Social Housing Finance Research Articles

Three contradictions between ESG finance and social housing decarbonisation: a comparison of five European countries

The regulation of financial markets according to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria has become a priority for the European Union (EU). Recent legislation, such as the EU Green Taxonomy, aims to identify sustainable investments enhancing transparency and accountability while steering private finance toward environmental objectives. The introduction of ESG criteria poses specific questions for Social Housing Organisations (SHOs), particularly as the decarbonisation of the housing stock is also incorporated into national legislation. This article contributes to the social housing finance literature by breaking ground on ESG, an area of intensive legislative activity currently re-shaping financial markets. The study draws from interviews with SHOs’ finance directors, banking officers, rating agencies and public officials to answer the question: How does the introduction of ESG legislation affect the financing of social housing decarbonisation? First, the results show that ESG legislation is broadening reporting responsibilities while producing only limited additional finance ultimately geared towards large and commercially oriented SHOs. Second, the expansion of energy-efficiency requirements is resulting in higher costs creating tensions with SHOs’ social mission of building homes at affordable rents. Third, the adoption of ESG financing is producing inequalities in access to capital across national financing systems and individual providers.

Bibliometric Analysis And Visualization Of Funding Social Housing: Connection Of Sociological And Economic Research

This paper deals with bibliometric analysis and visualization of theory development of funding social housing considering connection of sociological and economic research. The main purpose of the research is to identify dominant trends in cross-sectoral research related to the development of the theory of funding social housing considering connection of sociological and economic research. Systematization literary sources and approaches for solving the problem of funding social housing indicates that the bibliometric analysis of scientific papers indexed in the Scopus database based on using VOSViewer software package and the Scopus scientometric database analysis were not applied enough in the scientific area of this research. Investigation of the topic about research activity in funding social, affordable, and public housing emphasizing the connection of sociological and economic patterns is carried out in the following logical sequence: introduction and proving the relevance of research problem; literature revue with generalization and analysis of scholars experience of bibliometric analysis and visualization in general and in funding social, public, and affordable housing in particular; the main part of investigation related directly to the Scopus scientometric database analysis and the bibliometric analysis of scientific papers indexed in the Scopus database based on using VOSViewer; conclusion of research. Methodological tools of the research methods were logical generalization and scientific abstraction, statistical and structural analysis, comparative, and graphical analysis using Excel 2010 software, Scopus database tools and VOSViewer software package v.1.6.16. The object of the Scopus database analysis was a sample of 5 385 scientific articles indexed in the Scopus scientometric database for the period from 1948 to 2020, and generated by the following keywords for search request: ‘funding social housing’, ‘financing social housing’, ‘social housing finance’, ‘funding affordable housing’, ‘financing affordable housing’, ‘affordable housing finance’, ‘funding public housing’, ‘financing public housing’, and ‘public housing finance’ (limit in 2020 is due to the availability of information on open portal of Scopus database and incomplete data for 2021). The top trends of theory development of funding social, affordable, and public housing were identified. The Scopus scientometric database analysis showed that the theory of funding social, affordable, and public housing is at the stage of formation and rapid development – about 60–70 % of the total number of publications for the period from 1948 to 2020 (for more than 70 years) were published in the last 10 years (and about 30–40 % – in the last 5 years). The total trend of number of articles dynamics about funding social, affordable, and public housing indexed in Scopus database in 1990-2020 was built. The accent was put on some significant increase peaks of publishing activity during investigated period connected with the economic and financial crisis in 2007, currency fluctuations, the COVID-19 crisis, etc. The structural and functional clustering of the development of the theory of funding social housing was carried out considering connection of sociological and economic research. The received conclusions can be useful for scholars in socioeconomics, public and private investors in social and affordable housing.

