Social Housing Stock Research Articles

Significance of Occupancy Patterns and Habitual Household Adaptive Behaviour on Home-Energy Performance of Post-War Social-Housing Estate in the South‑Eastern Mediterranean Climate

The concept of retrofitting is an important milestone in the evolutionary development toward upgrading the energy efficiency of residential buildings. Various policy instruments have been introduced to retrofit existing social housing stock, many of which have failed to acknowledge the significant role of occupancy patterns in energy use. The aims of this empirical study are to statistically determine occupant behavioural patterns associated with heating and cooling energy consumption and to identify household socio-demographic characteristics that contribute to the development of energy-user profiles. This article presents the results of a questionnaire-based survey undertaken during August of 2018 with 118 households in base-case representative residential tower blocks in the South-Eastern Europe. The survey revealed a positive strong correlation between weekday heating and cooling consumption patterns (r = 0.588, p < 0.01). Conversely, there was negative strong correlation between household occupation (r = -0.621, p < 0.01 and window-opening patterns. These findings will lead to a greater understanding of how occupancy patterns can predict household energy use in decision-making processes related to energy-efficiency upgrades in dwellings. By exploring some of the core lessons learned from the survey, this research seeks to both inform and improve uptake-and-delivery of future retrofitting initiatives in energy policies.

Housing, crises and crime

A disappointment of responses to the Covid-19 crisis is that governments have not invested massively in public housing. Global crises are opportunities for macro resets of policy settings that might deliver lower crime and better justice. Justice Reinvestment is important, but far from enough, as investment beyond the levels of capital sunk into criminal justice is required to establish a just society. Neoliberal policies have produced steep declines in public and social housing stock. This matters because many rehabilitation programmes only work when clients have secure housing. Getting housing policies right is also fundamental because we know the combined effect on crime of being truly disadvantaged, and living in a deeply disadvantaged neighbourhood, is not additive, but multiplicative. A Treaty with First Nations Australians is unlikely to return the stolen land on which white mansions stand. Are there other options for Treaty negotiations? Excellence and generosity in social housing policies might open some paths to partial healing for genocide and ecocide.

Housing conditions in social housing stock vs. marginalisation risk – evidence from Poland

Low-income households in the Polish public housing stock sometimes encounter the risk of housing exclusion, yet this experience is relatively more frequent among the tenants of council flats. The aim of this paper is to present the results of research on housing standards in the public housing stock in Poland. Pursuant to Polish law, social housing is part of public housing assistance (Przymeński 2016), addressed to very-low- and low-income households which are not capable of satisfying their housing needs on their own. The paper uses desk research, statistical data analysis and questionnaire interviews with dwellers of council flats in Poland. Furthermore, the achievements of international housing policy are taken into account. The results show that the standard in the public stock, especially in council flats, in Poland is poor and hinders low-income households in addressing their hous- ing needs. Small areas of dwellings, overcrowding, low quality of building materials are all identified as significant determinants increasing the risk of housing exclusion in council flats.

Serviciile sociale în România - stare de fapt și provocări. servicii de locuire socială, Editura Pro Universitaria, București, 2017, Manuela Sofia Stănculescu (coord.), Monica Marin, Bianca Buligescu, Georgiana Blaj (Neculau)

This book review is about the publication coordinated by Stanculescu, Manuela Sofia and authored by Marin, Monica, Buligescu, Bianca and Blaj (Neculau), Georgiana, Serviciile sociale in România - Stare de fapt si provocari. Servicii de locuire sociala [Social Services in Romania – Current Status and Challenges, Social Housing Services], published at Pro Universitaria in 2017. The review identifies and shortly discusses the key issues highlighted by the book and indicates main aspects that could be improved in this study. The book points out a series of fundamental challenges for various types of social policy, like the problem of shared responsibilities and lack of coordination at central level, insufficient funding, the issue of responsibilities poorly implemented at local level, and the problem of the current insufficient and low quality stock of social housing. Steps forward in this book could be brought about by taking a closer look at the relevant practices at European level and by integrating a stronger echo of the needs of potential beneficiaries of social housing in Romania.

