A PAIR OF LATE MEDIEVAL TWO-CELL HOUSES IN AN ESSEX VILLAGE,AND A REGIONAL CONTEXT FOR THE BUILDING TYPE

Abstract

Nos 9 and 11 High Street, Bradwell-on-Sea, were built probably in the first half of the sixteenth century as a pair of two-cell, semi-detached houses with a continuous front jetty. It is, surprisingly, the first pair of two-cell medieval houses with floored halls to be identified in Essex, though others are known over the border in south Suffolk. This paper describes the location of the houses in a small rural hamlet, and presents the structural evidence for their original design. A discussion follows which places the building in the context of other known two-cell medieval houses in Essex and south Suffolk. Aspects of form, internal layout and distribution are considered and compared.     

First-time homebuying: attitudes and behaviors of low-income renters through the financial crisis

We use psychological theory to investigate how attitudes toward homebuying relate to first-time home purchases over the past decade. Homeownership rates in the US have dropped to 20-year lows, but whether views toward homebuying shifted due to the financial crisis is not known because studies have not compared attitudes for the same respondents pre- and post-crisis. We address this gap with 2004–2014 panel data from low-income renters. We find that a negative shift in homebuying attitudes is associated with a decline in first-time home purchases. Older renters aged more than 35 years at baseline report the greatest declines in homebuying intentions. Younger renters aged 18–34 also report diminished homebuying intentions, yet express highest overall levels of homebuying intentions pre- and post-crisis. Blacks report greater homebuying intentions although their odds of home purchase are 29 per cent lower than whites. Homebuying norms and favorability are associated with homebuying intentions but not with actual purchases, while perceived control over homebuying influences both outcomes.     

An Unusual Late-Medieval Timber-Framed Building at Harwich,Essex

Abstract

In the tradition of box-frame carpentry prevalent in southern and eastern England in the medieval period, the use of tie beams at each bay division linking the wallplates by means of lap dovetails is almost invariable. In this paper, a fragmentary building probably of late 14th century date, embedded in 40 West Street, Harwich, is described. In it a quite different method of counteracting the outward thrust of the roof, involving anchor beams, was used inter alia to create a continuous upper half storey. A Low Countries source for this arrangement is suggested.     

Changing Inequalities in Housing Outcomes across Western Europe

We evaluate to what extent the financialization of housing is associated with changing inequalities in housing outcomes for low-income owners and private renters, using data for two time points (1995 and 2012) for 11–13 western European countries. We find that in countries with a more commodified housing regime, low-income respondents experience more affordability problems (resulting in a wider gap with middle-income respondents), but better housing conditions. Concerning trends over time, we find that with regard to housing affordability, in most countries the position of low-income owners and private renters has deteriorated over time compared to their middle-income counterparts. This trend can be explained by increases in the level of financialization of housing, and decreases in the supply of private rental housing – controlling for trends in absolute incomes and income inequality. Declining affordability for low-income owners and private renters in more financialized housing regimes has furthermore not been compensated by improved housing conditions. Although it may have intensified since 2008, the observed trend does not originate from declining household incomes following the Great Financial Crisis (2008–2009), as the affordability gap between low- and middle-income private renters already grew significantly larger with the increased financialization during the period 1995–2007.     

Long-term Renters in the Australian Housing Market

The paper provides the first examination into the characteristics and housing circumstances of long-term private renters in Australia. It utilises a national sample of 4677 private renter households drawn from the 1994 ABS Survey of Rental Tenants. In Australia 40 per cent of private renters are identified as 'long-term renters', defined as having rented for more than 10 years. Two main types of long-term renters are examined: 'continuals' who have rented continuously since leaving the parental home, and 'returners' who have resumed renting after a period as a home purchaser, but cumulatively have rented for more than 10 years. Continuals, in contrast to returners, are characterised mainly by lower household incomes and higher unemployment. Returners, on the other hand, are more diverse socio-economically, older than other private renters, and more likely to have experienced marital breakdown. Long-term renters (both continuals and returners) change residence less frequently (although still at a rate double the national average). Rental conditions also vary between long and shorter-term groups. Long-term renters appear to be in a less form alised sector of the market. They are less likely than shorter-term renters to rent from estate agents, pay a bond, hold a lease, or pay rent in advance. The findings in this paper challenge the traditional view of private rental as predom inantly a short-term, transitional tenure.     

From Tenants to Homeowners: Housing Renters After Disaster in Bhuj,India

While renters comprise one-third of urban housing markets, the barriers to long-term housing needs of renters following a disaster are significant. This paper examines post-disaster urban housing policy for renter households following the 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India and its implications for the housing recovery of renters in Bhuj city, an urban area close to the epicenter of the earthquake. Employing a qualitative case study method, the study finds that urban housing policy for renter households was defined by an ad hoc approach with multiple shifts over a period of 4 years. The improvised policy eventually lead to the creation of a publicly funded homeownership program that could rehouse less than one-third of impacted renters, whereas issues of equity, land tenure, lack of affordable units, and uncertainty of recovery for the poorest renters in the city remained.     

