Opportunities and Constraints in State Housing Policy: The Example of Tasmania's ‘Affordable Housing Strategy’

The lack of Commonwealth government funds for public housing has encouraged state governments across Australia to develop ‘Affordable Housing Strategies’ to address the problems that result from the shortage of housing available for low-income households. However, to date there has been limited discussion of the implications of these affordable housing strategies and their significance as a form of policy intervention. This article highlights the Tasmanian Government's ‘Affordable Housing Strategy’ as a case study to illustrate the obstacles that confront state housing policy makers. These include difficulties in securing partnerships with the private sector, an inability to influence macro-economic policy settings, fluctuations in the property market cycle and a reliance on small and uncertain budgetary allocations. However, there is limited scope to address some of the problems that have undermined previous state and Territory housing policy initiatives by reaching agreements with local government to ease planning controls for social housing, boosting the capacity of the community housing sector and using additional budgets judiciously.     

Housing Theory,Housing Research and Housing Policy

Abstract

Jim Kemeny in 1992 criticized existing housing research for neglecting social theory and being overly positivist and policy focused. The result has been a strengthening of the conceptual basis of housing research in general, but also a growing schism between researchers who focus on policy relevancy and those that pursue more theoretical work. This paper challenges this schism and argues for theoretically based and policy-relevant research. First, the paper argues that the policy-making process is complex and can vary between different countries, situations and over time. Therefore, it is argued that many styles of research can influence policy in the right circumstances. Second, the paper challenges the idea that there can be theoretically free housing research arguing that all research has a theoretical foundation even though in many studies it is not explicit. Finally, the paper engages with the debate about where theory for housing research should come from and what it would look like.     

Transforming Australia's Social Housing: Pointers from the British Stock Transfer Experience

The expanding provision of affordable housing by non-profit community housing organisations, coupled with possibilities of substantial stock transfer from State Housing Authorities, suggest Australia's social housing sector may be entering a transformative phase. Based on a review of restructuring in Britain, where over the last 25 years, traditionally owned and managed ‘council housing’ has been reduced from over 90 per cent to less than 30 per cent of overall social housing stock, this article considers possible policy implications for Australia. In particular, it analyses British experience which could inform Australian decisions on organisational size, institutional vehicles and governance structures within the context of the future programme of stock transfers envisaged by many commentators on the Australian housing scene.

     

Housing Policy in England since 1975: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Over the past 30 years the housing system in England (and the rest of the UK) has undergone fundamental changes. This Special Issue of Housing Studies is based upon a major recent evaluation of English housing policy 1975–2000. This introductory paper outlines the aims and objectives of the evaluation, and its principal conclusions. It also sketches out the broader social and economic context for the evaluation, and provides a brief introduction to the substantive papers included in the Special Issue. These papers were selected to reflect the breadth of topics considered in the evaluation, and to represent the key housing policy debates and dilemmas that have contemporary resonance as well as historical significance.     

The Next Blueprint for Housing Policy in England

This review outlines the changes to housing policy in England introduced or proposed by the UK coalition government elected in 2010. These changes form part of a longer term project to modernise housing policy, and are at the same time a response to an economic and public expenditure crisis. It is argued that these emerging proposals raise important questions for housing policy analysis and research—questions about the interpretation of earlier policy and practice, and about the factors likely to affect future policy outcomes and patterns of segregation.     

税收政策对保障性住房供给的影响分析

在我国保障性住房有效供给严重不足、政府决心加大保障性住房建设的情况下,对保障性住房供给方式以及税收政策的影响进行了分析与研究。根据住房过滤与梯度消费理论,完善性地构建了保障性住房多层次供给模型。并以这个模型作为税收政策对保障性住房作用的契入点,分析了现有的税收政策对各种保障性住房供给的影响,提出了对保障性住房供给方税收政策改革的合理化建议。     

Housing Policy Changes in Ghana in the 1990s

The housing sector in Ghana has undergone fundamental changes since the 1990s. Policy focus has shifted away from direct state provision and has moved strongly towards active private sector participation in housing production, financing and production of building materials. In part, this is due to the failure of public housing programmes, dwindling state resources, unimpressive performance of state-owned enterprises, and recognition that the government alone is unable to solve the housing problem. On a broader scale, the changes are rooted in liberalization ideologies that have swept through most economies in the 1980s and 1990s, which have had varying effects on people's housing need and on the national economy. The purpose of this paper is to examine these effects, to offer some interpretations, and to outline some of the lingering challenges facing the country's housing sector.     

