Housing Tenants Research Articles

Promoting Housing Stability through Eviction Prevention for Older Adults in Social Housing: A Qualitative Study.

Evictions are a major contributor to homelessness among low-income older renters, many of whom are living in social housing. Research indicates that social housing may protect individuals from eviction, but older adults may still be vulnerable, especially for non-payment of rent. This research used a qualitative approach to understand the factors that place older adults in social housing at risk of eviction and identify strategies to promote housing stability. Participants included older adult tenants in social housing in Toronto, Canada (n=58) as well as community-based health and social service providers (n=58) that operate in the buildings. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups explored (a) experiences with eviction; (b) challenges tenants face managing their tenancy; and (c) supports tenants need to maintain their housing. Most service providers had experiences supporting a tenant under threat of eviction. Tenants similarly had experiences with the eviction process, ranging from being threatened with a future eviction to receiving eviction notices and attending hearings with the landlord and tenant board. To understand experiences with evictions and opportunities to strengthen eviction prevention practices, we generated the following themes: (a) creating fear and mistrust through evictions; (b) identifying the underlying cause of an eviction; (c) ineffective tenancy management practices; and (d) proactive community supports. Current eviction prevention strategies were viewed as inadequate, and findings highlighted the need to transform supports to better meet the needs of low-income older tenants. This includes more proactive and "senior friendly" approaches and increased access to community support services to promote housing stability.

To cool or not to cool: understanding and improving cooling centre use in metro vancouver through community-based participatory action research

Abstract Extreme heat events present significant health risks, particularly for populations facing systemic marginalization. Through interviews and focus groups with 63 (n=60 residents; n=3 service providers) participants, this paper explores the barriers and opportunities related to access and use of cooling centres from both user and provider perspectives, as well as broader implications for addressing vulnerability to extreme heat in the metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. Initially focused on cooling centres, our research expanded to include the complexities of individual and systemic responses to heat, highlighting the complex interplay between personal preferences and structural barriers. Key barriers to cooling centre usage reported by participants included concerns over safety, hygiene, stigma, lack of information, and infrastructural challenges such as transportation. Service providers faced constraints with staffing, limited hours, and underutilization of additional services. Tensions emerged between individual, do-it-yourself (DIY) approaches and collective solutions, with participants seeking agency in their choices while acknowledging the need for improved, community-based interventions. The study also uncovered the unintended effects of inclusivity, as the presence of individuals who use substances or are unhoused in cooling spaces deterred some potential users, underscoring the challenges of designing universally accessible services. Broader systemic issues, such as housing security and the quality of indoor environments, further intersected with vulnerability to extreme heat, exacerbating risks for those opting to stay at home. The paper recommends leveraging existing public spaces, enhancing social networks, improving tenant protections, and fostering ‘right to cool’ initiatives to balance immediate relief with long-term systemic reform, particularly around the rental housing crisis and tenant insecurity. By addressing both individual and collective needs, this approach can mitigate the health impacts of extreme heat while promoting greater equity and resilience.

Onsite Primary Care to Address Medical Needs Among Permanent Supportive Housing Tenants: A Feasibility Demonstration Project.

There is limited evidence on interventions to address the health needs of vulnerable patients in permanent supportive housing (PSH). Evaluate the feasibility of Project HOPE, a weekly onsite primary care pilot intervention for tenants of a single-site PSH program. Physicians, nursing, and pharmacy providers work with existing case managers to provide onsite routine and acute care, outreach, and care coordination. Operations began in November 2020. Chart review (n = 26) of electronic health records assessed primary care engagement during the 180 days pre- and post-implementation using paired t tests and McNemar's exact tests, alongside formative observations from site visits and monthly meetings. Compared to the pre period, there was a 50% increase in the proportion of tenants with any primary care engagement (95% CI, 0.24, 0.76), and 84.6% of tenants had at least one visit with Project HOPE. Tenants averaged 2.65 more PCP visits during the post period compared to the pre period (95% CI, 1.60, 3.71). Housing staff perceived improvements in care continuity, chronic disease management, and access to care for tenants. An onsite primary care delivery model led to increases in primary care engagement for high-acuity PSH tenants.