Constructive Retrofit Guidelines for Social Housing Buildings in Beira Interior Region, Portugal, for Actual and Future Climate Scenarios

An important part of the Portuguese social housing building stock is unappropriated regarding the actual regulation and resident’s comfort requirements, which are expected to increase due to the impact of climate change. Beira Interior region in Portugal is one of the fewest Portuguese zones that presents both winter and summer most severe scenarios in many places. Future climate scenario projections for this region indicate more aggressive summer seasons, with the occurrence of heat waves becoming more significant, while winter seasons are expected to maintain a rigorous profile. The present article, which reflects the work still in progress, presents the development of a proper methodology for social housing retrofit in Beira Interior region for present and projected climate scenarios under Portuguese realistic cooling/heating habits of occupants. It focuses on monitoring internal temperatures in order to understand actual dwellings performance considering occupant behaviour, along with the construction of a dynamical multi-zone model for dynamical thermal simulations. Comparing the results with appropriate thermal comfort standards, proper retrofit measures will be identified and tested. Therefore, it is aimed the accomplishment of constructive retrofit guidelines, which are expected to be valuable tools for stakeholders interested in the retrofit of the Portuguese social housing stock.

공공주택 공급 활성화를 위한 프랑스 사회주택의 민간참여 특성 : Entreprise Sociale pour l'Habitat(사회적 주택 기업)을 중심으로

Purpose: This study aims to apprehend the role and importance of private sector in the French public housing policies by focusing on ESH, which supplies and manages about half of French public housing. The participation of private sectors presents increasing importance as a way to stabilize housing market and enhance the sustainability of society. Recently in Korea, since 2015, private sector has started to participate in public housing projects. Therefore it is necessary to observe and analyze the role, importance, the characteristics and institutional and financial system of French private sectors in order to draw implications to Korean public housing policies. Method: The main methods of the study is literature surveys on governmental and institutional reports and analysis of demographic and statistical data such as directory on social rental housing stock. A comparative analysis of public housing projects in Korea and France was also conducted. Result: Korean private sectors needs to enhance public character in term of housing rental price, period and broaden the scope of inhabitants. It is necessary to expand financial support systems such as France’s PEEC. It is also necessary to increase the participation of non-profit private sector through strengthening social economic capabilities.

Social Housing Fraud in England

Abstract Social tenancy fraud is believed to cost UK taxpayers an estimated £1.8 billion annually, based upon estimates of prevalence and cost from over 5 years ago. Despite this, there is currently no centrally collected or published data on social tenancy fraud. The aim of this research was to investigate the amount of social tenancy frauds investigated, detected and prosecuted by local authorities in England. This was undertaken by means of documentary analysis, following Freedom of Information requests to the 198 local authorities who hold social housing stock. The research confirmed the findings of previous studies, that social tenancy fraud is a particular problem within London, as well as being increasingly detected in other urban areas. It was found that the amount of social tenancy fraud detected nationally has increased significantly in recent years, doubling since 2009. It is unclear, however, whether this indicates that social tenancy fraud is a growing problem or if the response has improved. This research has also identified a myriad of avenues in which further research would be of value, especially with respect to local government transparency which this research has found, despite recent initiatives, to be lacking.

Effective implementation of ISO 50001: A case study on energy management for heating load reduction for a social building stock in Northern Italy

Organisations responsible for managing large stocks of residential social buildings spend significant resources on the energy usage for buildings and maintenance activities. The implementation of an energy management system compliant with ISO 50001 can yield more effective energy retrofit actions for buildings by improving the energy consumption and environmental performance of buildings through effective economic investment strategies. This paper describes an organisational methodology that complies with ISO 50001, applied for the first time to an Italian public body that manages a large building stock of social housing. In particular, this study examines the aspects concerning energy analysis of the stock and the definition of energy retrofit interventions towards heating load reduction based on consumption monitoring. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of ISO 50001 as an organisational tool for energy management within a systematic approach.

