results therefore need to be verified.

THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL HOUSING IN EASTERN EUROPE: REFORMS IN LATVIA AND UKRAINE

This paper explores the impact of housing reforms on public rented housing in Eastern Europe, using Latvia and Ukraine as case studies. The focus on public housing is important, since in both countries municipalities and state institutions are the major social landlords. Rent structures are not sensitive to demand or quality of housing services and allocation decisions rely on bureaucratic processes. The study evaluates changes in ownership, rent and allocation policies in the two countries to determine the extent to which public housing has moved away from a‘command’system to a more market-sensitive model. The limited success of housing reforms, particularly in Ukraine, has critical implications for the financial sustainability of the sector. Drawing on comparative work on social rented housing provision in Western Europe, the paper argues that in transition economies where the sector is large, reforms need to focus on rent policies that ensure cost recovery for services with targeted‘in cash’support for...

Assessing service quality and its link with value for money in a UK local authority's housing repairs service using the SERVQUAL approach

Examines the quality of housing services provided by local authorities in Falkirk area of Scotland. Management of housing services in Falkirk area; Priorities in the delivery of housing services in Falkirk area; Approach to the measurement of service quality.