Tenants on the March An Interview With Cea Weaver

ABSTRACT: In many parts of the country, rising rents have hit a political limit, as politicians, unions, and community organizations increasingly recognize the centrality of housing to the cost-of-living crisis. New York State’s 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, San Francisco’s 2022 collective bargaining ordinance for tenants, and Los Angeles’s 2022 “mansion tax” represent new forces in local politics—and alternative bases for the struggle over power within our society. These initiatives use the state to reshape the business models and ownership patterns pushing workers and their families further away from their jobs, into smaller, more expensive living situations.

No way out? The hurdles of exiting public rental housing in Kuala Lumpur

Purpose This study aims to identify the significant exit barriers encountered by tenants in public rental housing and analyze the moderating effects of sociodemographic factors on tenants’ decisions to leave public rental housing. Design/methodology/approach This study applied a quantitative methodology. Questionnaire survey was used as its main instrument for data collection. Responses were gathered from 328 tenants in the Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) through stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling partial least square (SEM-PLS). Findings The findings reveal that housing availability and the exit programs by DBKL are the most significant factors influencing exit barriers. Tenant income also impacts their decision to remain, as available housing often does not match their income levels. Policymakers and relevant agencies should collaborate to help tenants increase their income, facilitating their transition out of public rental housing. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to the factors influencing the tenant from exiting PRH. Furthermore, the study specifically targeted those who rent public housing under DBKL administration may neglect the perspectives of other stakeholders, such as DBKL management, property owners and policymakers. Therefore, the findings are insufficient in representing tenants other than those under the DBKL’s administration. While the causes may be similar, the opinions and consequences would vary among other tenants depending on their socio-demographic profiles. Practical implications This research offers a more comprehensive understanding of the exit barriers tenants’ encounter in PRH. The results gained from this study will assist policymakers in developing a more comprehensive initiative that will assist tenants in exiting PRH. DBKL can effectively engage PRH tenants to provide a strategic departure mechanism for better solutions. Furthermore, DBKL can offer aid in locating cheap housing options for tenants who may have limited access to information on the availability of such homes. Social implications This discovery will also be advantageous for prospective tenants who have been on the waiting list for several years, eagerly awaiting the vacancy of units previously occupied by other tenants. Furthermore, residents who successfully vacate public rental housing (PRH) will need to be considered for incentives to promote the success of the housing pathway. This will lead to the attainment of the equitable allocation that has been identified as the primary concern of PRH. Originality/value This study seeks to clarify the exit barriers encountered by tenants in PRH and identifies the significant factors contributing to the low turnover rate of tenants. The study is relevant for DBKL and policymakers in promoting the success of housing pathways to ensure fairness and efficiency in the principles of public housing.

The Validity of Boarding House Rental Agreements from Civil Law Perspectives

Tenants of boarding houses generally make rental agreements informally; in fact, the situation tends to be weak, so legal protection is needed. The purpose of the research is to determine the validity of the room rental agreement and to understand the legal protection for tenants of boarding houses. The research method used in this study is normative juridical. The results of the study indicate that the validity of the room rental agreement is valid and binding on the parties if the agreement meets the requirements for a valid contract based on Article 1320 of the Civil Code, even if it is in an unwritten form. Legal protection for tenants of boarding houses includes preventive legal protection, paying the rental price and returning the room in good condition. Repressive legal protection applies if there is loss or damage in the boarding room caused by the negligence of the tenant.

The Outdoor Area Implications of Mixed Housing Tenure Initiatives—A Swedish Case in Tynnered, Gothenburg

Mixing tenure types is often seen as a means of reducing segregation by breaking up concentrations of poverty. Previous research suggests that introducing new tenure types may also result in homeowners erecting fences and attempting to control activity by public housing tenants in outdoor spaces. These have often meant that tenure mix rather than reducing segregation has instead inscribed it within neighbourhoods. We conducted a case study of a mixed-tenure neighbourhood in Sweden, relying primarily on resident interviews. The results were analysed thematically using the concepts of nested commons, gentrification of outdoor space, and a smorgasbord of places. We found some evidence of new fencing and of attempts to modify shared outdoor area use, but overall, relations remained harmonious. We argue that this was largely because the smorgasbord of places created by the original planners has largely remained intact, and because there were not sharp social differences between the residents of the different tenure forms. Nevertheless, we argue that the outdoor implications of tenure mix initiatives can be crucial to the outcomes of such initiatives, and that they deserve serious attention from policymakers and practitioners.

