Measuring housing need and the provision of social housing

The Bramley Report (ADC, 1988), made a detailed attempt to construct a resource allocation formula for social housing provision. In this paper we stand back from the debate over the detail of the models being proposed by Bramley to consider instead the principles which underlie the modelling of housing needs and resource allocation in this context.

The measurement of housing need depends on a few key concepts; the definition of acceptable standards of accommodation, the total numbers of households, and the supply of housing of at least the required standard. Questions then arise as to which indicator should be included in a needs model and how they should be measured. Overcrowding and homelessness are likely to be included whether these indicators are chosen by consumers or by social decision‐makers. Having chosen the indicators they have to be ‘normalised’ to take account of cyclical factors in the housing market, and of the efficiency and policy stances of local authorities. After this the indicators have to be ‘weighted’, otherwise they are all of equal value. Access to owner‐occupation should not be included in the model because ability to buy is an influence on the indicators, and if so included (a key feature of Bramley's proposals) in effect leads to a double‐counting of the problems of access to owner occupation.

In the final resource allocation process there is likely to be a trade‐off between the equitable and the efficient distribution of scarce funds.