Search

Inclusionary housing is considered a powerful local policy tool that can help address housing affordability and social inclusion issues. This paper draws from empirical research conducted in the City of Santa Monica in California to provide fresh insights on a successful innovative inclusionary housing program, the Affordable Housing Production Program (AHPP). This program was established to increase affordable housing production and enable social integration. Based on the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) of the General Plan, the AHPP seeks to capture some of the increase in land value resulting from planned increases in the intensity of development. Our research shows that the program increased inclusionary housing production by market-rate developers by 15% over the previous inclusionary housing policy. The study finds that land use policies and planning can, through inclusionary housing, help harness the strength of the real estate market to (1) increase affordable housing production, and (2) achieve effective social integration in neighborhoods of opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have increasingly highlighted housing instability, often represented by negative forms of residential mobility, as a growing problem in the United States. However, little empirical evidence exists about the role of regional conditions in making low-income renter households more vulnerable to housing instability. This paper examines the regional determinants of housing instability by analyzing Panel Study of Income Dynamics data uniquely combined with several secondary data sources. This study confirms that a significant regional variation in the likelihood of experiencing housing instability exists across metropolitan areas, even when all measurable household-level characteristics are controlled. The results reveal that low-income renter households are likely to experience housing instability in metropolitan areas where the poverty rate and the degree of automobile dependency are high. Notably, low-income renter households are placed at a heightened risk of housing instability when they have no private vehicle and reside in highly automobile-dependent metropolitan areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the population of unmarried single adults has grown globally especially in the developed world. In this paper, we explore homeownership among never married singles in the US from 2000 to 2013 using a sample from the Current Population Survey. In particular, we investigate potential differences in the relationship between several homeownership determinants for the never married in comparison to the married. We also test for heterogeneous effects across education levels and ethnicity in homeownership determinants for the never married. Our results show that age, gender and number of children affect the probability of homeownership differently for singles compared to those who are married. We also find that while on average there is a higher probability of homeownership from 2007 onwards for singles, there are significant gender, education and racial differences. In particular, our results show that among the never married, those with at least a college education reverse the gender gap in homeownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show how Van Wel's theory of problem figuration, Carlen's concept of imaginary systems and Zizek's notion of cynical ideology may advance our theoretical and empirical understanding of the contemporary construction of housing policy narratives and embedded localised housing practise. Applying this theoretical framework to a case study of responses to homelessness in Scotland and further illustrative examples from the UK and the USA, the paper examines how housing practise is constituted through different imaginaries of housing systems. These are based on fictional as well as rational elements, located within a form of cynical ideology whereby actors act ‘as if’ the realities of the present housing crisis are distanced from the imagined intended functioning of housing systems. This masks alternative social realities and denies an explicitly articulated politics of housing which would reveal new processes of capitalism, generational and class realignments and a reframing of the role of government itself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to investigate the premise that community land trusts (CLTs) offer a method of delivering affordable housing that empowers local communities and provides democratic management of community assets. The paper provides a comparative analysis of CLT developments in England, Scotland and the USA, reviewing the policy and literature to identify two key approaches that underpin CLTs: an approach to property development that emphasises resale restrictions used to preserve housing use for the CLT's target clientele, and an approach to citizen governance that privileges local communities. The paper identifies a variation of practices that underpin the operation of CLTs in each country and uses the advanced developments in Scotland and the USA to illustrate some of the challenges that remain if the CLT sector in England is to continue its recent growth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homeownership is a desirable goal for most Americans and is considered an integral part of the American Dream. Empirical studies indicate homeownership has many positive outcomes. However, homeownership is not prevalent among low-income populations. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are matched savings accounts designed to help the working poor save for a home or other assets. This paper examines the savings outcomes of IDA participants saving for a home in the American Dream Policy Demonstration, which was the first large-scale test of IDAs. Data were collected from 1997 to 2001 on 1176 participants saving to purchase a home. Results indicate that low-income IDA participants can successfully save when provided structured opportunities. This paper examines individual and program characteristics that are important to explaining saving behaviors. Implications for policy makers, program administrators, and future research are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and discusses the results of a survey of inmates in a representative sample of prisons in Norway. The main conclusion of the study is that imprisonment creates homelessness. While this study and those of others find that approximately one-third of inmates are homeless or live in a precarious housing situation prior to imprisonment, the survey also found that two-thirds were homeless on release. Although the literature on and studies of homelessness and imprisonment are sparse, studies from other countries support this close link between imprisonment and homelessness. There are several reasons why imprisonment should be one of the primary routes into homelessness and the cause of people remaining in precarious