Social Housing Provision Research Articles

Social housing after neo-liberalism: new forms of state-driven welfare intervention toward social renters

Allocation policies to provide social housing to people with the highest needs means that a significant portion of tenants have complex, and often unmet, physical and mental healthcare requirements. Consequently, some tenants require health and psychosocial services integrated with housing. Drawing on a mixed-method design including administrative data from an Australian public health and social housing authority, and tenant qualitative interviews, this article demonstrates how integration assists tenants to improve their psychological health, reduce their use of emergency health services, and receive fewer tenancy problems. In addition to the health and psychosocial resources provided, tenants with high needs benefited from integration through housing providers having greater knowledge of the problems and solutions salient to their tenancies. The article’s theoretical contribution is to demonstrate how neoliberalism drives residualization, which in turn creates the need for a well-resourced integrated model. The integrated model constitutes a form of social housing provision after neoliberalism with a discernible but incomplete rupture with neoliberal logics.

The causal structure of land finance, commercial housing, and social housing in China

ABSTRACTChina has implemented the dual housing supply system consisting of commercial housing provided by the private sector and social housing provided by the public sector. Since commercial housing and social housing are mediated by the land finance of local governments, however, an increase in the supply of commercial housing contributes to the income of the land finance, which may, in turn, increase the public expenditure on the supply of social housing. Though the supply of commercial housing has increased and the size of the land finance has expanded in the process of rapid urbanization in China, however, statistics do not support that the supply of social housing has increased in proportion to the supply of commercial housing. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse the relationship among commercial housing supply, social housing supply, and the land finance in order to verify whether the two housing types are in the indirect, complementary relationship mediated by the land finance or in the direct, substitutive relationship. The cross-sectional data is used across 274 cities in China, based on the annual average values between 2009 and 2014 regarding each city's size of land finance and the amount of land supplied for construction purposes, which includes commercial housing and economic comfortable housing. By the path analysis results that commercial housing and ECH are not in the complementary relationship mediated by the land finance, but in the substitutive relationship as they have to compete each other to secure the limited land resources.

Social housing on trial: Institutions + Policy design

ABSTRACTThe recent global crisis exposed vulnerabilities of housing markets pointing to the need to build resilience through better policy tools and sustainable provision of social housing. In the context of fiscal austerity social housing is on trial affected by changing politics, privatization and concentration of urban poverty. This special issue explores the differences and similarities in housing policies and practices by focusing on social housing institutions and their ability to influence affordability and quality of housing. The focus is on private and not-for-profit provision in mixed-income developments supported through partnerships and a mix of policy instruments.

Parceria público-privada para construção de moradia popular: fundamentos institucionais para a expansão do mercado de habitação em São Paulo

Resumo Este artigo trata da dinâmica das articulações entre Estado e mercado no setor habitacional em face da ascensão do neoliberalismo e da difusão de uma agenda de política pública calcada na hegemonia da "nova economia institucional". Com base em estudo de caso sobre um projeto de parceria público-privada para a provisão de habitação de interesse social promovida pela Agência Casa Paulista, apresentamos uma reflexão sobre as mudanças e as continuidades que o atual modelo de política habitacional do estado de São Paulo representa em relação ao modelo anterior, protagonizado pela Companhia Paulista de Desenvolvimento Habitacional e Urbano (CDHU). Os dados coletados evidenciaram uma tendência de deslocamento da primazia nas atividades de formulação e financiamento de políticas habitacionais para o setor privado.

Integrating socio-environmental spatial information to support housing plans

The current challenge of promoting the sustainable provision of social housing for the global population requires an integrated evaluation of the infrastructure and service availability across a territory. Few applications are recognized for supporting social housing plans with spatial information, especially regarding the ability to provide room for new initiatives. The aim of this research is to propose a Social Housing Index (SHI) for integrating and quantifying urban spatial socio-environmental information to support social housing plans. To this end, data about land use and sectoral activities are integrated using a standardizing methodological framework. The SHI supports studies on location alternatives for new housing projects and the availability of infrastructure and services for the implemented housing complexes. The proposed index also harmonizes the development of housing plans by making different demands compatible for supporting urban sustainability.

Assembling an innovative social housing project in Melbourne: mapping the potential for social innovation

In Australia, echoing trends in the UK, US and Canada, provision of social housing has transitioned from government-led mechanisms to an increasing focus on partnerships between private developers, government and the not-for-profit sector. In this context, social housing is often achieved via the ‘cobbling together’ of necessary resources over time. This article focuses on an innovative social housing project in the inner west of Melbourne, Australia, that involves the modular construction of 57 transportable dwellings located on government-owned land. I apply a theoretical framework that combines insights from social innovation literature and assemblage to understand the process of assembling a pilot project and to chart how the project may be scaled up or scaled out to challenge the system in which homelessness occurs. The research highlights the role of community housing providers as ‘pivot points’ in the social housing sector and acknowledges the importance of credibility, funding, legislative change and construction innovation in scaling housing social innovations.

