In November 2012 I was fortunate to be able to establish a part-time PhD research position at University of the West of England.
My initial research proposition follows, although I suspect over the next year or so it will change.
The Affordable
Housing sector in England, and particularly Housing Associations have
been influenced and impacted by several changes in legislation and
policy over many years. It is intended to examine whether the sector
has been effective in delivering the outcomes required to all the
stakeholders in the English Housing market, and whether the sector is
able to deliver the outcomes required over the next 25 years? What
evidence from other housing geographies can assist in clarifying a
way forward for affordable housing in England?
Outline
of Study Objectives
1.
Identify and classify the intended and unintended outcomes from the
social housing sector since its foundation in the 19th century.
2.
Identify the change in capacity, intended outcomes and actual
outcomes from Affordable Housing.
3.
Survey Housing Providers to assess their success in responding to the
changed nature of housing provision since 1974
4.
Survey residents and stakeholders on the current housing market and
its effectiveness in delivering their outcome expectations.
5.
Survey and research other geographies (Europe, Asia, Australasia,
Americas) and compare expectations of outcomes and current structure
of those markets with the English environment.
6.
Develop a comparative assessment of the future capacity of the
English housing market and that in other geographies to deliver the
range of outcomes explicitly or implicitly expected of the sector.
Research
Justification
The ‘housing
market’ in England is a complex, ever changing mix of private
ownership, private rental, social rent, shared ownership and
leasehold with supply being delivered by different agencies working
under different regulatory structures. Families and individuals in
need of accomodation are drawn into one or other tenure state based
on income, family situation, local supply and demand and a range of
other factors.
In 2008 the
National Housing and Planning Advice Unit said that 240,000 new homes
would need to be built in England each year by 2016; in the 12 months
to 2012 the number built was 118,000, in 2011 109,020, and in 2010
103,300. Capital funding for development is being severely squeezed
by the continuing economic difficulties while the anticipated
Universal Benefits revision in 2013 will affect a significant
proportion of the population’s income (and potentially change the
way Housing Associations’ income is assessed by lenders.
Housing
Associations account for 10% of the 22m+ residential units in
England. Tenants in Social Housing are twice as likely as any other
housing tenure to have no formal qualifications, and 1/5 as likely to
have a degree. The National Inequality Panel investigated the
linkages between inequalities in economic outcomes and people’s
circumstances (Hills et al. 2010). It found that housing tenure was
important in reflecting and exacerbating inequalities, and in
particular ‘growing up in social housing’ was more closely
associated with poorer economic outcomes in adulthood than in
Councils
can now force homeless people into the private rented sector under
new laws which came into effect in 2012. The new rules mean local
housing authorities can end their duty to homeless people by offering
accommodation in the private sector without an individual’s
agreement. Previously, a council would still have to house someone if
they refused the private rented sector accommodation offered to them.
Underoccupancy is intended to be assessed and ‘addressed’ in
planned legislation. New houses are required at a rate determined in
significant degree by teh number of ‘new households’ being formed
in England every year. The implied need to use land that is currently
not developed, and the need for sustainable use of limited resources
potentially act as restraints on the options for effective response
to the continuing housing need.
The
availability, characteristics and environment of housing has a
profound effect on health, wellbeing, educational attainment, social
inclusion and equality. This research will provide another component
on the evidence base that could be used to modulate the reshaping of
the English housing market to meet changing requiremenst from
stakeholders.
