Tenure preference and housing strategy: An exploration of Pakistani experiences

There is an increasing literature on the exclusion of and difficulties faced by minority ethnic communities in a range of areas, of which housing is one of the most important. But there is relatively little good, recent, qualitative material available, which explores the process of decision‐making—including decisions regarding housing—within minority ethnic families. A missing element, therefore, is the study of action by householders and consequently, the realisation (or otherwise) of preferences and the cumulative results of actions in facilitating or restricting choice. The present paper reports on a small‐scale research study of Pakistani housing preferences in Glasgow, whose aim was to develop a life history interviewing technique, using a semi‐structured schedule, focusing on housing preferences, housing moves and experiences. Pakistani households are shown to experience continuing difficulties in funding and organising household moves. There are areas of Glasgow where families feel unsafe and there is a continuing problem of racial harassment. Neither the local authority nor housing associations are generally able to offer appropriate housing. The life history interviewing technique used allows an exploration of how households reached decisions on their housing and on how they indulged in ‘trade‐offs’ between different houses, areas or tenures. Thus our understanding of the role of agency in the development of patterns of housing and individual housing careers is developed.     

Tenant Participation and Social Housing in the UK: Applying a Theoretical Model

Tenant participation is becoming an almost ubiquitous feature of the planning and provision of social housing. A range of opportunities has been (and is being) created by and for tenants to participate in the planning, provision and evaluation of housing services. Yet while local authorities and other social landlords may be keen to consult tenants, and tenants themselves often want to make their voices heard, there is a perennial problem in actually getting people involved. This paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding this important question. It then reports on recent research that applies the framework in two different contexts: tenants' associations and tenant management organisations. The implications for housing policy and practice are discussed.     

The Uneven Development of 'Social Rented Housing': Explaining the Historically Marginal Position of Housing Associations in Britain

The first part of this paper is concerned with rethinking the notion of social rented housing, arguing that it is appropriate to refer to a dual social rented sector, both now and in the past, and to set municipal and non-municipal models of provision alongside the dominant consumption side models of mass and residual social housing. The idea of uneven development of social rented housing in Britain refers to the numerical dominance of local authority provision, and the insignificant quantitative contribution of housing associations and their predecessors until the last years of the 20th century. The second part of the paper poses the question of why the voluntary sector failed to thrive after 1918, and examines some historical evidence from four key periods up to the early 1960s. It is argued that the poor performance of these organisations immediately after 1918 led to them failing to overcome local authority opposition and civil service scepticism in the 1930s.     

Vulnerability to Homelessness,Use of Services and Homelessness Prevention in Black and Minority Ethnic Communities

Despite the high prominence of homelessness on the housing policy agenda and evidence that a disproportionate number of people affected by homelessness come from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, little is known about patterns of access and use of homelessness services in these communities. This paper seeks to fill the gap, by drawing on qualitative and quantitative research recently conducted in Scotland, and relevant literature. First, it considers some of the major factors that contribute to homelessness in black and minority ethnic communities as a basis for considering the level and type of support needed. Second, it examines the extent to which people affected by homelessness are able to draw on informal support. Third, the use of homelessness services is examined, including their accessibility and appropriateness for people from BME communities. The implications of the study for developing culturally sensitive homelessness policies and strategies are considered, including (a) the need to recognise and respond to specific vulnerabilities and varying forms of homelessness between and within communities; (b) the need for mainstream and specialist BME service provision and multi-agency working; (c) the case for culturally sensitive allocation policies, including the potential afforded by choice-based allocations and common housing registers; and (d) mechanisms for providing culturally responsive services to diverse communities, particularly where they are present in small numbers. The paper concludes by considering the contribution of the present study to theories of homelessness.     

Housing Associations and Housing Policy in Britain Since 1989

Important changes in the pattern of new building, investment and ownership of social rented housing in Britain in the period since 1989 can be seen as moves towards a more European style of provision. Similarly, reductions in general subsidy and a switch to greater reliance on personal income related forms of assistance with housing costs are consistent with developmentselsewhere, as is concern to contain public expenditure by placing more emphasis on private finance. The themes of the paper are the growth and transformation of housing associations in Britain. The importance of stock transfers from local authorities has grown to the point where they have become the major source of growth, and it is argued that within the foreseeable future the majority of the social rented sector may be owned by housing associations or other registered social landlords. The paper looks at finance, development and governance issues, concluding that housing associations have been drawn into an ever closer relationship with the state.     