Analisis Strategis Rukita Winter

Rukita as a boarding house service provider is one of the main players in fulfilling the housing needs of students, workers, and the general public. With the tight competition in the boarding house market, especially in metropolitan areas such as West Jakarta, Rukita Winter has its own challenges to ensure its excellence and competitiveness. Successfully attracting the attention of boarding house tenants requires the right action in business strategy. Therefore, Rukita Winter always strives to adjust its business strategy to meet the needs and preferences of boarding house tenants. This study aims to identify and analyze the business strategies implemented by Rukita Winter. In addition, this study also aims to analyze the strengths (Strengths), weaknesses (Weaknesses), opportunities (Opportunities), and threats (Threats) faced by Rukita Winter's business. The method used involves the use of the IFE (Internal Factor Evaluation), EFE (External Factor Evaluation), IE (Internal-External), and QSPM (Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix) matrices to analyze Rukita Winter's position. This study is expected to contribute to increasing knowledge and understanding of SWOT analysis and how its application can help Rukita Winter in formulating business strategies.

Aiming for transformations in power: lessons from intersectoral CBPR with public housing tenants (Québec, Canada).

Intersectoral collaborations are recommended as effective strategies to reduce health inequalities. People most affected by health inequalities, as are people living in poverty, remain generally absent from such intersectoral collaborations. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects can be leveraged to better understand how to involve people with lived experience to support both individual and community empowerment. In this paper, we offer a critical reflection on a CBPR project conducted in public housing in Québec, Canada, that aimed to develop intersectoral collaboration between tenants and senior executives from four sectors (housing, health, city and community organizations). This single qualitative case study design consisted of fieldwork documents, observations and semi-structured interviews. Using the Emancipatory Power Framework (EPF) and the Limiting Power Framework (LPF), we describe examples of types of power and resistance shown by the tenants, the intersectoral partners and the research team. The discussion presents lessons learned through the study, including the importance for research teams to reflect on their own power, especially when aiming to reduce health inequalities. The paper concludes by describing the limitations of the analyses conducted through the EPF-LPF frameworks and suggestions to increase the transformative power of future studies.

‘Moving, moving, moving’: the social forces that perpetuate housing instability for women experiencing intimate partner violence

Housing scholars have demonstrated that intimate partner violence (IPV) is a key driver of housing instability. Contributing to existing housing literature that foregrounds the importance of material and psychological housing instability, our empirical research focuses on a novel programme providing supportive housing for women, the majority of whom are allocated housing to protect them from IPV. Our data includes in-depth interviews with the supportive housing tenants and practitioners, as well as administrative data. Our findings illuminate the close interrelation between material and psychological housing instability, and demonstrate how problems inherent in the private rental market interact with issues caused by perpetrators’ ongoing use of violence in ways that make it impossible for women to achieve either form of stability. The implication for housing scholars is to understand that although affordable housing is a protective measure, supportive housing models that rely on the private rental market, face profound limitations in achieving material and psychological housing stability for women who experience IPV.

Realizing NetZero in social housing: strategic public procurement and internal stakeholder engagement

ABSTRACT Energy costs and fuel poverty are major concerns for social housing tenants, many of whom are vulnerable citizens. To meet challenging NetZero targets, public organizations have used strategic public procurement (SPP) in decarbonizing social housing stock and to make it more energy efficient. Drawing on SPP and stakeholder engagement, we theoretically argue that public organizations’ diverse set of internal stakeholders are integral to SPP. Empirically, we provide evidence of a disconnect between organization-facing and customer-facing stakeholder groups which must be considered and addressed if NetZero targets, and organizational responsibility are to be achieved when implementing SPP.