Design and experimental study of a low-cost prefab Trombe wall to improve indoor temperatures in social housing in the Biobío region in Chile

A renewed interest in bioclimatic strategies for building retrofitting is noticed because more than 40% of the total annual world energy consumption is used in buildings. In Chile, the social housing stock is more than 5.5 million units built with government subsidies. Thermal regulations improvement started in 2000, nevertheless, solar passive strategies are still not present on the immediate retrofitting agenda.The Bioclimatic Prosthesis Project aims to design-develop prefabricated small scale passive solar systems for the refurbishment of social housing reducing their energy use. These systems should be affordable and easy to build and install.This paper focuses on an adaptable and low-cost prefabricated Trombe wall with a vertical storage system. Mobile insulation during winter nights and external shading during summer were also tested. The system was built and installed in a test cell similar to the most used area of a social housing. The thermal efficiency of it, was monitored and compared to a similar test cell without the passive component. Two different microclimate scenarios were tested: in the coast and in the interior valley.Results show the addable Trombe wall can reduce energy demands and winter firewood consumption by nearly 33%, increasing the indoor temperature in 5 °C in the better cases measured during the cold season. In winter, the indoor thermal comfort hours are increased by 69.35% for the city in the central valley (Chillán).For the coastal city (Coronel), the results were 56.29%. In summer, the comfort hours were also increased by 10% on the coast, and in almost 19.5% in the interior valley, adding an external shading element to solve the overheating risk.

Building characterisation and assessment methodology of social housing stock in the warmer Mediterranean climate: the case of southern Spain.

The increase in the average temperature of the planet due to global warming has serious repercussions on buildings, affecting indoor environmental quality and thermal comfort. Currently, one of the building stocks most at risk is that of the residential sector in southern Spain, given the high sensitivity of the Mediterranean climate to the effects of climate change and the massive volume of this built environment with obsolete energy conditions. However, it is crucial to carry out an in-depth assessment of the necessary retrofitting strategies for implementation in this existing stock, with an overall analysis of building characterisation and current state of the building stock. This research takes these aspects into consideration, using statistical descriptive techniques to evaluate the building characterisation of public social housing in southern Spain. This public sector is managed by the Regional Government of Andalusia and is made up of 39.486 social housing units. Results reported in this research make it possible to establish which buildings require short-term and priority retrofitting actions, thus creating a useful tool for decision-making within the political context.

TVOCs and PM 2.5 in Naturally Ventilated Homes: Three Case Studies in a Mild Climate

In southern Europe, the present stock of social housing is ventilated naturally, with practice varying in the different seasons of the year. In winter, windows are kept closed most of the day with the exception of short periods for ventilation, whereas the rest of the year the windows are almost permanently open. In cold weather, air changes depend primarily on the air infiltrating across the envelope and when the temperature is warm, on the air flowing in through open windows. CO2, PM2.5, and TVOC concentration patterns were gathered over a year’s time in three social housing developments in southern Europe with different airtightness conditions and analyzed to determine possible relationships between environmental parameters and occupants’ use profiles. Correlations were found between TVOC and CO2 concentrations, for human activity was identified as the primary source of indoor contaminants: peak TVOC concentrations were related to specific household activities such as cooking or leisure. Indoor and outdoor PM2.5 concentrations were likewise observed to be correlated, although not linearly due to the presence of indoor sources. Ventilation as presently practiced in winter appears to be insufficient to dilute indoor contaminants in all three buildings, nor does summertime behavior guarantee air quality.

Redesigning Housing Policy

Executive SummaryDiscussion of the UK's housing crisis is of long date, and tends to focus on a simple story about a mismatch in housing supply and demand and the consequent need to build more homes. Yet the reality is more complex with multiple sub-plots including social housing, stress in the private rented sector, benefits, subsidies and ultimately taxation of home ownership.At the bottom of the market, the crisis is real and acute, as manifested in a sharp increase in homelessness and rough sleeping. The inescapable answer is to increase the depleted stock of social housing and widen eligibility criteria. An increase of 100,000 social units a year in England would help address this problem, as well as alleviate the financial squeeze on tenants of the private rented sector, whose number has grown sharply in the past 15 years in tandem with a steep rise in the housing benefit bill. Recent efforts to curb housing benefit have further increased distress, so it will be necessary to consider increasing benefits again alongside regulatory interventions with private landlords.In the home ownership market, recent government intervention has taken the form of the much-criticised Help-to-Buy Equity Loan scheme. This market policy to support new-build homes should be wound down and replaced by a scheme to endow all young people with a capital sum that they could use for second-hand homes as well. More generally, a more sophisticated approach to planning home-building is needed, both for assessing overall numbers and their regional distribution and in financing the supporting infrastructure.But none of these measures is a panacea for a housing crisis that is in large part a symptom of problems in the wider economy, such as low relative wages for young people, a lack of clarity about environmental issues, and failing places. A successful policy package to address the distorted structure of the housing market must also grasp the most difficult nettle of all – namely the way the tax benefits of owner-occupation incentivise overconsumption of housing and a widening wealth gap between renters and home owners, and between owners in different parts of the country. If we spend more to help those who struggle to afford decent housing, then it is only just to raise more taxation from those who benefit from restrictions on housing supply – whether through reform to council tax, a wider wealth tax or a limited form of Capital Gains Tax on principal residences.