Housing for health in a post‐welfare state

The theory and practice of social welfare has been radically redefined in every part of the developed world in the past 20 years. However, associated changes in welfare provision vary from state to state. In Britain, housing policy has played a key role in the process of welfare restructuring, spearheading the privatisation programme, promoting the quasi‐market and embracing the welfare alliance. This paper explores the welfare alliance at the interface of housing, health and social care. Specifically, the paper assesses the capacity of a restructured housing system to meet some goals of a recently reorganised health service by supplying accommodation and support for people with health and mobility problems. Drawing on surveys of local authorities and housing associations, public health professionals and housing applicants, the paper outlines the strengths and limitations of using housing provision to meet health needs. The results suggest that housing interventions may secure health gains and so advance the restructuring of health and social care. This role is limited, though, by the impact of an earlier phase of neo‐liberalisation on the social role of housing.     

Self-esteem and Social Motivation in Age-segregated Settings

This paper is concerned with daily life and social negotiation within sheltered housing. The focus of research was to explore tenants' social interactions as older people and as members of a small community, in order to understand better how such settings affect quality of life and environmental meaning in later life. Research took place in three similar sized London schemes, all within the social rented sector. One scheme is managed by a local authority housing department, the other two by different housing associations. Analysis reveals that sheltered housing has significant social consequences in respect of tenants' experiences of this setting as a communal, age-segregated environment. In particular, exploration of the subject of self-esteem in respect to these aspects of the environment highlights both positive and negative features of social life in sheltered housing. Conclusions are reached that in evaluating this form of housing, and any such provision set up exclusively for older people, researchers and providers must pay greater attention to the subject of social interaction, and its benefits and challenges to older people.     

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.     

Neighbourhood Structures and Crime: The Influence of Tenure Mix and Other Structural Factors upon Local Crime Rates

Public policy in the UK has used housing tenure diversification to achieve social mix in deprived areas. Such ‘mixed communities’ are thought to be more cohesive and sustainable, with reduced crime and antisocial behaviour. However, the articulation of the link between tenure mix and crime is weak and the evidence unclear. Using geocoded crime data for Glasgow for 2001 and 2008 alongside neighbourhood structural data, including tenure mix, this paper examines the influence of neighbourhood structural factors upon annual crime rates as well as upon changing crime rates. Although crime rates are patterned by local tenure structures, the direct effects are not large. The strongest associations with local crime rates are for income deprivation levels and the number of alcohol outlets in an area. Although housing tenure structures play a part in influencing local crime rates, it may be more a result of sorting effects than neighbourhood effects.     

Explaining Ethnic Residential Preferences—The Case of Somalis and Russians in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

This paper contributes to the discussion on ethnic segregation processes by examining the ethnic residential preferences of two immigrant groups in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA): Somalis and Russians. The relatively recent increase in ethnic diversity and the active policies aiming for social and ethnic mixing provide an interesting environment for studying the subject in the HMA. Ethnic residential preferences have traditionally been viewed in strong connection with the immigrant's relations to his or her own ethnic community. The case of Somalis and Russians in the HMA indicates that in the ethnically mixed setting, minority–majority relations have a significant role in the formation of ethnic residential preferences. The paper is based on in-depth interviews with the Somali (n = 24) and Russian (n = 26) immigrants, social workers and housing authority personnel (n = 18).     

Housing market segmentation in Swedish local authorities. Immigrants and Swedes; Young and old

The intention of this article is, firstly, to investigate housing market segmentation with respect to various age groups and to immigrants within Swedish local authorities. Secondly, it aims at trying to describe the differences between local authority areas with varying degrees of segmentation. It is important to differentiate between HOUSING SEGREGATION, which refers to separated dwellings between households in geographical space, and HOUSING MARKET SEGMENTATION which concerns legal and financial relationships to housing. In many cases housing segregation has decreased through the construction of housing estates where privately‐owned, co‐operative and rented flats are integrated, although the housing market segmentation has increased. A good deal of the housing market segmentation in a local authority refers to the stock of flats, the types of housing, the forms of occupancy, the categories of ownership on the housing market. Secondly the differences between local authorities often refers to the structure of economic life and geographical location in the country. In the first case in this explorative study, housing market segmentation between immigrants and Swedes, four variables account for 52 percent of the variation between local authority areas. Together these variables give an indication that ethnic housing market segmentation is high in industrialized areas with a slow development during the last decade. These areas are often situated quite near metropolitan or big regional centres. The ethnic housing market segmentation seems to have a very close connection with the socio‐economic segmentation, as it is high in ethnic segmented areas. In the second case, the housing market segmentation between age‐groups, two housing market characteristics account for 77 percent of the variations between local authority areas. A large proportion of dwellings constructed before 1950 and a homogeneity in the housing market seems to reduce the segmentation between age‐groups. This segmentation is much less than the ethnic one.     