Financing Affordable Housing Through Compulsory Saving: The Two-Decade Experience of Housing Provident Fund in China

Housing Provident Fund (HPF), a compulsory saving scheme providing self-funded housing credit, is a significant provider of housing finance in several emerging economies. The Chinese HPF program constitutes the largest social housing finance program in the world. Yet, very few studies have examined it. This paper documents the history of China's HPF program, in particular, how it has evolved from a local experiment to a prominent national housing program. It then examines the program's management structure and the role of HPF lending in meeting China's housing finance needs. The paper also compares China's HPF experience with the HPF practices in other countries. Finally, the paper examines the challenges China's HPF program faces today and the efforts to address them. The paper concludes by discussing some of the broader lessons that can be learned from China's HPF experience.

The Ongoing Transformation of Social Housing Finance in France: Towards a Self-financing System?

This paper reviews social housing policy transformations in France since 2000. These changes have come to represent a new context characterised by conflict between government budget constraints and intensive demand for social housing due to growing job insecurity and soaring housing prices. The paper begins by outlining the mayor debates on the role of public interventions in the provision of social housing in France. It then focuses on the consequences for the sustainability of new social rental housing which has proved to be more and more oriented toward a self-financing system. Our review argues that although the current annual provision of social housing has not yet declined, self-financing is probably a feature of a transition stage between sustainable growth and the stagnation of the social housing stock. This change poses anew the key question for the French social housing model: whether or not to reproduce the ‘residual’ position being taken by most European countries.

Trends and Change in Social Housing Finance and Provision within the European Union

Despite the advent of European integration, the European Union exhibits considerable diversity in its social and economic arrangements in a number of important spheres, not least housing. EU national housing systems differ markedly and interact with national economic structures, welfare regimes, social trends and policy agendas. This paper focuses on the social rented sector and its financing. It maps out trends and sources of change, divergence and convergence across selected EU nations. The paper draws heavily on the UK experience and from secondary sources from other EU nations. The paper begins (after the introduction) with a brief critical description of the main ways social housing is organised in the EU. This is followed by an overview of social housing finance, public spending and subsidy mechanisms. The next section sets out some of the key challenges consequently facing the non-market sectors across the EU. The concluding discussion raises issues for further inquiry.

CHANGING SOCIAL HOUSING IN GREAT BRITAIN: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

During the 1990s, as social housing throughout Europe experienced budget cuts, the British response involved adopting a more European approach. A market for social housing finance has been successfully created. Major contrasts with Europe remain, particularly the dominance of municipal housing. Continuing fiscal stringency, system difficulties and new models for demunicipalization are creating pressures for further change.

Social Housing Finance in Europe: Trends and Opportunities

The central topic of this contribution is the financing of the social rented sector in seven countries in western Europe: the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France and Sweden. Since 1975, the macro housing quota has increased in all seven countries, but most of all in the Netherlands. Property subsidies have been reduced; housing allowances have become more important. The differences in size of the social rented sector remain large. Private finance has mostly replaced public loans, with the exception of Germany where interest-free government loans cover part of the finance needed. In most countries, guarantees for capital market loans exist, Great Britain being the exception. In the near future, changes in social housing finance may be expected as a result of European monetary integration. The euro will (for the time being) not be introduced in Denmark, Great Britain and Sweden. The costs of capital may decline when social housing finance becomes more internationalised.

Social Housing Finance in the European Union: Developments and Prospects

Social Housing Finance in the European Union: Developments and Prospects

Social Housing Finance in Sweden

Sweden historically had a highly subsidised housing construction and rehabilitation. Subsidies were mainly channelled through an interest subsidy system, which reduced initial capital expenditures. A boom in the housing market in the late 1980s turned into a 'bust' in the early 1990s. This was due to a combination of factors: a lower inflation rate, a deep economic recession and reduced interest subsidies in combination with a tax reform. The effect was to create a large price fall, vacancies, a low construction rate and large defaults. The bank crisis was counteracted by a tighter credit market, with a more thorough screening of borrowers. Municipal housing companies lost their protected position on the credit market in the early 1990s. Many of the companies were severely hurt by an increasing number of vacancies, and had an insufficient safeguard in terms of a low equity. It is thus anticipated that municipal housing companies will be an important target for bank screening in the future, and it is anticipated that banks will develop more sophisticated risk-management techniques in the housing market, which also will include municipal housing.