Book Reviews

Chemical Safety Matters, by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Programme on Chemical Safety. Published by Cambridge University Press, The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP
Remediation Manual for Petroleum Contaminated Sites, by David L. Russell. Published by Technomic Publishing AG, Missionstrasse 44, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
Land, Water and Development. River Basin Systems and their Sustainable Management, by Malcolm Newson. Published by Routledge, 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Overland Flow-Hydraulics and Erosion Mechanics. Edited by A. J. Parsons and A. D. Abrahams. Published by UCL Press Ltd, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
Urban Waste Waters – Treatment for Use in Steam and Power Generation, by K. Abdullaev, I. Malakhov, L. Poletaev and A. Sobol. Published by Ellis Horwood Ltd, Market Cross House, Cooper Street, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1EB
Water Quality Assessments – A Guide to the Use of Biota, Sediments and Water in Environmental Monitoring. Edited by D. Chapman. Published by Chapman & Hall Ltd, 2–6 Boundary Row, London SE1 8HN
National Vocational Qualifications in Water Treatment. Written and produced by Severn Trent Water Ltd. Special Projects Unit, Finham Sewage Treatment Works, St Martins Road, Coventry CV3 6PR     

West Hollywood: a city is born

West Hollywood has an unusual population mix — a large majority of renters, and high percentages of senior citizens and homosexuals. This short article looks at how their combined concerns helped them to form a unique coalition and establish the city. Not only have they eased their own problems, but they are managing the city efficiently by subcontracting to private companies, showing that self-determination in local government can work.     

The changing effect of home ownership on residential mobility in the Netherlands, 1980–98

In most Western countries, home owners are much less likely to change residence than renters. In the last few decades, the rise in home ownership in the Netherlands has been spectacular. This would imply that the population has become less mobile, which has consequences for the functioning of the housing market—at least, if the relationship between home ownership and residential mobility has not changed. This research addresses the question of whether the effect of home ownership on the probability of residential mobility has changed over the last few decades and if so, how. Using data from the 1981–98 Netherlands Housing Demand surveys and logistic regression models, it is found that the difference between home owners and renters in residential mobility has changed over time. The results indicate a decrease in the effect of home ownership with an interruption in 1984–85. This finding might indicate stability in the effect of home ownership, except for periods of booms or busts on the housing market.     

Private Renter Households: Who Are The Long-Term Renters?

Despite the perception that Australia's private rental market serves principally as a short-term transitional housing tenure, 40 per cent of households in this sector have rented for longer than ten years. This paper enlarges the housing career concept by proposing two types of long-term private renters: continuals (always rented since leaving the parental home) and returners (rented, purchased home, rented again). By using the multivariate statistical technique, CHAID, the analysis demonstrates that continuals and returners form ten distinct renter segments, defined largely by differences in age, marital status, source of income and household income. In the main, continual segments feature renters in the 30–44 year age group, not yet married or, if married (or formerly married), reliant on social security payments. In contrast, most returners earn private incomes, and tend to be older than the continuals (generally over 45 years). The segment most strongly associated with returning to rental housing exhibits the highest household income level, prompting speculation that some households may choose renting over ownership. The analysis further reveals that continual longterm renters encounter a disproportionate share of housing difficulties, including high rents, poor affordability and excessive residential upheaval.     

DO FIRST‐TIME HOME BUYERS IMPROVE THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD QUALITY?

ABSTRACT: This study examines the changes in neighborhood quality in communities where low‐income buyers have recently purchased homes. Three questions are addressed: Do lower‐income buyers buy in higher quality neighborhoods than the ones in which they rented? Are lower‐income buyers locating in higher quality neighborhoods than a comparison group of continuing renters? Are the neighborhoods of new buyers improving or deteriorating relative to those of continuing renters? Results of an analysis of a sample of persons who graduated from home buyer education classes in eight cities indicate that home buyers located in neighborhoods that were similar in quality to those in which they rented. Continuing renters in the sample, however, improved the quality of the neighborhoods between the first and second surveys, while home buyers did not. Finally, while the neighborhoods to which new buyers moved are improving, they are doing so at a slower rate than both the neighborhoods from which they moved and those of the continuing renters.     

A CONUNDRUM IN TIME: Medieval and Modern Pavilions

In Old Government House the National Trust of Queensland have a display of photographs of the destroyed architecture of Brisbane. I suppose we all have our favourites. The display is intended to be a call to arms for the public, a shaming of politicians and administrators, and to be a kind of mourning. It is the aspect of mourning and more general issues of history as an affect, which we will address in this short paper. What is our relation with these buildings? What use can we make of images of buildings which have definitely gone forever? For those of us who never saw Robin Dods' New Zealand lnsurance Building on Queen Street, who never even knew that Brisbane possessed such buildings, discovering them in photographs means simultaneously experiencing the joy of finding and the horror of loss.¹     

Housing the Urban Poor in 1800: Courts in Atherstone and Coventry,Warwickshire

Abstract

The character of the demolished houses in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century court developments in Atherstone and Coventry has been established from a variety of sources. Typically they had one-room plans with one or two bedrooms upstairs and, in Coventry, sometimes a 'top shop' on a third floor. The living rooms in Atherstone had distinctive internal fittings, with a closed-off pantry, stair and coalhole at the rear. The houses in the Warwickshire courts were among the smallest examples of industrial housing recorded, though they did not include either single-room or cellar dwellings.     