The influence of fertility,early housing-career,and socioeconomic factors on tenure determination in contemporary Britain

The time-dependent proportional hazards model is used to analyse 1st achievement by married couples of a home in 1 of the 2 major British housing tenures: owner-occupation and local authority accomodation. The effect of demographic and socioeconomic influences such as age at marriage, social class, and previous housing and fertility histories were estimated using a combination of life table and regression approaches applied to data for 3 marriage cohorts in the Office of Population Censuses and Survey's 1976 Family Formation Survey. All the factors considered have strong individual influence on final tenure. However, tenure type achieved is not determined by a single variable, but rather by a combination of factors which tend to reinforce each other. A couple with manual occupation, early marriage and child bearing, and starting their married life in shared local authority accomodation are extremely likely to become local authority tenants themselves. Factors conducive to achieving owner-occupation are likely to have the reverse effect for local authority housing. The key factors seem to be achievement of the alternative major housing tenure, social class, the birth of the 1st and 3rd children (although there is also substantial evidence that timing factors are important as well as numbers), and to a lesser effect (except at values well away from the average) age at marriage. In general, the absolute magnitudes of the estimated effects on achieving local authority accomodation were larger than the effects on owner-occupation. This may tend to reflect the rather more homogeneous characteristics of local authority tenants compared with owner-occupiers.     

Reconciling Policy Tensions on the Frontlines of Indigenous Housing Provision in Australia: Reflexivity,Resistance and Hybridity

In Australia, significant recent reforms reposition Indigenous housing provision and management in remote and town camp communities under the mainstream public housing model. Two competing discourses surround this shift: a federal discourse of standardisation and state discourses of local responsiveness centred on the introduction of new community engagement processes into Indigenous public housing. This paper reports on qualitative research into the micro-scale of policy implementation to highlight policy-to-practice translation on the frontlines of Indigenous housing. Based on interviews with Indigenous housing stakeholders, this paper argues the capacity to support locally responsive housing management is problematic under the current arrangements. The analytical framework of realist governmentality reveals frontline housing professionals' role in the local resolution of tensions between federal and state policy levers. A focus on agent reflexivity and resistance on the frontline assists in capturing the dynamic (hybrid) identity of Indigenous public housing, as an atypical Australian example of hybridity in social housing.     

Beyond the Multi-ethnic Metropolis: Minority Ethnic Housing Experiences in Small Town England

Evidence of racialised inequalities in housing in England has been accumulating for more than 40 years. While recognising the strengths and importance of this evidence base, this paper identifies a fundamental gap in current understanding of minority ethnic housing situations and experiences; the failure of analysis to acknowledge and understand the extent to which situations and experiences vary between places. Few studies have been sensitive to the particulars of minority ethnic housing experiences in different locations and those that have tend to have focused on the same small number of major towns and cities. Small town and rural experiences have remained largely invisible, despite increasing numbers of minority ethnic households living beyond the multi-ethnic metropolis. This paper recognises and responds to this situation by venturing beyond the current evidence base to explore the neglected housing experiences of minority ethnic people in small town England. Two key points are asserted. First, that minority ethnic people living in small towns encounter many of the same housing inequalities as their counterparts in metropolitan England. Second, that small town England presents a series of unique challenges demanding distinct responses and resulting in experiences very different to those recognised within the existing evidence base.     

Embracing Complexity and Uncertainty: The Potential of Agent-Based Modeling for Environmental Planning and Policy

Targeted consultation of ethnic minority groups has been promoted as a tool to address systemic racial disadvantage within society. Within planning there has been an emphasis upon identifying ethnic minority communities in the context of considering differing policy needs within the development planning process. The article draws upon research investigating how the ideology of the nation constructs ethnicity which acts to shape consultation practices within local planning authorities in England. The development of such consultation within urban planning, it is argued, has reinforced false understandings of ethnicity. Despite good intentions in some respects, planning authorities continue to address the needs and interests of ethnic minority people in a superficial manner. The article suggests that there is a need to give greater attention to how the ideology of the nation limits the actions of planners.     

