Maintaining an Arm's Length? Housing,Community Governance and the Management of ‘Problematic’ Populations

This paper examines how contemporary social problems of community care, anti-social behaviour, ethnic and racial tensions and the housing of sex offenders are conceptualised in UK housing and urban policy. It explores how and why the populations of social housing areas disproportionately bear the risks arising from these social problems, and how the responses of these populations are subsequently problematised. The redefining of social landlords' roles in managing ‘problematic’ populations is explored, and similarities in the responses to social problems in both private and social housing developments are identified, based around parochial ‘community’ forms of governance. The paper concludes that the increasing secession of local housing governance from a ‘public’ model of provision increases the ‘subsidiarity of responsibility’ upon deprived populations for managing social problems, reflecting a wider imbalance in the societal distribution of risks.     

Housing Improvements,Perceived Housing Quality and Psychosocial Benefits From the Home

In advanced countries, where many of the most deleterious physical health effects of poor housing have been eradicated or substantially reduced, there has been increasing interest in mental health and psychosocial benefits as housing outcomes. Recently available data, based on a large-scale survey of social renters in Glasgow, have offered the opportunity to explore the psychosocial benefits of home in previously unavailable detail, over a range of property types and housing improvement interventions. Findings indicate that home improvements have mediating effects upon the psychosocial benefits, which occupants derive from their homes via their impacts upon perceived home quality. However, landlord relations and the quality of the wider neighbourhood within which improvements take place are shown to be important moderators of this relationship. In particular, landlords' overall service performance, how they keep tenants informed and how they take tenants' views on board, all make a difference to perceptions of home quality and to psychosocial status and control.     

The Supply-Side Modernisation of Social Housing in England: Analysing Mechanics,Trends and Consequences

The past 30 years have seen England's housing associations (HAs) transformed from marginal players in the wider housing market to a point where, in 2008, they overtook local authorities as majority social housing providers. This paper reviews theoretical perspectives on the evolution of the UK social housing and the rise of HAs since the 1970s, with a particular focus on the ‘modernisation’ thesis advanced by Malpass & Victory (2010). Against this backdrop, we analyse the sector's recent reconfiguration, integrating the impacts of housing stock transfers and HA mergers. Our analysis focuses on the consequences of sector restructuring in terms of organisational homogenisation and, at least as perceived, the growing dominance of giant landlords. Finally, within the context of the Coalition Government's localism rhetoric, we discuss the accountability implications of restructuring activity and the light our analysis sheds on theoretical understandings of social housing change processes.     

Ending Security of Tenure for Social Renters: Transitioning to ‘Ambulance Service’ Social Housing?

Drawing on international comparative research, this paper examines recent policy moves to withdraw security of tenure in social housing in England and Australia. We contend that there are theoretical and empirical grounds for believing that tenure security is crucial both to social housing tenants themselves and to conceptualisations of the sector. Starting from this premise we analyse the underlying rationale(s) for phasing out open-ended social tenancies. First, we consider the ‘welfare dependency’ argument and the claim that ‘conditionality’ mechanisms will incentivise social renters to (re)engage with the labour market. Second, we interrogate the, arguably more influential, rationale which stresses equity considerations in ensuring that scarce social housing resources are targeted to those in greatest need. We conclude by reflecting on the implementation prospects for this high-level policy reform, arguing that individual social landlords' motivations will be crucial in shaping the practical impacts of the new regime.     

'A Risk' or 'At Risk'? Reconceptualising Housing Debt in a Risk Welfare Society

In England, the economic circumstances of housing, employment and social change have served to create problems of housing affordability and sustainability which leave some within the clefts of social divisions. At the same time, the individualisation trend within housing and other areas of social policy is increasingly driven by notions of self-responsibility and risk which can contribute to such divisions. This paper suggests that social policy could be well served by reconceptualising the constitution of risk to recognise its multiple and situated identity and to question, rather than utilise, its associations with mechanisms of individual culpability. It is also suggested that, for housing policy, this requires a re-examination of the legal basis of housing contracts.     