영국의 임대주택 임차인 보호를 위한 법제 연구

The UK stipulates laws such as the Housing Act and the Housing Reorganization Act to ensure the stable provision and management of social housing. However, a fire incident that occurred in a high-rise apartment in the UK in 2017, where low-income people and immigrants mainly lived, served as an opportunity to reexamine potential safety problems in social housing. In particular, this case raised the need to improve the government's method of regulating social housing, as the number of victims could have been reduced if minimum safety measures had been in place. In response to this incident, a law was enacted in 2023 to improve the safety of social housing and the living environment of tenants, strengthening the role of social housing regulatory agencies. The law is expected to be a catalyst for a proactive approach to regulating social housing and taking action against landlords who do not meet standards. In this paper, analyze the main contents of the 2023 Social Housing (Regulation) Act) and introduce the provisions of the law for the protection of social housing tenants. As bills related to the management of apartment complexes and the government's bill to support joint management costs for permanent social housing are still pending in the Korea National Assembly, the UK's revised law on the facility management of apartment complexes by regulatory agencies can be used as a reference for the legislative aspect.

Can New Housing Supply Mitigate Displacement and Exclusion?

Problem, research strategy, and findings The housing affordability crisis is exacerbating displacement and exclusion in built-up urban neighborhoods. Although new housing development might help, it faces local opposition. Researchers have struggled to inform this debate because of data challenges, so we constructed a unique database on construction and household-level mobility to determine how development affects displacement and exclusion in the subsequent 5 years in Los Angeles (a typical coastal “hot market” in California) and San Francisco (the extreme “superstar city” case in California). We found that developing new market-rate housing generally helped slightly to alleviate both displacement and exclusion pressures for low-income households in Los Angeles and helped increase in-migration into weaker market neighborhoods in San Francisco. But particularly in the hottest markets, the new market-rate units could fail to spur low- and moderate-income households’ in-migration and exacerbate their out-migration. Likewise, the positive impacts of the new market-rate units may fade over time. Subsidized housing generally mitigated both exclusion and displacement slightly in most markets. Future research should examine long-term effects in a variety of contexts, controlling for the role of housing policies such as rent stabilization. Takeaway for practice Market-rate housing development may help alleviate rent pressures locally and regionally, but it is not sufficient to address displacement and exclusion at the neighborhood level. Because new production helps to mitigate displacement and exclusion in some contexts but exacerbates it in others, planners need to understand the market and neighborhood context for development. In addition to supporting more market-rate and subsidized housing development through zoning and fiscal tools, planners should implement complementary policies such as housing preservation and tenant protections.

The Form of Residential Premises Ownership vs. Residential Standard of Seniors in Poland in the Opinion of Residents

Abstract The study addresses the problem of diverse housing conditions experienced by seniors in Poland and equipping their apartments with installations improving the quality of life for people with reduced mobility, taking into account various forms of residential premises ownership: a condominium, a cooperative apartment and a council flat. The study aimed at providing answers to a number of questions, including: what is the readiness to change an apartment into a council flat adapted to the needs of people with mobility limitations, taking into account the current ownership status of the apartment (condominium, cooperative member’s ownership right to residential premises, the right to rent a flat from the council-owned housing resources). The research was conducted in the cities of Wrocław and Jelenia Góra, located in Poland in the Lower Silesia Voivodship. A total of 208 people aged 50 and over were covered by the study. The authors found correlations between access to utilities and facilities in an apartment and the form of ownership of the dwelling. Among other things, the survey found that a toilet in the stairwell and the lack of central heating are much more common in communal apartments than in cooperative apartments and condominiums. Residents also pointed to the need to adapt bathrooms that are located in apartments. Tenants of public housing were also more likely to express a desire to adapt their apartments to the needs of people with limited mobility.