The Development of Housing Policy in Singapore and the Sources of Path Dependence

This paper aims to examine the development of housing policy in Singapore from British colonial rule to the era of Lee Kuan Yew (1959–1990) and analyse what factors structured path dependence in the Singaporean context. Lee Kuan Yew’s government had been consistently committed to building and running the public housing sector. The strong initiative in public housing was aimed at serving development strategies and nation-building processes, rather than creating entitlement to social rights. In addition, people who purchased or would purchase public housing recognized the benefits from housing policies as available assets and readily mobilized them over time. Finally, the paper concludes that two factors – the government’s pursuit of public housing and the asset-specific elements of housing schemes – are the principal sources of path dependence in Singaporean housing policy.     

The Concept of Subjective Well-being in Housing Research

The aim of this article is to review the ways in which subjective well-being has been conceptualized within housing research, with a view to evaluating the use of the concept, the insights it has generated, the problems that have been experienced and the possible range of lessons that might be taken forward. The article begins with an analysis of the reasons why subjective well-being has become popular as a conceptual tool in many fields. The article continues with a discussion of the range of definitions that appear in the literature which leads into discussions of the research techniques and methodologies that have been used in empirical research. Empirical studies which focussed on the impact of physical housing conditions and tenure on subjective well-being are reviewed in order to evaluate what is known about the impact of housing on both personal and collective subjective well-being. This review highlights issues of status, reference groups and adaptation that are important insights from the subjective well-being approach that should set the agenda for further research in this area. The conclusion is that the relationship between housing and subjective well-being is a complex one that repays further study in order to understand the rich texture of the role of housing in people’s lives. The article concludes with suggestions for both conceptual and methodological approaches and the focus of future research.     

福利国家与住房政策

本文试图通过欧美福利国家系统和住房系统的内在联系,运用欧美学者在１９９０年代中期的最新研究成果,从定性和定量两方面来认识欧美国家的住房政策类型。     

Affordable Housing Plans in London and New York: Between Marketplace and Social Mix

The article reviews and critically analyzes contemporary housing policies and plans in London and New York in the context of neoliberal urban governance. In both cities, we find severe housing affordability problems, an increasing dependence on market provision of affordable housing, and a gradual shift from supporting low- and moderate-income residents to promoting housing for households around and above the median income. Affordable housing plans in both cities also link their “marketplace” orientation to “social mix” objectives. The article addresses some socio-spatial implications of these plans and raises concerns regarding the implementation and unintended consequences of mixed-income housing. The conclusion discusses ideas and tools for more equitable affordable housing policies. Finally, we suggest that our analysis of the policy trends in London and New York and the implications we draw may be relevant to other global and globalizing cities, which face similar affordability concerns and rely on the marketplace to address housing needs.     

Housing Stock Transfer in Glasgow—the First Five Years: A Study of Policy Implementation

In 2003 the City of Glasgow saw the largest housing stock transfer in the UK, involving around 80 000 dwellings. Since then, the implementation of the stock transfer policy has been heavily criticised. This paper uses a framework developed from implementation studies to analyse why this policy has been susceptible to difficulties and to reflect upon the important elements of a revised analytical framework. The paper finds that the study of policy implementation must contain an appreciation of the effects of having multiple policy objectives, multiple layers of governance and multiple actors involved in policy delivery. Additional elements of a policy implementation framework are: the specification of the stages of implementation; consideration of interactions between policy objectives; the need for government to oversee and ensure the effective management of policy networks; and finally, consideration of the effects of competing political interests and perspectives.     

保障性住房PPP融资模式研究——以河南为例

融资约束是制约保障房建设的一大障碍,PPP融资模式是解决保障房融资困境的最佳选择。基于此,以河南为例,探讨应用PPP融资模式的必要性和可行性,设计保障房PPP融资模式的运作流程,并就更好地发展保障房PPP融资模式提出政策建议。     

Implicit Land Taxation and Affordable Housing Provision in England

The paper considers the proposal in England that a continuing requirement for residential developers to contribute directly to the supply of affordable housing in return for planning permission should operate alongside a new tax on land value increases due to planning permission. The paper asks whether it is right in principle for affordable housing to be supported by the implicit taxation of development. It is argued that in terms of transparency, clarity, and certainty explicit taxation is to be preferred to implicit taxation. It is thus suggested that once the new explicit tax is in place developers should no longer be routinely required to pay an additional implicit affordable housing tax. Affordable housing should, it is argued, be supported on the basis of need, not the resources available from the development process. The link between the provision of affordable housing and planning obligations should be broken.     