Housing and the Realignment of Urban Socio-Spatial Contracts

Abstract

This paper argues that narratives of the Big Society and Localism in England enacted through housing and planning policies, and housing welfare and benefit reforms across the entire United Kingdom, partly articulate, but primarily mask, a particular governmental response to the present structural crisis in housing and its sociological impacts. This response may be located within a wider political project aimed at realigning understandings of cities and the right for working class and younger populations to occupy urban space and access welfare as enacted through affordable and decent homes. The paper utilizes social contract theory to suggest that the promotion of localism in housing systems needs to be understood within wider struggles of naming the world and reframing the respective rights and responsibilities of the state and particular population groups. The paper concludes that Big Society rationales represent an implicit acknowledgement of a regressive reduction in the ambition of government to address the housing crisis as it affects low- and middle-income populations and its related social consequences.     

POLICY REVIEW Estate-based Regeneration in England: Lessons from Housing Action Trusts

This paper presents an interim assessment of Housing Action Trusts (HATs)-special purpose, limited duration, Government agencies-charged with the task of comprehensively regenerating run-down housing estates in England. HATs' track record remains under-analysed despite the large sums of public money involved and their relevance to the latest experiments in estate regeneration. The paper briefly profiles the six HATs' designated areas, then assesses the degree to which they have achieved their main objectives. HATs have thus far had mixed success. They have attached greater priority to employment and training and quality of life measures, community empowerment and sustainability than earlier estate regeneration programmes. However, they have still devoted the lion's share of their resources to housing investment and the question remains whether they have gone far enough in tackling the deep-rooted social and economic problems of deprived neighbourhoods. HATs have proved relatively expensive compared with alternative methods of injecting new investment into social housing, largely because of their emphasis upon durable design, good space standards and energy efficiency and also resident empowerment and wider measures. Only time will tell whether the extra cost is justified.     

Institutional logics and organisational hybridity: English housing associations’ diversification into the private rented sector

State withdrawal combined with challenges in raising private finance has led not-for-profit housing organisations in a range of countries to diversify into commercial activities as means to generate additional income streams and cross subsidise their core social operations. Within England, an increasing number of housing associations (HAs) has looked for new forms of investment, notably from private rental housing, to generate additional cash flows and fill gaps in the housing market. Drawing on the concepts of institutional logics and organisational hybridity, the paper uses organisational archetypes to examine the different hybrid financing, governance structures and housing products that two pioneering London-based HAs have employed to undertake private rental activities alongside their social businesses. The paper argues that the trends identified are indicative of wider institutional change, with not-for-profit housing organisations facing difficult strategic choices about how to fund their core business in a world of lower public subsidy and uncertainty over future sources of private finance.     

The Development of Housing Policy in the English Regions: Trends and Prospects

This paper explores the emergence of housing strategies at the regional level in England in the context of wider ambiguities over establishing this new tier of governance. The paper notes the growing differentiation in local housing markets across the country and examines the implications for national policy formation and the development of new regional structures and responsibilities. These trends are interpreted by reference to different models of governance and the 'rescaling' of government functions and responsibilities in housing. The implications of these processes for housing strategy formation at the regional level are then assessed. The development of regional housing strategies is then considered against three key challenges: the growth of 'network' forms of governance, the applicability of the regional level as a tier for strategy formulation and development, and the different policy responses in other sectors towards housing market change at the sub-national level. The paper concludes by briefly considering likely future developments in regional governance. In conclusion it suggests that the aim of achieving greater integration between housing, planning and economic development strategies may be threatened by underlying processes of uneven economic growth and social polarisation.     

Conserving Rental Housing A Policy Analysis

Conserving the existing stock of rental housing is a key part of any policy to house low-and moderate-income people and to revitalize their neighborhoods. Local governments, with their limited resources, have growing responsibility for the conservation efforts. But they have little information about what programs actually result in better maintenance and repair of rental housing. This article, based on studies of landlords' investments in repairs to their buildings, outlines policies for shaping effective programs to conserve rental housing. It focuses on six crucial issues: how to divide public actions between those that directly support housing improvements and those that indirectly encourage rehabilitation by improving neighborhood conditions; how much assistance to provide, and where to concentrate it geographically; how to involve other private parties, especially lenders; which owners to assist; what level of rehabilitation to support for a given building; and how to balance the use of “carrots” and “sticks.”     