Housing supply in Ghana: a study of Accra, Kumasi and Berekum

This is a study of housing supply in three urban areas in Ghana: Accra the capital city, Kumasi, the most important provincial city, and Berekum, a small town. The sample of over 1600 households is divided into renters, recent owners, and longer established owners. The last group is divided into those who have and those who have not extended their home in the previous 6 years. The data provides an insight into who is supplying houses (and extensions), what sort of housing they are building, their reasons for building and the problems encountered in achieving ownership. The study shows that house ownership is available to much lower income households than expected, especially when traditional compounds are built; that owners are relatively old, have large households and occupy considerably more rooms than renters, and build houses larger than they need and let the remainder to tenants or relatives. There is a great need for housing finance because land is currently inappropriate for collateral against a building loan. Research is needed to develop a means by which land could be used as collateral for a loan without unravelling the customary non-marketability of land.     

Moving Beyond ‘Community’ Participation: Perceptions of Renting and the Dynamics of Participation Around Urban Development in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania

This paper employs extensive interviews to examine the ways in which perceptions of renting — on the part of renters, owners and other key actors in the development process — influenced the dynamics of participation around two recent urban development projects in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study responds to concerns that participatory planning too frequently treats communities as homogenous and overlooks barriers to participation faced by marginalized groups, such as renters. The results show that renters were unwilling and often unable to participate due to perceptions, held by themselves and by others, of renter transience and inconsequentiality. These perceptions led to a cycle of non-participation in which policymakers gave renters' needs little attention in plans and renters were disinclined to participate in mobilization. The results suggest that barriers to renter participation could be reduced if their concerns were proactively given more weight in urban development plans.     

弥异所143:宜兰传统艺术中心

形式 传艺中心是将表演、工艺、创意人才保存并输出的一个平台,以传薪创艺的概念,做艺术文化的传承.宜兰传统艺术中心的园区位于宜兰县五结乡,邻近冬山河.     

Tenure Choice and Labour Market Outcomes

In a series of papers Andrew Oswald has suggested that since home owners are relatively less mobile across geographic locations than renters, regional home ownership rates are positively correlated with regional unemployment rates. This paper examines this hypothesis at the individual level. Search theory suggests that when a subset of the population is less mobile than others, this less mobile group (that is, owners) will have lower probability of employment, longer spells of unemployment and lower wages than more mobile renters. These hypotheses on inferior labour market outcomes for owners were tested using US Current Population Survey data as well as data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. The empirical model suggests that these hypotheses are not supported by any of the tests. Home owners, conditionally or unconditionally, have better labour market outcomes than renters.     

未摧毁关于衰落之地的重新思考

位于葡萄牙波尔图的Bonjardim大街长1．5km，始建于13世纪，在历史上扮演过重要角色，曾是城市都市化发展的主动脉之一，用于连接波尔图和葡萄牙北部地区。作为城市扩张路线之一，住房和小型集市是活动比较频繁的源头。     

F. X. Velarde,an English Expressionist

Notable undiscovered architects, like undiscovered composers, are implausible, yet F. X. Velarde OBE, 1897–1960, could be just such a person hiding in plain sight. He is obscure because he confined himself to refining Catholic worship on the eve of Vatican II. His work is an engaging mixture of Modern and Expressionist influences and an example of what has been called medieval modern. The churches he designed in the North West of England are playful and picturesque, often with a toy-like quality. He may have been the last British architect to use the sculpted human form in his work. Today his buildings seem fresh and elegant, but also poignant as they evoke the 1950s and so many of them are threatened.     

Unequal access to energy efficiency in US multifamily rental housing: opportunities to improve

The energy efficiency of US multifamily rental housing is compared with other housing types. A real and growing energy efficiency gap is documented, particularly for lower income households. Findings are based on data from the 2005 and 2009 US Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Individual energy efficiency features related to HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling) systems, appliances, and the building envelope are analysed along with weighted and unweighted total energy efficiency indices. Multifamily units occupied by low income renters had 4.1 fewer energy efficiency features in 2005 and 4.7 fewer in 2009 compared with other households. If the number of efficiency features was on par with other housing, the savings could be in the range of US$200–400 per year for most lower-income renters in multifamily buildings. There is an astonishing lack of information on how efficiency retrofits would affect property (real estate) metrics such as cash flow and value. Available evidence suggests that millions of US properties could be good retrofit investment opportunities. Better efficiency would allow renters to increase spending on food, healthcare and other essentials. This is not only an economic issue: it has implications for household health, social equity and environmental problems tied to energy consumption.