MEETING HOUSING NEEDS OF THE POOR AND NEEDY MUSLIMS THROUGH ZAKAT AND WAKAF

Meeting housing needs of the poor and needy is a continuous challenge. The challenge is exacerbated, among others, by the continuous and upward increases in the cost of living, population growth and the availability of resources. The Government intervenes through policy implementation and assistance in the forms of subsidies and the provision of social housing. In Islam, there is an opportunity to help the poor and needy meeting their housing needs through zakat and wakaf . Consequently, a study applying a combination of library research and in-depth face-to-face interviews with experts was carried out. The key objectives of the study are to assess the potential of zakat and wakaf in the provision of affordable housing for the poor and needy, and if so, to identify appropriate strategies to empower the zakat and wakaf authorities in carrying out the task. The main findings from the study suggest that zakat and wakaf have great potential to help the poor and needy in meeting their housing needs and that the best way forward is for the zakat and wakaf authorities to do so through collaboration, either among themselves or with private property developers. The significance of the study and its findings are viewed in terms of the innovative idea in promoting zakat and wakaf authorities to collaborate instead of working on their own, with conditions that issues related to the Shariah are resolved.

MEETING HOUSING NEEDS OF THE POOR AND NEEDY MUSLIMS THROUGH ZAKAT AND WAKAF

Meeting housing needs of the poor and needy is a continuous challenge. The challenge is exacerbated, among others, by the continuous and upward increases in the cost of living, population growth and the availability of resources. The Government intervenes through policy implementation and assistance in the forms of subsidies and the provision of social housing. In Islam, there is an opportunity to help the poor and needy meeting their housing needs through zakat and wakaf. Consequently, a study applying a combination of library research and in-depth face-to-face interviews with experts was carried out. The key objectivesof the study are to assess the potential of zakat and wakaf in the provision of affordable housing for the poor and needy, and if so, to identify appropriate strategies to empower the zakat and wakaf authorities in carrying out the task. The main findings from the study suggest that zakat and wakaf have great potential to help the poor and needy in meeting their housing needs and that the best way forward is for the zakat and wakaf authorities to do so through collaboration, either among themselves or with private property developers. The significance of the study and its findings are viewed in terms of the innovative idea in promoting zakat and wakaf authorities to collaborate instead of working on their own, with conditions that issues related to the Shariah are resolved.

Valuing sustainable change in the built environment

PurposeThe paper aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of sustainable return on investment (SuROI) to determine it suitability as a means through which social value can be predicted in line with public procurement directives and the Social Value Act, whilst at the same time as fitting the developer’s business model and CSR commitments.Design/methodology/approachUsing a multi-case design, findings from a comprehensive evaluation of three major housing-led mixed-use regeneration developments are presented. The three case study locations were selected on the basis of the developer’s strong commitment to place-making and social sustainability. Together with a strong strategic desire to reposition their organisation away from the traditional business as usual profit-led model.FindingsWhilst the social return on investment methodology is applicable to the charity sector, its use in the built environment is highly questionable. When applying the model to the mixed-use housing projects, the authors identified a number of technical limitations to the model, inter alia a lack of suitable proxies and especially proxies relating to the built environment for the valuation of identified outcomes; the use of monetisation as a evaluating measure which did not support some of the more abstract or softer benefits identified; problems collecting, identifying and evaluating data to inform the model given the complexity and scale of the project; and significant time and expense associated with the valuation and finally the inability to benchmark the report on completion. These findings have implications for the social housing providers and local authorities looking to use SuROI to evaluate potential built environment projects.Originality/valueThe paper offers unique insights into the viability of using existing social value measurement methodologies. The paper identifies the significant limitations associated with the SuROI methodology.

Social housing providers as unlikely low-carbon innovators

Social housing providers have recently emerged as unlikely innovators of low carbon transitions in the UK residential sector. They tend to have a significant amount of influence over large housing stocks, opportunities to access funding to retrofit on a large scale, can make explicit connections between reduced carbon emissions and improved quality of life for low-income residents, and foster a close relationship with the place and communities they serve. In effect, social housing providers are ‘middle actors’ who not only facilitate but also realise low carbon transitions through various strategies. This paper uses empirical findings from interviews with social housing providers in Greater Manchester to understand the different ways that low carbon and energy efficiency innovation is being undertaken in this sector. The findings reveal that as middle actors, social landlords influence upstream to policy makers and regulators, downstream to individual households, and sideways to other actors in the social housing sector as well as to other building and energy professionals. The findings reveal opportunities for governments to supplement their existing policies with recognising and supporting middle actors to accelerate low carbon transitions of the built environment.