Ghettos, immigrants, and integration the French dilemma

France has experienced mass migrations for over one and a half century, but only recently have the French acknowledged the country's ethnic diversity. The perception of the importance of immigration in French society is linked to the increased visibility of some ethnic groups within the social space. The process has become so widespread that it may evoke an ‘ethnic fragmentation’ of society. This fear shows up especially in relation to the residential concentration of stigmatized ethnic minorities, in so-called ghettos. The aim of this paper is to identify the various mechanisms underlying these concentrations and to analyze the impact of policies against segregation on immigrants’ housing opportunities. Our position is that public policies are meant to reduce concentration in the attractive part of the housing structure. One consequence of these policies is that segregation of certain ethnic minorities becomes stronger in the most deprived part. This ethnically oriented segregation is not given enough attention by national authorities. We argue that the residential careers of stigmatized ethnic minorities are largely determined by institutional discrimination, which exacerbates the widespread problem of prejudice in the housing market.     

Exercising the right to access adequate housing in Joe Morolong Local Municipality,Rural South Africa

Among the rights in the Bill of Rights contained in the South African Constitution is the right to access adequate housing. This right is bound up with other rights in the Constitution, including the right to have human dignity respected, and the right to, inter alia water and health care. The right to adequate housing is also included in several international human rights declarations including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. However, the right to access adequate housing is more than just shelter but includes a number of other elements such as security of tenure, and access to basic services and facilities. Housing must be affordable and accessible. It must be safe and habitable and be culturally acceptable. Moreover, adequate housing is well located with respect to economic and other opportunities. The provision of housing and basic services has been the focus of the ANC-led government since 1994, and a major portion of municipal resources has been dedicated to providing water and sanitation to particularly the poorest households, while over 4.3 million state-subsidized housing opportunities have been delivered. whereas the scale of delivery has been impressive, has it really impacted on the lives of people in remote communities? Research conducted in the Joe Morolong Municipality in the Northern Cape Province regarding the realization of the right to access adequate housing reveals that the right to adequate housing has at best, only been partially realized. In addition to interviews with office bearers and municipal officials, 120 households were interviewed (of which half were from self-built houses and half were residing in “RDP” houses) regarding their interpretation and experience of the right to access adequate housing in the municipality. The study reveals that the structures do not meet the criteria for adequate housing and the provision of water and sanitation remains a challenge. Access to health and education facilities is poor, due to the low densities and vast distances between settlements.     

Social housing programme of Selangor <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zakat</Emphasis> Board of Malaysia and housing satisfaction

Social housing in Malaysia is provided through the public and private sectors. Recently, the Selangor Zakat Board (SZB) has started to provide social housing in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Up to 2007, a total of 906 units have been delivered under its different programmes. This paper evaluates these programmes by adopting the housing satisfaction model which is currently used as a customer satisfaction tool for public/private housing in many local governments in the UK and USA. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the types of housing programmes adopted by SZB and examine beneficiaries’ housing satisfaction in each programme on a comparative plane. In order to examine housing satisfaction, five objective components of satisfaction—housing unit features, housing unit support services, the social environment, public facilities and neighbourhood facilities—were analysed through beneficiaries’ levels of satisfaction which were measured by applying a Likert scale. The findings of the paper indicate that SZB has been successful in providing a moderate level of satisfaction with the housing unit. However, the existence of variable levels of satisfaction with other components implies that there is still scope to enhance residents’ satisfaction with those components.     

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.     

Like counting deckchairs on the Titanic: A study of institutional racism and housing allocations in Haringey and Lambeth

Why and how do black people lose out in the provision of social housing? This was the question that we set out to examine, looking at the situation in two London boroughs with a declared commitment to anti‐racism in the late 1980s. Previous studies had focused on the role of officer discretion, and a popular strategy of ‘institutional hygiene’ had been adopted to counter this factor by many agencies as part of an anti‐racist or more general equal opportunities policy. This strategy concentrated on limiting individual officer discretion near the point of service delivery in favour of formalising procedures and monitoring outcomes. In this paper we re‐examine the role of officer discretion and look at the way that differing local institutional discourses of racial and ethnic difference, particularly essentialist ones, affect the way that housing outcomes are produced and either made visible or hidden. We argue first that it is important to examine the local context to see how racial meanings are constructed and reproduced by individual and institutions in a dynamic relationship. Second, we argue that using a gaming metaphor is helpful in examining the way that different interests and players interact at different levels in the process of housing allocation, and that this contributes to a better understanding of how racialised groups can be disadvantaged by a number of factors in the allocation of social housing.