Personalised housing support to improve health and well-being: findings from a local pilot programme in Yorkshire, England

ABSTRACTThe contribution that housing associations have made to public health in recent years is recognised within research and policy literature. This paper examines a partnership pilot intervention implemented by one housing association and one community healthcare service provider that aimed to improve the health and well-being of people with complex needs living in social housing stock in one area in England. The pilot delivered co-commissioned personalised support using a holistic model of care. This paper describes the pilot intervention and associated findings drawn from a mixed methods evaluation. The findings illustrate positive service user reports, including improved health and well-being, increased independence and reduced social isolation. The intervention was also associated with reduced use of community health-care services; with an estimated potential local net saving of £20,818 during the year of the pilot. In conclusion, this small-scale pilot intervention supported clients with complex health needs whilst reducing demands on community health-care services. Despite more research being needed in this area, particularly from larger and longer-term studies, this paper contributes to the evidence base by illustrating an effective health and housing practice-based partnership approach.

Neoliberal social housing policies, market logics and social rented housing reforms in New Zealand

Neoliberal social housing policies have profoundly altered the nature and character of social housing provision internationally. These policies, involving marketisation and privatisation, have circulated via international policy networks and have been territorialised in national housing regimes. Despite the ascendency of these policies, David Clapham argues that the logical inconsistencies and problems of neoliberal housing discourses need to be exposed. This paper examines the nature and impacts of a social rented housing reform programme enacted in New Zealand post 2010. The reforms included the introduction of reviewable tenancies, changes in the regulation and governance of social housing providers and stock transfers. It is argued that underpinning the reform process was a set of market logics that framed the sector and tenants in new and contradictory ways. In addition, it is argued that the reforms also involved the restructuring of housing providers in ways that significantly altered existing practices and fundamentally challenged the notion of security of tenure that existed within the sector.

Predicting the Impact of Climate Change on Thermal Comfort in A Building Category: The Case of Linear-type Social Housing Stock in Southern Spain

The Climate Change scenario projected by the IPCC for the year 2050 predicts noticeable increases in temperature. In severe summer climates, such as the Mediterranean area, this would have very negative effects on thermal comfort in the existing housing stock, given the current high percentage of dwellings which are obsolete in energy terms and house a population at serious risk of energy poverty. The main aim of this paper is to generate a predictive model in order to assess the impact of this future climate scenario on thermal comfort conditions in an entire building category. To do so, calibrated models representing linear-type social multi-family buildings, dating from the post-war period and located in southern Spain, will be simulated extensively using transient energy analyses performed by EnergyPlus. In addition, a sensitivity analysis will be performed to identify the most influential parameters on thermal discomfort. The main results predict a generalized deterioration in indoor thermal comfort conditions due to global warming, increasing the average percentage of discomfort hours during the summer by more than 35%. This characterization of the future thermal behaviour of the residential stock in southern Spain could be a trustworthy tool for decision-making in energy retrofitting projects which are so badly needed. To do so, further work is required on some limitations of this model so that different user profiles and typologies can be represented in detail and an economic assessment can be included.