Institutional Structure of Social Housing Finance in the UK: Recent Developments

It is argued that social housing in the UK currently faces affordability and investment problems. Rental payments are highly dependent on housing benefits and more investment, with higher rent levels and lower direct subsidy, requires more expenditure on housing benefits if affordability problems are to be avoided. The increasing role of private finance in funding housing association developments is reviewed. There is an examination of the institutional relationship between social housing expenditure and the public deficit. The case for new forms of social housing organisations which are less restricted by public expenditure controls is examined. It is argued that new social housing institutions will contribute more to the resolution of the investment than the affordability problem. The relationship between finance and social purpose is explored. It is concluded that there is a continuing need for redistributive measures if social housing is to achieve its essential purposes.

The Financing of Social Housing in Integrating Financial Markets: A View from Developing Countries

The housing sector is the last major sector of the national economy for which analytical foundations for economic and financial policy evaluation have developed. However, the application of this analytical framework to international comparisons of housing policies or the evaluation of housing finance systems still lags considerably behind the strong foundations laid over the years for trade, finance or industry policy analyses. None the less, the era when improvisation and fragmented policy-making in housing and housing finance could be excused is well past. Today, there is a deep and expanding body of basic research and policy analysis that can be shared for the design of housing policies and housing finance institutions whether it is in the European Union or developing countries. Obviously, social and economic contexts as well as wealth levels differ greatly. Common analytical foundations can lead to very different prescriptions in countries where macroeconomic and financial policies, financial infrastructure, and urban laws policies and practices differ. In some countries, the institutions of the markets are so deep that we may no longer be fully aware of them. In others, they barely exist. Everywhere, the division of labour between public and private actions in both housing policy and housing finance is shifting. Like European countries, but at much lower levels of income and wealth, developing countries continue to seek growth with equity. However, those are countries where the majority of people are poor, cities are growing rapidly, public as well as private institutions are often weak and fiscal resources are severely constrained. In such environments, it seems to stand to reason that the financing of social housing should only be a subset of public concerns for the development of a safe and sound housing finance system that will be able to expand in step with urbanisation. The question addressed here is where the financing of social housing fits within the new world of housing finance. The search for alternative forms of housing finance for low-income groups cannot disregard overall trends affecting the financial sector and hope to be sustainable. It has become clear during the past two decades that there is no such thing as a homogeneous 'Third World' across which identical policies and instruments could be conveniently applied. This simplistic concept resulted from the Cold War, ignorance of distant foreign places and, in particular, of their specific human capital, laws, institutions and practices. The reality in housing finance, as well as in other areas of public policy, is that there are profound differences among the more than 180 advanced and developing countries that are now members of the World Bank. It is therefore important to think of housing finance as 'path-dependent' in the sense that any innovation will be shaped by past and current conditions. One can distinguish six broad types of housing finance systems. Their main features are briefly outlined here. In spite of such international diversity, the separation of subsidies from finance and the redesign of social housing finance programmes are everywhere a critical reference for the design and development of better housing finance systems.

Social housing investment: Housing policy and finance in the UK and the Netherlands, 1970–1992

Levels of social housing investment in the UK and the Netherlands are considered for the period 1970–1992. The changing housing policies and the developing structures of social housing finance are analysed. These factors have contributed to the decline in social housing construction in the UK and the Netherlands. In particular, the desire of governments in both countries to cut public capital expenditure on housing and increase the role of private, capital in new construction reduced the output during the 1980s. In the UK, a tight monetarist policy was adopted with the aim of keeping inflation down. This can be seen as a major cause of declining levels of public expenditure on housing production. In the Netherlands, a more significant role, compared to the UK, seems to have been played by developments on the housing market, especially the real estate crisis in 1978–1982. In both countries, the outlook for investment in social housing is gloomy

Financing social housing in Canada

Abstract This article examines the mechanisms used since the 1970s to finance social housing in Canada. It reveals that direct government assistance has proven to be the most cost‐effective mechanism. Experimentation with alternative mortgage instruments such as the graduated‐payment mortgage and the index‐linked mortgage has also been central to the attempt to minimize subsidy and financing costs. The article concludes that the possibility of further enhancements in social housing finance is limited at best. The problem remains the gap between the cost of developing new social housing and the revenues generated from rents. Various partnership approaches have been tried, but none has been successful in providing housing at low rent levels. Some potential does exist, however, to refinance older social housing developments and draw equity out of them. This may be the only source of new funding available because federal assistance to new social housing developments has been frozen.