Promoting Responsibility,Shaping Behaviour: Housing Management,Mixed Communities and the Construction of Citizenship

This paper examines housing policies aimed at establishing mixed income communities. Based on stakeholder interviews and case study analysis in England and Scotland, the paper pays particular attention to the impact of interventions in housing management. The first part considers the policy context for mixed communities and considers the conceptual basis underlying contemporary housing management through discourses of culture and social control. The second part considers how this agenda has resulted in the adoption of intensive management strategies within mixed communities; illustrated in the development of allocation policies, initiatives designed to tackle anti-social behaviour, and proposals to develop sustainable communities. The main argument is that given that the concept of mixed communities is based on the premise of social housing failure, citizenship has been defined largely in response to private sector interests. This approach to management has been a contributory factor in the construction of social housing as a form of second-class citizenship.     

From Asset Based Welfare to Welfare Housing? The Changing Function of Social Housing in Ireland

This paper examines a distinctive and significant aspect of social housing in Ireland—its change in function from an asset-based role in welfare support to a more standard model of welfare housing. It outlines the nationalist and agrarian drivers which expanded the initial role of social housing beyond the goal of improving housing conditions for the poor towards the goal of extending homeownership, and assesses whether this focus made it more similar to the ‘asset based welfare’ approach to housing found in South-East Asia than to social housing in Western Europe. From the mid-1980s, the role of Irish social housing changed as the sector contracted and evolved towards the model of welfare housing now found in many other Western countries. Policy makers have struggled to address the implications of this transition and vestiges of social housing's traditional function are still evident, consequently the boundaries between social housing, private renting and homeownership in Ireland have grown increasingly nebulous.     

Social Housing Agencies and the Governance of Anti-social Behaviour

Current policy and discourse concerning the governance of anti-social behaviour in the UK has emphasised the spatial concentration of disorder on particular social housing estates. Policy has sought to respond by devolving management of the processes of social control to local neighbourhoods. Local authorities, and social housing agencies in particular, are being given an increasing role within multi-agency partnerships aimed at governing local incidences of anti-social behaviour. This paper places this emerging role for social housing agencies within theories of governmentality and wider trends in urban governance and suggests that present developments may be understood through a paradigm of housing governance. Drawing on studies in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the paper examines the role of social housing agencies in the governance of anti-social behaviour. It argues that social housing agencies face a number of dilemmas in reacting to their emerging role and that such dilemmas reflect wider concerns about the new urban governance.     

Meeting commercial and social goals: institutional investment in the housing association sector*

Analyses of the impacts of the use of private finance by housing associations (HAs) across Europe regularly align with the hybridity in the social housing sector, linking private finance to a range of negative consequences related to the loss of social purposes by HAs. This article examines some of the implications of institutional investment for HAs in Britain to meet their economic and social goals. Using a combination of interviews with HAs and institutional investors and a round table discussion, the study shows how such investment has facilitated HAs as hybrid organisations which adopt a pragmatically ‘fit-for-purpose’ approach that combines social benefit with profitability. For institutional investors, investing in social housing is a profit-oriented business as well as a corporate social activity that creates public relations benefits. Importantly, the study shows how government regulations can affect the form of institutional investment (bond finance rather than equity investment) in social housing and help HAs balance the opportunities and risks in combining business and social orientations.     

Housing policy in the UK: the importance of spatial nuance

The UK has been engaged in an ongoing process of constitutional reform since the late 1990s, when devolved administrations were established in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. As devolution has evolved there has been a greater trend towards divergence in housing policy, which calls into question any notion of a ‘UK experience’. Whilst the 2014 Scottish independence referendum again returned constitutional reform high onto the political agenda, there still remain tensions between devolved governments and the UK Government in Westminster, with England increasingly becoming the outlier in policy terms. Informed by ideas of social constructionism, which emphasises the politics of housing, this paper draws on an analysis of policy narratives to highlight the need for greater geographical sensitivity. This requires not only more spatial nuance, but also a recognition that these differences are underpinned by divergent political narratives in different parts of the UK. This emphasis on the politics underpinning policy has relevance internationally in other geographical contexts.     

The impact of the direct payment of housing benefit: evidence from Great Britain

In recent years, a number of welfare reforms have been introduced in the UK by Conservative-led governments. The most high profile of these is Universal Credit (UC), which is currently being rolled out across the country. A key feature of UC is a change in the way the income-related housing allowance for social housing tenants (Housing Benefit) is administered, as under UC, it is paid directly to tenants (direct payment), who are responsible for paying their rent. This represents a step change for them as for more than 30 years landlord payment has been the norm in the UK. There has been little research into direct payment. This paper seeks to address this gap in knowledge by presenting the key findings of an initiative designed to trial direct payment. It finds that many tenants experienced difficulties on direct payment. Reflecting this, landlords' arrears rose markedly.     