A novel approach for renovation of current social housing stock based on energy consumption in Turkey: significance of occupant behaviour

ABSTRACTThe goal of this research is to attempt establishing occupant behaviour profiles and how that behaviour impacts energy consumption with regard to indoor comfort levels in the current social housing stock in Turkey. The data consists of a large statistical survey that included four housing complexes situated in different climate regions in Turkey. Another more detailed survey was given to occupants of housing blocks in Ankara. Apartments were also monitored during a one-week period in summer and again in winter. All collected data were evaluated by sensitivity analysis. The results showed that occupant presence at home and operating windows had the most profound effect on internal loads and comfort levels whole year. Additionally, the transparency level of curtains, impacts the indoor temperature during the winter time. The results were used to develop a web-based tool which is going to be a guide for renovation strategies of current housing stock.

The Spatial Diversity of the Social Housing Stock in the Voivodship Capital Cities of Poland

The Polish municipalities are obliged to act directly in the housing market by satisfying the housing needs of people who cannot do it themselves due to their financial or personal situation. Social flats are used for this purpose. In 2009, cities such as Wroclaw, Lodz and Cracow had the share of social housing in the municipal stock at a very low level (Lodz and Wroclaw below 3%, Cracow approx. 4%). In 2016, the situation changed – some cities significantly increased their share of the social housing stock, while in others the share remained at a low level. Cracow currently has approx. 20% of the social housing stock in its municipal housing stock, but Wroclaw and Lodz have the share of social housing stock at the level of 4%. The authors have decided to examine whether the observed trends have led to the convergence of social housing stock among voivodship capital cities and what was the role of socio‑economic factors in the investigated process. Research methods in the form of critical analysis of literature, review of documents and panel data econometrics were used.

Central heating settings and heating energy demand in low energy social housing in the United Kingdom

This paper compares the central heating settings and the heating energy use performance of six flats and two houses built to low energy standards (Code for Sustainable Homes Levels 4 and 5) with a near identical flat and house built to minimum compliance only (2006 Building Regulations). As low energy houses are only recently emerging in the United Kingdom’s social housing stock, and even fewer are subject to Post Occupancy Evaluation, little is known about their performance in terms of heating behaviour and energy demand. The results show that in general, the mean weekday and weekend setpoint temperatures, heating durations and heating energy use are lower in the low energy dwellings compared to the building regulations dwellings.

Field assessment of thermal comfort conditions and energy performance of social housing: The case of hot summers in the Mediterranean climate

Much of the social housing stock in southern Europe is obsolete in energy terms, with users who also present very specific socio-economic profiles requiring in-depth study. Proposals for this type of housing stock of current energy retrofitting policies, based on standardized user patterns, will only contribute to increasing the ‘performance gap’ between real and estimated consumption.This study evaluates the thermal comfort conditions and energy consumption in the specific case of social housing in southern Spain, under a severe summer climate. This evaluation is based on in-situ data measurements of three housing units in use. This paper aims to test which adaptive comfort models work best in the specific conditions of the case studies and to identify the user behaviours which reduce thermal comfort. Thus, real user patterns were established and measured data were analysed. The results show that the case studies are in discomfort conditions during a high percentage of occupied hours, mainly due to the severe climate and the unsuitable use of passive measures including natural night-time ventilation and solar protection. This situation worsens with limited use of local cooling systems due to financial constraints. National regulations should define different retrofitting targets based on climatic and socio-economic conditions.

Thermal comfort prediction in a building category: Artificial neural network generation from calibrated models for a social housing stock in southern Europe

A significant part of the housing stock in southern Europe is obsolete and in need of extensive retrofitting to improve its energy performance and thermal comfort. However, before adequate retrofit measures can be proposed for this housing stock, the characterization of current building performance is fundamental. Although the simulation tools frequently used and widely accepted by the scientific community ensure accurate results, these require high computational times. The main aim of this paper is the development of a surrogate model to speed up the thermal comfort prediction for any member of a building category, ensuring high reliability by testing the entire simulation process with real data measured in-situ. To this end, an artificial neural network (ANN) is generated under MATLAB® environment using the data obtained from EnergyPlus simulations for linear-type social housing multi-family buildings in southern Spain, which were constructed in the post-war period. The developed ANN provides a regression coefficient between simulation targets and ANN outputs of 0.96, with a relative error between monitored and simulated data below 9%. A further result is that the building category characterization shows a general lack of suitable indoor thermal comfort conditions, thereby showing the great need for effective retrofit strategies.