Financing social housing in the United Kingdom

Abstract This article describes the post—1988 Housing Act financing of social housing by independent housing associations, now the main vehicles for the development of new social housing in England. It discusses the political context limiting public funding of social housing; the current financial regime, which has attracted private finance into the social housing field but has also increased rents and thus revenue support for low‐income tenants; the extent of the financial markets’ involvement in the housing association market; and issues facing private and public funders alike. The conclusion cites the key social housing finance issues facing policy makers in England: how to widen private sector involvement by coaxing more lenders into the market; how to minimize benefit dependence in new developments; and how to create balanced, thriving communities that maximize political support for social housing projects.

Meeting housing needs through the market: An assessment of housing policies and the supply/demand balance in France and Great Britain

Abstract In both Britain and France, for the last 15 years or so, housing policy has become more market‐orientated. This paper examines what this has meant for the balance between supply and demand and for progress in meeting housing needs. Current projections for how housing needs and the demand/supply balance will develop in the 1990s are also analysed. For each country, the determinants of housing demand, both demographic and economic, and the supply position in both the private and public sectors, are examined. Several common issues are identified: the existence of unmet housing needs, problems of indebtedness, the limits to the expansion of owner occupation, problems of social housing finance, and concerns about the decline of the private rented sector. There are also important differences between the two countries: housing output remains at a higher level in France than in Britain; deregulation of housing finance has gone further in Britain than in France; and in France there remains a greater recog...

Private finance for social housing in Australia

Abstract A significant change in the finance of social housing in the 1980s was a movement to transfer responsibility for funding to the private sector. This article argues that governments must continue to be involved in social housing finance as this movement progresses. Financing initiatives undertaken in Australia are used to signal the risks associated with the provision of social housing finance, to illustrate the mechanisms employed to manage these risks, and to highlight the conflicts that arise when a mix of public and private funding is attempted. The article proposes the introduction of “equity bonds” as an innovative way to raise funds for social housing and to overcome inefficiencies arising from the present complex and costly administrative structures. However, a commitment to ongoing subsidies to close the full rental gap is necessary for equity bonds to serve those most in need.

The provision of private finance for social housing: An outline of recent developments in funding existing housing associations in England

Abstract With successive Housing Acts in 1985 and 1988 the British government declared its intention to create an environment for the integration of social housing and private finance. This paper draws on empirical research to consider the success to date this policy initiative from the perspective of financial institutions. This research concentrated on attitudes to the availability and suitability of financial instruments for social housing funding for existing housing associations in England. After an introduction clarifying the framework in which funds are raised, the first substantive section provides an overview of the characteristics of the potential lenders to social housing in England and of the regulatory environment affecting their lending policies. Section 3 outlines the main uses to which funds are put and the types of financial instrument currently available to housing associations. The paper next examines the scope for increasing the supply of these funds through wholesale markets, particul...

CO‐OPERATION, CO‐OWNERSHIP, VOLUNTARY SOCIAL HOUSING FINANCE POLICIES AND WIDENING POSSIBILITIES

Annals of Public and Cooperative EconomicsVolume 48, Issue 3 p. 343-370 CO-OPERATION, CO-OWNERSHIP, VOLUNTARY SOCIAL HOUSING FINANCE POLICIES AND WIDENING POSSIBILITIES Cedric Pugh, Cedric Pugh Professor at South Australian Institute of TechnologySearch for more papers by this author Cedric Pugh, Cedric Pugh Professor at South Australian Institute of TechnologySearch for more papers by this author First published: July 1977 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.1977.tb02056.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume48, Issue3July 1977Pages 343-370 RelatedInformation