Investigation of nZEB social housing built to the Passive House standard

Across Europe dwellings will be constructed to comply with nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) standards by 2020. This requires highly performing dwellings, an arena previously the preserve of the Passive House (PH) Standard. This study examines the operational performance and cost of a set of nZEB dwellings built as PH dwellings and thereby investigates the potential of the PH typology as a solution to nZEB. This investigation is undertaken with particular focus on the context of social housing, given that this will account for a considerable portion (c.40%) of housebuilding in the next 10 years within some EU jurisdictions.Detailed construction cost comparisons are presented for an nZEB compliant PH dwelling (which is part of a scheme of 12 such dwellings) and compared to a similar dwelling which is constructed to comply with the current building regulations in the Republic of Ireland. The Indoor Environmental (IEQ) conditions, energy consumption and monitored cost of heating and ventilation are also presented. In addition, the paper presents the results of a comprehensive occupant satisfaction survey and extensive post occupancy monitoring and analysis for the scheme of PH dwellings. Finally it compares the monitored performance with that of 20 "standard" and PH dwellings, a number of which are nZEB compliant.While the study uses data across the UK and Ireland it has relevance to a much wider context for the deployment of nZEB in Europe and housing globally, and in particular the provision of social housing.

The roles of social housing providers in creating ‘integrated’ communities

ABSTRACTCohesion and integration agendas in Britain can be characterised by localisation of ‘race relations’ responsibilities and the importance of local institutions in shaping neighbourhoods has been acknowledged. However, little is understood about the roles of housing providers in integration initiatives. Indeed, research on housing and race has experienced a lull in the 2000s. Thus, this paper aims to examine how social housing providers negotiate their positions and are complicit in constructing a certain vision of community. It draws on interviews from the ESRC Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE)’s work in the ethnically diverse neighbourhoods of Cheetham Hill (Manchester), Newham (London), Butetown (Cardiff) and Pollokshields and Govanhill (Glasgow). The paper makes three arguments: first, that race and ethnicity as facets of ‘integration’ have been subsumed into broader agendas, yet remain implicit in community building; second, that housing organisation practices are often detached from local meanings of community and prioritise exclusionary activities focusing on behaviour change and, third, that the roles of housing organisations in constructing ‘integrated’ communities are highly variable and localised, influenced by the history and contemporary dynamics of place.

A New Era of Social Housing: Architecture as the Basis for Change

The UK has an enviable track record of high‐quality social housing provision, but this has been damaged by reduced or counterproductive state involvement. So argues Paul Karakusevic, whose London practice Karakusevic Carson Architects is among a number worldwide that are lobbying for change in how social housing is done. He cautions against one‐size‐fits‐all approaches, advocating instead close collaborations between local authorities, architects and residents' associations. His own firm's experience designing mixed‐tenure, mixed‐typology models via this method shows that there is reason for optimism.

Neoliberal abandonment in disability housing provision: a look at England and Chile

Public or ‘social’ housing provision in many nations in the Global North is increasingly being driven by neoliberal strategies that include austerity cuts and market-led privatization. This context raises an important question of how likely the state’s reliance on the private sector can ensure that housing remains available and accessible to more disadvantaged low-income groups. To help answer this question, we draw on a comparative study of social housing provision for disabled people in England and Chile; two pioneers of neoliberal reform in this sector. Using interviews with key stakeholders, our findings reveal that the neoliberal reform strategies being employed have tended to dilute the statutory duties of providing accessible housing and to undermine disabled people’s choices in finding appropriate homes. Such lessons are timely and important in order to remain cognisant of the spaces of neoliberal abandonment that are leaving many people unable to gain access to appropriate housing.

Delivering Social Housing: An Overview of the Housing Crisis in Dublin

This paper explores the responses to the housing crisis in Dublin, Ireland, by analysing recent housing policies promoted to prevent family homelessness. I argue that private rental market subsides have played an increasing role in the provision of social housing in Ireland. Instead of policies that facilitate the construction of affordable housing or the direct construction of social housing, current housing policies have addressed the social housing crisis by encouraging and relying excessively on the private market to deliver housing. The housing crisis has challenged governments to increase the social housing supply, but the implementation of a larger plan to deliver social housing has not been effective, as is evidenced by the rapid decline of both private and social housing supply and the increasing number of homeless people in Dublin

Building Australia's affordable housing industry: capacity challenges and capacity-enhancing strategies

ABSTRACTAs in many other nations, Australia's intensifying shortage of affordable housing represents one of the most pressing policy challenges for government. Against a backdrop of ongoing population growth, the 20-year virtual moratorium on public housing construction means that, by 2016, the gross social housing provision deficit had reached 140,000 dwellings. And, while largely frozen in scale, the country's public housing system has also become increasingly residualised and rundown. In tackling these twin problems, some policy-makers and advocates have invested hopes in an emerging non-government affordable housing industry, largely configured around not-for-profit community housing providers. For some government players, however, the sector's nascent status and therefore ‘restricted capacity’ has been judged a crucial limitation on the extent to which it can be reasonably delegated responsibility for easing national housing stress. Applying a system-minded conception of the ‘affordable housing industry’ and adopting a multidimensional ‘capacity’ framework, this research investigated the factors limiting the scope for the industry's further expansion. In highlighting industry capacity restrictions stemming from the hollowing-out of government and its institutions, our findings connect with a wider policy studies literature and will have resonance in many countries beyond Australia – particularly in the Anglophone world.

