In search of profit: housing association investment in private rental housing

The traditional mission of housing associations in England is to provide non-profit housing let at sub-market rents to low-income and disadvantaged households. And yet in recent years, large ‘property developer housing associations’ have begun to invest in for-profit private rental homes let at market rents. Despite long waiting lists for their accommodation, these housing associations are mainly letting their for-profit rental homes to middle-income tenants rather than their traditional low-income clientele. Drawing on a ‘historical institutional’ conceptual framework, and combining structural and ‘agency’ explanations, this paper explores the reasons for this new trend. It argues that investment by large developer housing associations in for-profit and more upmarket rental homes will become increasingly important relative to their non-profit social housing. Over time, this ‘partial recalibration’ of their landlord role is likely to gradually transform the institutional rules, everyday practices and norms that shape their behaviour.     

How knowledge and political ideology affects rental housing policy in Ontario,Canada: application of a knowledge paradigms framework of policy change

A case study of the Tenant Protection Act in Ontario, Canada is presented. A Conservative government elected in 1995 introduced an Act to deregulate rents and amend the Ontario Human Rights Code to allow use of income criteria to screen potential tenants. Document review and in‐depth interviews with tenant advocates were applied to understand how tenant advocates in Toronto used knowledge and other strategies to influence the legislation in the context of a new framework of policy change. The findings revealed that while different forms of knowledge, scientific, anecdotal and critical, had some influence on the process, the political ideology of the government played a significant role in determining the influence of opponents to legislation. The research concludes that while the neo‐liberal political ideology of the government did not consistently influence policy making in all areas, housing policy was particularly sensitive to political ideology. While the views of tenants did not influence the Conservative government, they did influence the policies of the Opposition parties that called for the restoration of social housing and rent control. On 2 October 2003, an Opposition party supporting these positions was elected in the Ontario general election.     

廉租住房制度透析

指出建立城镇廉租住房制度是我国建立社会保障的重要一环,在研究分析试点城市推行廉租住房制度的基础上,针对廉租住房存在的不同认识和模糊做法,剖析现行廉住房制度的不足,提出了具体的解决方案,并对廉租住房的未来发展提出了建议.     

The private rental sector: Problems,prospects and policy

Abstract

Despite the neglect in research and policy for rental housing, there is a developing awareness of the problems of the private rental sector and the need for policy intervention. The paper suggests that the development of policies must proceed with caution; there are many areas where our knowledge of the problems and processes of the private rental market are insufficient for policy development.     

Labour market change and housing market segmentation in south Australia's non-metropolitan private rental market

This paper reports on research into the relationship between labour market change and the private rental market in non-metropolitan South Australia for the period 1990 to 2000. It finds that there is considerable 'stickiness' within the market and that there has been a limited supply response to changing levels of demand. This has contributed to housing and labour shortages in some regions and over-supply in others. Each circumstance has generated considerable dilemmas for public policy.     

Impact of accessibility on housing expenditure and affordability in Hong Kong's private rental sector

The expenditure on rental housing as aproportion of income is usually measured by therent-to-income ratio, which is the mostcommonly used affordability indicator, whilethe residual income approach is often taken asan alternative. This paper attempts toidentify the determinants of the rent-to-incomeratio, and to examine the impact ofaccessibility on affordability in the privaterental sector. Empirical results indicate notonly determinants of the rent-to-income ratiowould vary, but even the same variable wouldhave different impacts on the rent-to-incomeratio and hence on affordability for locationswith different accessibility. Although therent-to-income ratio in Hong Kong isconsiderably higher than in most other cities,results from the residual income approachindicate that the affordability problem is notsignificant, and that it has a strong link withaccessibility.     

Housing tenure, housing costs and poverty in Flanders (Belgium)

This article deals with the relation betweenhousing and poverty in Flanders (Belgium). Wedescribe how home tenure and housing costsdeveloped differently for different incomegroups. Furthermore, we assess the impact ofthese evolutions on poverty and welfaredistribution. Our analyses show that in theobserved period homeownership increasedstrongly among higher-income categories andremained stable or even decreased amonglow-income households. Average housing costsincreased more for low-income households thanfor high-income households, leading to a sharpincrease in problematic rent-to-income ratiosfor the former. It appears that especially theprivate rented sector is problematic. Thesocial rented sector is evaluated ratherpositively. Taking account of housing costsleads to higher poverty levels and higherwelfare inequality compared to the situationwhere only current income is used to calculatepoverty and welfare distribution.     

The use of data from South Australia's rental tenancy tribunal for research and policy analysis: Issues of validity and efficacy

This paper examines the value for research and policy development of rental tenancy data collected by the South Australian Rental Tenancy Tribunal (RTT). The data held by the RTT are for South Australia only, but comparable organisations exist in a number of other states, such as New South Wales and Victoria. Lessons learned from South Australia could serve as a pilot for the development of a new (semi-) national framework for monitoring the private rental market.     

The use of data from South Australia's rental tenancy tribunal for research and policy analysis: Issues of validity and efficacy

Abstract

This paper examines the value for research and policy development of rental tenancy data collected by the South Australian Rental Tenancy Tribunal (RTT). The data held by the RTT are for South Australia only, but comparable organisations exist in a number of other states, such as New South Wales and Victoria. Lessons learned from South Australia could serve as a pilot for the development of a new (semi‐) national framework for monitoring the private rental market.     