Interpreting Housing Allowance: The Norwegian Case

Housing allowances are part of both the housing policy and the general welfare policy. In order to understand fully how the housing allowances affect welfare and well-being, one needs to use multiple approaches. We propose to complement traditional analyses of marginal effects and short-run incentives with long-run perspectives taken from the new social investment literature and elements of self-esteem and fairness taken from the literature on universalism. A neo-liberal approach where analysts limit themselves to studies of marginal effects and short-run incentives both in the housing and in the labour market runs the risk of neglecting important aspects of the effects of housing allowances. Therefore, this may lead to retrenchment. The approach we propose is illustrated through a closer analysis of important elements of the housing allowance system in Norway as it is today, and the development of the system over time.     

Australian Housing Policy,Misrecognition and Indigenous Population Mobility

Policy initiatives in remote Indigenous Australia aim to improve Indigenous health and well-being, and reduce homelessness. But they have raised controversy because they impinge on Indigenous aspirations to remain on homeland communities, require mainstreaming of Indigenous housing and transfer Indigenous land to the state. This paper uses recognition theory to argue that if policies of normalization are imposed on remote living Indigenous people in ways that take insufficient account of their cultural realities they may be experienced as a form of misrecognition and have detrimental policy effects. The paper examines the responses of remote living Indigenous people to the National Partnerships at the time of their introduction in 2009–2010. Drawing on interview and administrative data from a national study on Indigenous population mobility, the paper argues although the policies have been welcomed, they have also been a source of anxiety and anger. These feelings are associated with a sense of violated justice arising from experiences of misrecognition. The paper argues this can lead tenants to depart their homes as a culturally sanctioned form of resistance to state control. This population mobility is associated with homelessness because it takes place in the context of housing exclusion. Policy implications include developing new models of intercultural professional practice and employing a capacity-building approach to local Indigenous organisations.     

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.     

Identifying Distributive Injustice Through Housing (Mis)Match Analysis: The Case of Social Housing in Amsterdam

In this paper, an analytical model for measuring match and mismatch between social housing units and their tenants is presented and applied to the social rented housing sector of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Through the use of a large set of unique micro-data combining housing unit and household characteristics, mismatches on two key dimensions of physical adequacy and affordability and for different household types and parts of the city can be revealed. Empirically assessing the (mis)match of social housing units at a small scale – where socio and spatial (mis)matches manifest – creates opportunities for innovation in the analysis of effects of market mechanisms and local housing allocation policies. An improved understanding of these mismatches based on a strong empirical base can be related to and evaluated against different principles of distributive justice. The findings for the case of Amsterdam show that the famous large social housing stock incorporates significant mismatches. Households in the least popular parts of the city comparatively do not live affordably and large inequities exist between households based on length of residence. These findings offer a basis for further exploration of the complex of housing allocation, changing housing distributions and the resulting outcomes in terms of distributive justice.     

The Past and Future of Housing Policy Innovation: The Case of US State Housing Trust Funds

State governments are increasingly expected to help fill the gap between the demand and supply of affordable housing within the US. Little systematic attention has been paid to state housing strategies over the years, despite a lengthening record of policy innovation. This paper asks what factors influence state adoption of housing trust funds (HTFs), and if these factors differ based on how the trust fund is financed and which state agency is responsible for administering it. Utilizing an event history analysis of pooled cross-sectional data, the paper finds that whether or not a state adopts a HTF, who administers it, and how they fund it, varies based on rates of new, single-family development, the size of the black population, prior state housing expenditures, and citizen ideology. The broader implications of these findings are considered for future housing policy innovations beyond states and HTFs.     

The Spatial Pattern of Low Income Housing Tax Credit Properties: Implications for Fair Housing and Poverty Deconcentration Policies

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Housing policies of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) emphasize the spatial dispersal of housing assistance to promote fair housing objectives. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, the nation's largest affordable housing subsidy program, is not administered by HUD and therefore is not closely monitored for compliance with dispersal objectives. Using spatial point pattern analyses, I identify the geographic extent of LIHTC property clustering, characterize the local clustering of individual properties and explore the determinants of local clustering within the nation's largest metropolitan areas. In most metropolitan areas, LIHTC properties are more highly clustered than multifamily housing units, although the extent of clustering differs by metropolitan area. Clustered LIHTC properties tend to be located in more densely developed central-city locations that have higher poverty rates and higher minority concentrations.

Takeaway for practice: To encourage more affordable housing construction within areas that offer greater economic and social opportunities to LHTC residents, policymakers should 1) provide incentives to locate LIHTC properties within high-opportunity areas, 2) eliminate current incentives to cluster housing in areas with inherently higher poverty and minority concentrations (Qualified Census Tracts and Difficult Development Areas), and 3) enhance coordination between HUD and the Department of the Treasury to implement federal fair housing goals.