The role of thermostatic radiator valves for the control of space heating in UK social-rented households

This paper provides an analysis of the relationships between dwelling, household and motivation, behaviour and perception characteristics and thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) settings in living rooms (n = 187) and bedrooms (n = 159) in UK social housing. The work capitalises on primary data from a socio-technical household survey undertaken in Plymouth, UK during 2015, which was coupled with building audit data. The mean reported TRV setpoint temperatures in the living rooms and bedrooms were 23.4 °C and 21.9 °C, implying that occupants prefer cooler conditions in bedrooms. There were systematic variations according to dwelling, household, and motivation, behaviour and perception characteristics. In general, the setpoint temperatures in individual rooms were higher than the whole house thermostat setpoint temperature, implying that there may be a misunderstanding of the role of TRVs in the home heating system. The research could enable social housing providers, the government and commercial organisations to target energy efficiency measures (i.e. thermal upgrades) and social interventions (i.e. behaviour change) at those dwellings and households where their impact may be most beneficial. The results presented could also be used to improve the assumptions of zonal heating behaviour in energy models, which could result in more realistic predictions of the heating demands of social housing.

Exploring the complexities of energy retrofit in mixed tenure social housing: a case study from England, UK

Article 19 of the Energy Efficiency Directive requires EU member states to address split incentives for energy efficiency between the multiple owners of buildings. But, building governance has been relatively neglected by researchers and policy makers working on Europe’s trajectory to a highly energy-efficient building stock. Taking a socio-legal approach, this paper illustrates the complexities that occur with retrofit of mixed tenure (social and private) apartment blocks and, more broadly, how building governance is a determinant of the costs and outcomes of refurbishment projects. Forty-two percent of Europeans live in apartments and mixed tenure apartment blocks and neighbourhoods have become more prevalent in Europe in recent decades. The paper focuses on a detailed study of a large refurbishment project of five tower blocks by Oxford City Council, involving external wall insulation and other energy efficiency measures. In addition to the Council’s social tenants, these blocks house significant numbers of private owners who have challenged the Council’s attempt to recover from them a share of the refurbishment costs. The experience of the Oxford project raises questions about aspects of property law, allocation of project costs and benefits, and issues of communication, engagement and decision-making. The paper also presents qualitative data gathered from social housing providers through a survey and roundtable meeting to provide an indication of the extent to which these issues are affecting energy efficiency refurbishment projects across England.

Marino at 100: A garden suburb of lasting influence

Almost a century ago, Dublin Corporation began the detailed planning for its first large-scale suburban development. The intention was to build according to high ideals and high standards. Marino would be a garden suburb, following the then new Tudor Walters norms for the better-off working class and be a major step in solving the housing crisis in Dublin. Dublin Corporation had a point to prove, having been subjected to a stinging (and in the members’ view, unfair) rebuke in the 1913 inquiry into the housing of the working classes in Dublin. A fine suburb was indeed constructed, which remains a prime residential area to this day. During the development process, Dublin Corporation found itself having to make policy decisions quickly which had far reaching consequences. What began as pragmatic responses to current circumstances came to be some of the defining principles which underpinned social housing (and some private housing) provision in Dublin for most of the century. As Marino approaches its centenary, it is appropriate to revisit the area and reassess its importance.

Marino at 100: A garden suburb of lasting influence

Almost a century ago, Dublin Corporation began the detailed planning for its first large-scale suburban development. The intention was to build according to high ideals and high standards. Marino would be a garden suburb, following the then new Tudor Walters norms for the better-off working class and be a major step in solving the housing crisis in Dublin. Dublin Corporation had a point to prove, having been subjected to a stinging (and in the members’ view, unfair) rebuke in the 1913 inquiry into the housing of the working classes in Dublin. A fine suburb was indeed constructed, which remains a prime residential area to this day. During the development process, Dublin Corporation found itself having to make policy decisions quickly which had far reaching consequences. What began as pragmatic responses to current circumstances came to be some of the defining principles which underpinned social housing (and some private housing) provision in Dublin for most of the century. As Marino approaches its centenary, it is appropriate to revisit the area and reassess its importance.