城市化、住房自有与住房保障——基于重庆经验的实证分析

根据重庆市1997年~2007年数据分析城市化率、住房自有率对住房保障比例的影响。单变量相关分析和多变量逐步回归分析的结果表明:城市化率与住房保障比例之间存在显著的正相关关系;住房自有率则与住房保障比例之间存在显著的负相关关系。     

Property Restitution and Private Rental Housing in Transition: The Case of the Czech Republic

The objective of this paper is to explain one phenomenon evident in the transformation of post-socialist states that has received insufficient scholarly attention to date: the restitution of the housing stock in terms of its causes and consequences. In this paper, the theory of social constructivism, including Kemeny's advanced application of this theory to the field of housing studies, is used to (a) explain the causes for a particular type of property restitution in the Czech Republic and (b) outline its consequences on the role and long-term social meaning of private rental housing. This research explains how restitution was viewed by the main participants in this discourse, and how the whole process was legitimised and socially constructed in the Czech Republic. The evidence presented stems from a multi-method analysis of discourse that integrates the results of in-depth interviews, content analysis of the press, and an analysis of data from attitude surveys. The paper shows how the initial state of consensus surrounding the image of restitution quickly dissolved. The emergence of divisions combined with the inadequate response of the state generated a biased image of private rental housing among Czech citizens—a pattern that persists to the present.     

Multi‐family housing in the social rental sector and the changing Dutch housing market

The social rental sector has become a major segment of the housing market in the Netherlands (forming 44 per cent of the stock in 1988). Until recently, its management by non‐profit housing associations and municipalities posed no major problems: the stock was relatively new, the general housing shortage was severe, and middle‐income groups accounted for a substantial share of the tenants of social rental housing. This situation has changed; especially the older multi‐family housing in the cities has slipped into a lower position in the urban housing hierarchy, and lower‐income households predominate in this type of housing. At the same time, part of the older stock is in need of renovation. This article reports on interviews with managers of non‐profit housing associations about their strategies to keep the housing in good shape and to find tenants. It also reports on interviews with tenants in newly renovated housing complexes.     

The role of state and market in the Malaysian housing sector

This paper discusses the development of housingpolicy in Malaysia, focusing on the role ofstate and market in low-income housingprovision. Since independence, the state hasstrongly intervened in the housing sector, andits housing policies have expressed its racialand political preferences in housingdevelopment and distribution. The privatesector performs better than the public sector.But the excessive state control over housinghinders the development of the market, while the potential of the private sector's capacityis under-utilised. The paper illustrates theproblems of the housing system and ends withsome recommendations for ways to overcome theseproblems.     

Setting rent with reference to tenants' affordability: Public housing rent policy in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the housing systems inwhich public tenants' affordability has beenincorporated in the rent-setting mechanism inwhich the median rent-to-income measurement isemployed as an explicit indicator ofaffordability. However, contravening policiesin the public housing sector make such a simplerent-setting formula complicated. A moredetailed analysis of the rent-setting mechanismalso reveals that the arbitrarily picked upreference ratio is incapable of catering forthe wide variety of circumstances amongtenants. At the same time, there is also someinconsistency in adopting a unifiedaffordability standard in different aspects ofrent setting. Lastly, the endorsement ofaffordability as an overarching principle inrent setting is prone to introducecontradictions in the system. The level of rentmay bear a close relation to the circumstancesof the occupants but not to the conditions ofthe dwelling. Affordability as amarket-oriented principle would also weaken thelegitimacy of the public rental sector as abasically supply-side oriented regime.     

Promoting the supply of low income rental housing

There is disturbing evidence of a contraction in the stock of low income private rental housing. In this paper we offer evidence indicating that federal government tax preferences, economies of scope and higher operating costs are part of the explanation for this contraction. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Rental Investors' Survey is used to gauge whether low income housing tax credits and tax-free capital gains thresholds can be used to promote the supply of low income rental housing.     

Hidden from History? Housing Studies,the Perpetual Present and the Case of Social Housing in Britain

This paper examines the use and abuse of historical method in the field of housing studies, with specific reference to predictions about the future shape of social housing in Britain. It reflects on the debates about council housing in the early 1990s and sets these against subsequent policy developments. The paper suggests that this exercise reveals some shortcomings in dominant paradigms within housing studies, such as the misreading and misrepresentation of tenants' responses and reactions; the over-emphasis on consumption in assessing processes of housing sector change; the neglect of increasing spatial differentiation in housing markets across Britain; and the failure to appreciate the causes behind increasing volatility in some local housing markets. The paper argues for a more nuanced historical sensibility and a more adventurous methodology when forecasting the future direction of housing policies and the future characteristics of housing systems.     

Promoting the supply of low income rental housing

Abstract

There is disturbing evidence of a contraction in the stock of low income private rental housing. In this paper we offer evidence indicating that federal government tax preferences, economies of scope and higher operating costs are part of the explanation for this contraction. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Rental Investors’ Survey is used to gauge whether low income housing tax credits and tax‐free capital gains thresholds can be used to promote the supply of low income rental housing.     

对公共租赁住房电气设计的几点看法

结合公租房建设经济、适用的原则,对公租房电气设计的要点进行了研究,对公租房供配电系统、电负荷、导线、照明开关设计等作了详细阐述,说明了电气的计算方式与弱电系统的设计方式,以达到节能环保,降低投资额度的目的。     

公共租赁住房供给政府决策研究

公共租赁住房是保障性住房体系中最为活跃的组成部分,受到政府部门、企业和社会公众的关注。针对公共租赁住房供给扭曲现象,从政府供给决策层面进行分析,通过对供给决策主体及相关者的划分,建立动态均衡的政府供给决策目标。构建由决策输入到决策输出的过程模型,模拟政府供给决策的阶段和任务,在此基础上提出优化公共租赁住房政府供给决策的路径。