Social acceptance of district heating: evidence from the Netherlands

AbstractThe Netherlands Climate Change Agreement aims to reduce CO2 emissions and seismic events by halting natural gas usage by 2050. This will require widespread societal acceptance by 90% of households. The study investigates the social acceptance of a district heating network (DHN) among social housing tenants in Haarlem, Netherlands. The findings of a survey administered to ninety-five tenants revealed a substantial level of support for the DHN project. A significant portion of respondents, 75%, expressed their approval for the DHN, surpassing the legally required threshold of 70% for implementing building retrofits. Findings imply that although the participants possess an adequate comprehension of the rationale for energy transition, their familiarity with the precise particulars and practical information pertaining to the proposed transition to DHN is inadequate. The level of trust in housing corporations, energy providers, and the municipality is uniformly low, indicating a lack of institutional trust. Generally, the interpersonal trust among tenants tends to be lower than their trust in the broader public, which in turn restricts their capacity for self-organization and exercising influence over energy institutions. Although DHNs are typically regarded as environmentally friendly and secure, there are several challenges that need to be addressed, including the uncertainty about who will cover the costs of transitioning and the doubts surrounding DHN feasibility (warmth and reliability). We suggest implementing interventions to improve tenants' comprehension of the DHN project's particulars (capability), provide practical information regarding costs and feasibility (motivation), and foster trust at both interpersonal and institutional levels (opportunity).

These are tenants not guinea pigs: Barriers and facilitators of retrofit in Wales, United Kingdom

Retrofitting existing homes with new energy efficient technologies is essential to reduce emissions and move towards achieving a ‘net zero’ carbon emission target. This paper reports on research that investigated the process of retrofitting new technologies in existing social rented homes in Wales, United Kingdom. It used mixed-methods consisting of pre- and post-retrofit surveys, qualitative interviews with tenants, and a documentary analysis of retrofit tenant engagement materials. Interviews and focus groups were also undertaken with a variety of professionals involved in the delivery of the new technology, including tenant liaison officers, architects, surveyors, and a civil servant.Findings reveal that many of the barriers to deploying new technologies in social rented properties were around communication and information issues. The interface between the technology and residents was a challenge as mechanisms of the new technologies operation and sensors and monitoring were not understood well and residents were kept out of the loop often through digital exclusion. Disruption to norms, the home and everyday practices were also key barriers. Facilitators to successful deployment of new technologies included good tenant engagement, demonstrating and showcasing the technology prior to deployment and actively reducing disruption to norms and practices.Social Practices Theory and Energies Culture Framework describe the findings well, especially around changes in material culture (the actual technology and hardware) and disruption to norms and social practices, which explains how the use of the technology by the residents notably changes and can disrupt their lives. These disruptions create anxiety creating further barriers which can lead to resistance to engaging with the technology. Better communication and more resident involvement and engagement are needed, allowing people ownership and some perceived control over the decision-making, deployment and changes happening to their everyday lives.Findings suggest that communications and trust in the retrofit process are crucial to the success of delivering low-carbon technologies to tenants in social housing. The technology must also be usable and understood by the tenants; exemplar demonstrator properties to help tenants see and understand the technologies are helpful to successful deployment. In conclusion, more involvement of tenants is needed when delivering low-carbon technologies to their homes to resolve further exacerbating the already noticeable inequalities.

A Whakawhanaungatanga Māori wellbeing model for housing and urban environments

ABSTRACT Significant effort is underway to address the housing crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa), including rapid investment in public and community housing. As Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa) face many systemic barriers and impediments to home ownership, delivery and development of housing options and make up a significant proportion of public housing tenants, developing and managing housing and associated neighbourhoods that enable and support Māori wellbeing is of critical importance. To support this, we introduce A Whakawhanaungatanga Māori Wellbeing Model for Housing and Urban Environments – for use by researchers, developers, designers, managers and regulators – that emphasises whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building and creating connectedness) as central to wellbeing outcomes for Māori. Here we outline seven key concepts from Te Ao Māori built into our model, and pose questions to help guide researchers and housing and urban development actors in their respective research and development activities. While the model is primarily intended to contribute to Māori wellbeing outcomes in Aotearoa, it may also be of broader international interest to those working toward wellbeing outcomes in relation to housing and urban environments, particularly for Indigenous peoples.