A Matter of Choice? Policy Divergence in Access to Social Housing Post-devolution

This paper considers access to social housing in England, Scotland and Wales. After putting Britain's social housing in context, it sets out the current legislative and policy context for access to social housing in the three countries, detailing key differences in approach and emphasis. It goes on to consider the establishment of choice-based lettings systems and the extent to which the various government departments are taking the lead in promoting their development. The paper concludes that the emphasis on choice, in particular on advertising-based methods of letting properties differs greatly across the UK, with a continuum, England, Wales, Scotland.     

The Limits and Potentials of the Housing Market Enabling Paradigm: An Evaluation of China's Housing Policies from 1998 to 2011

This paper examines the housing policies in China in the last 14 years in the context of the international debate on the World Bank's housing market enabling strategy to improve low-income housing provision in developing countries. A review of China's urban housing outcomes reveals housing price inflation and shortage of affordable housing in the fast expanding housing market. The paper analyzes policies to increase both demand for and supply of housing and argues that these policies have contributed to worsening affordability. This situation has been exacerbated by problems in the institutional framework managing the housing sector. The paper concludes that market enabling alone is not sufficient to achieve a satisfactory housing outcome for low- and middle-income groups in Chinese cities. It advocates more effective and direct public intervention for enhancing social housing provision and tightening market regulation to address both market and government failures to improve housing conditions for lower income groups.     

Are Housing Organisations becoming Learning Organisations? Some Lessons from the Management of Tenant Participation

This paper deals with the links between organisational development in social housing organisations and tenant participation, and asks whether social housing organisations through such practices can be said to be adopting some of the features of 'learning organisations'. It discusses the ways in which tenant participation arrangements, in addition to providing opportunities for tenants to influence organisational decision making, potentially serve as de facto conduits for organisational learning, prompting organisational adaptation and change. The idea of the 'learning organisation' has its roots in organisational theory and practice. It has also been used normatively in management consultancy, and it is a discernible part of the managerial culture associated with the present government's Modernisation programme. The paper has three interrelated aims. First, it looks at the scope of the 'learning organisation' notion. This is broadly concerned with organisational commitment to on-going development, and focuses on responsiveness, flexibility and capacity to adapt internally to external demands and pressures. Second, it considers the role that these 'learning organisation' principles play in the process of organisational change as this is experienced by today's social housing organisations. Third, it applies learning organisation concepts and draws on recent research to examine an aspect of social housing practice which acts as a key interface between social housing organisations and their service users, the management of tenant participation in an operational context, and discusses the extent to which such mechanisms might act as a conduit for the development of organisational learning. The paper concludes by reflecting first, on the potential of such conduits to encourage social housing organisations to become more like 'learning organisations'; and second, on the value of the learning organisation notion as a tool for understanding organisational development and change in social housing.     

Community-based Housing Organisations and the Local Governance Debate

This paper examines criticisms of the accountability of housing organisations in Britain and assesses whether community-based housing organisations can provide answers. A particular focus is placed on the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which has emphasised the desirability of 'downwards' accountability to communities while at the same time limiting the central controls of autonomous local bodies. The Committee on Standards in Public Life was established in 1994 by the former Prime Minister, John Major. It was a response to concern about standards of conduct among public office holders, including Members of Parliament, but also all other office holders in central and local government, and in other bodies discharging public functions. Its remit is to investigate current arrangements and make recommendations about changes required to ensure "the highest standards of propriety in public life". The paper reports on the governance of community-based housing organisations (CBHOs) in Glasgow, which was investigated by means of housing surveys and interviews with key actors. It finds that in many respects the criticisms of extra-governmental housing organisations do not apply: they are regarded as legitimate and trustworthy by local people to a much greater extent than the local authority and other institutions. They attract active local participation and there are effective mechanisms to ensure that their 'governors' are accountable. What is more, they have maintained their position over a period of more than 10 years. However, the CBHOs have been much less successful in shaping their own destinies, in contrast to extra-governmental housing organisations in England. They are, in reality, dependent rather than autonomous and their power is very limited in comparison to the government agency and local authority with whom they interact. The paper concludes that the CBHOs have been a successful policy innovation which offers real gains for communities and also allows local authorities and central government agencies to pursue their objectives. However, their small scale, which is important in their success as locally-accountable bodies, in turn makes them vulnerable to centralised control.