Housing tenure and disability in the UK: trends and projections 2004-2030.

Housing is a major influence on health. Housing tenure is associated with housing conditions, affordability, and security and is an important dimension of housing. In the UK there have been profound changes in both housing conditions and the distribution of households by tenure over the past century, that is during the lifetimes of the current population. We firstly reviewed and summarise changes in housing conditions, housing policy and tenure distribution as they provide a context to possible explanations for health variations by housing tenure, including health related selection into different tenure types. We then use 2015-2021 data from a large nationally representative UK survey to analyse associations between housing tenure and self-reported disability among those aged 40-69 controlling for other socio-demographic factors also associated with health. We additionally examine changes in the association between housing tenure and self-reported disability in the population aged 25 and over in the first two decades of the 21st century and project trends forward to 2030. Results show that associations between housing tenure and disability by tenure were stronger than for any other indicator of socio-economic position considered with owner-occupiers having the best, and social renters the worst, health. Differences were particularly marked in reported mental health conditions and in economic activity, with 28% of social renters being economically inactive due to health problems, compared with 4% of owner-occupiers. Rates of disability have increased over time, and become increasingly polarised by tenure. By 2020 the age standardised disability rate among tenants of social housing was over twice as high as that for owner occupiers, with projections indicating further increases in both levels, and differentials in, disability by 2030. These results have substantial implications for housing providers, local authorities and for public health.

Energy efficiency retrofit in the European social housing stock and the split incentive paradox : A comparative behavioural study

The social housing stock represents a considerable segment of the residential housing pool across Europe, as such, therefore, investing in its energy performance is of great importance. Furthermore, social housing provides affordable homes for the economically vulnerable, which adds urgency to the issue. Yet despite the social and environmental targets European states have agreed upon, the split incentive paradox has led to a widespread failure in advancing energy efficiency in the sector. Taking a comparative behavioural approach, this study investigates the social housing sector in three European countries with different governance and rent-setting structures (representative of their respective regions) revealing distinct forms of split-incentive related market and behavioural failures. We find the failures are most pronounced at the top of the social housing provision pyramid, where provider and tenant interests often clash, leading to inefficient policies and suboptimal refurbishment rates. In terms of solutions, we find the split incentive challenge is effectively addressed when rent setting allows retrofit cost recovery, tenants are involved in decisions and can carry forward energy efficiency benefits when they change residence. To this effect, the introduction of alternative cost recovery mechanisms is proposed, increasing the democratic legitimacy of the process through active tenant participation, and developing regulations that protect the tenants’confirmed rights post refurbishment.

Intensified discrimination against tenants and its health effects during the COVID-19 pandemic in large Chinese cities

The COVID-19 pandemic in many senses reconstructs social norms and reshapes social behaviour, which typically assumes a close correlation between mobility with a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. This may intensify the pre-existing discrimination against tenants and widen tenure-based health inequalities. Drawing on an online questionnaire survey conducted in five major cities in China in 2020, we employ multi-level regression models to examine the intensified discrimination against tenants during COVID-19 and its impacts on residents’ physical and mental health inequalities. Results show that the pre-existing inequalities have been intensified during COVID-19 and the perceived discrimination has rendered worsened self-rated health and mental health and enlarged health inequalities. The discrimination particularly affected tenants with better economic profiles or worse health conditions; by contrast, despite being exposed to more tenant-related discriminatory experiences, rural hukou holders suffered from less severe health inequalities. A clear linkage is found between renting in poorly-managed and larger health gaps generated by discrimination. The negative health impact of intensified discrimination is found to be more significant in communities with lower infection risk, which points to the necessity of understanding the long-term health impact of discrimination against tenants in a more holistic way. In terms of community environment, we discover a positive effect of community social capital, i.e., higher level social capital helps mitigate the health threat of discrimination against tenants during COVID-19. Besides, public housing tenants reported better health outcomes and were less exposed to intensified discrimination during COVID-19 than private housing tenants. These findings provide a nuanced understanding of variations determined by individual and territorial factors, thus present timely policy implications for promoting healthy and inclusive urban development in the post-pandemic era.