housing. The paper also discusses connections between imprisonment, homelessness and social exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines an observed shift towards a 'post-welfare' society, in which the home-as-investment is replacing by stealth the former protection of more comprehensive welfare state provision. Comparing Britain with the USA, the paper draws on biographies and resource inventories for a sample of 100 working families from five high-cost cities (London, Edinburgh, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland). Micro-market practices from this sample are presented in the form of vignettes to highlight the complex ways that housing consumption (such as use of a spare room) intersect with financial assets of the home (equity withdrawn to spend on family care). While some of these reported practices could be adopted by tenants as well as owner occupiers, the suggestion is that buying a first home and climbing the housing ladder (however risky in terms of mortgage finance) now assumes the imperative of future welfare provision. By exposing the multiple ways in which households 'spend' their housing assets on needs as well as wants, this paper points to the hidden costs for individual households (in time, money, discomfort, anxiety and ill-health) of a housing-led privatisation of welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the differences between fair housing law and practice in the US and the UK. Both nations have faced issues associated with the rapid growth of minority populations in urban centers and challenges associated with discrimination in housing. The paper finds that the US could learn from the UK experience with ‘indirect discrimination’ and the UK could learn from the US experience with testing for housing discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether the policy environment in the United States is supportive of addressing the asthma epidemic through housing plans and policies. Asthma is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide and is linked to allergens in the housing environment such as ground-level ozone, excessive moisture and dust, rodents and pests, and environmental tobacco smoke. The study finds basic laws and regulations are in place regulating outdoor air quality and calling for the maintenance of public and rental housing in good condition, but there is still a need for specific standards to be adopted into law, for better enforcement of existing laws, and for increased funding. Because asthma prevention programs are relatively new, the paper reviews the US experience with lead-based paint hazard control programs to identify the components of effective strategies. These include explicit health objectives in housing plans and policies, promotion by both health and housing officials, advocacy by citizens' groups and tenants' associations, adequate funding for implementation, and focus on multiple health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What was the record concerning housing for very low-income households under US President Bill Clinton? This paper reviews the record of federal funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and assesses how three major indicators changed between 1993 and 2000: the number of people who were homeless or who faced other serious housing problems; the net new number of affordable housing units added, including the net new number of households served by HUD housing programs; and changes in the rate of home ownership. The paper also presents a summary of how two major rental housing programmes fared during the Clinton presidency. In the concluding section, comments by a number of key observers, including several former HUD officials from the Clinton administration, are presented, along with a summation of Clinton's achievements in providing housing for very low-income households. Overall, the Clinton record is mixed at best, but on balance, inroads on the housing problems facing this group were not nearly as substantial as had been hoped and the needs continue to be acute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The publication of the 'Fed Boston Study' drew considerable attention to the long-standing issue of discrimination of minorities in mortgage lending. Federal regulators have since stepped up their efforts to enforce greater compliance of banks with various fair-lending laws. Stengel & Glennon (1999), in their influential paper, offered the industry a statistical methodology that individual banks can use independently or in conjunction with traditional fair-lending enforcement procedures to self-address their compliance with the fair-lending laws. This paper reports the results of such an effort by a bank to illustrate and demonstrate that individual banks can and should conduct independent and statistically rigorous fair-lending examination for the dual purpose of self-assessment and compliance with federal fair-lending laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does poverty dispersal influence the job search tactics and networks of poor women? Using the results of interviews with 253 women living in dispersed and small clusters of public housing, this paper examines how job networks and search tactics may vary. The premise is that the mechanisms involved in connecting poor residents of more affluent areas with opportunity may consist of both social connections and new strategies for accessing opportunity. The paper finds that dispersed residents have job networks containing more diverse information. Second, dispersed residents more often used formal methods to find their most recent job. Third, dispersed residents seek better jobs, net of demographic controls, search method, and search outcome. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the design of housing mobility and mixed-income housing programmes, the current policy emphasis at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent housing crisis's devastating effects on U.S. households’ economic situations provides reason to examine the risks, pitfalls and assumptions underlying contemporary housing policy. This paper examines issues associated with renting and owning housing in America. It argues that housing operates as (1) a dimension of the U.S. system of stratification, (2) a method for the unfair distribution of resources in metropolitan space, and (3) a mechanism for the construction of the “other” and as a vehicle for social exclusion. Homeownership restricts people to homogeneous neighborhoods, renders low-income families and renters of all types unacceptable, makes neighborhoods fertile ground for learning who is socially undesirable, breeds class-based distinctions, and puts people in financially risky situations. Rethinking questions about renting and owning may allow consideration of how housing can play a more constructive role in pursing economic opportunities, redistribution and social and economic justice in America. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the great recession began, public housing authorities (PHAs) were just beginning to experience the full effects of neoliberal policy implementation and devolution. Using 13 case studies of the largest PHAs in the Pacific Northwest, this paper outlines activities that PHAs undertook to balance public mission with private-market means. PHAs made trade-offs among five paths that emphasize agency survival, producing housing for the poorest households, identifying as a nonprofit housing provider, poverty alleviation, or gaining other public powers. This diversity of responses points to the under-valued attribute of PHAs as local organizations with diverse mandates. Dependence on the federal government, local charter, and the degree of integration with local government likely contributed to PHAs' propensity to develop non-US Department of Housing and Urban Development-assisted affordable housing. Even with this creativity, adequate resources are necessary to meet the demand for affordable housing for the poorest households as market conditions change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the US foreclosure crisis approached its climax in 2007 and 2008, the buildup of lender-owned homes had been building for some time. Around this time, however, lenders began selling homes, especially low-value properties, at a much faster pace, releasing them into local housing markets. This paper examines the sales of foreclosed single-family homes into the Atlanta market from January 2005 through early 2009. A primary goal is to understand the drivers of such sales. A proportional hazards model is used to identify factors affecting the time that homes spend as ‘real estate owned’ properties, with a special focus on low-value properties. We find that the pace of sales of low-value properties accelerated during 2007 and, especially, in late 2008 and early 2009, and the rate varied based on lender type, neighborhood characteristics, and submarket location. These findings have implications not simply for understanding real estate markets more broadly, but especially for housing market recovery and neighborhood stabilization policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we build on the extant literature on housing social enterprises and hybrid models of public housing delivery. We trace the evolution of US housing policy toward greater hybridity, focusing on three dimensions of hybridity. Drawing from a case study of the Charlotte Housing Authority in North Carolina, we showcase two housing programs, HOPE VI and Moving to Work, in order to highlight current innovations in the provision of housing for low-income populations and the entrenched hybridity that is evident. Using this information, we address two main questions: (1) how do local public housing agencies collaborate with the Federal government, private developers, and non-profit service providers to fund, construct, and manage affordable rental housing? and (2) what are the benefits and challenges of hybrid models of affordable rental housing delivery within the US context? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes in the provision, funding and management of social housing in Europe have led to the emergence of new types of providers. While some of them can be portrayed with traditional ‘state’, ‘market’ or ‘civil society’ labels, many correspond to hybrid organisational forms, encompassing characteristics of all three in varying combinations. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that there is a ‘common thread’ linking these organisations together, namely their core missions and values, which can be classified using the term ‘social enterprise’. Despite the growing body of literature on social enterprise, this concept has been poorly defined and applied to the housing sector. This paper aims to address this gap through a critical literature review encompassing Europe and the United States. Existing models of social enterprise are reviewed and a classification system for social enterprise is developed to reflect the specific features of the social housing association sector and as framework for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the homeownership rate in the United States reached its highest ever level in 2004, the distribution of homeownership remained uneven along racial and ethnic lines. Using data from the 2005–2007 3-Year Sample of the American Community Survey (ACS), this paper employs a multivariate regression model and a decomposition technique to delineate the socio-economic and demographic characteristics as well as the immigration and spatial patterns that shape racial and ethnic inequality in homeownership. The findings reveal three distinct patterns; the Asian-white homeownership gap is explained entirely by differences in immigration and spatial patterns of residence, whereas the disadvantage of blacks and Puerto Ricans is attributable to demographic, socio-economic and unobserved factors. For Mexicans and other Hispanics, all four sources influence homeownership patterns, with socio-economic factors relatively important for Mexicans and spatial variables relatively important for other Hispanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global financial crisis has generated many lessons for policy makers in the housing sphere, as well as in financial regulation. This paper discusses eight lessons drawn specifically from the United States housing meltdown that triggered the crisis. The housing sector is important for monetary policy and financial stability, highly interconnected with the financial system, and dependent on institutional details that vary widely across countries and through time. Easier and cheaper access to finance does not improve long-run housing affordability; but if credit conditions ease too much and the credit assessment process breaks down, strategic default becomes more likely. That defaults rose so far in the US shows how unusual its housing system is—a fact not revealed in simple aggregate statistics. One element of the US exceptionalism is that housing supply is quite flexible there, and that helped produce the bust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current approaches to the link between family and housing tend not to closely examine cultural change. This paper attempts to provide a theoretical framework, rooted in symbolic interaction, dramaturgy and critical theory, well suited to the study of cultural change. This critical dramaturgical framework is applied to explore the changing link between housing as a stage prop and the privileged performance of motherhood. It is argued that redefinition of the proper performance of motherhood by the privileged constitutes an important aspect of cultural change, making positive evaluations of motherhood more difficult to achieve without a proper house. This results in an increase in stage fright, or women avoiding motherhood because they feel ill prepared to perform it properly, and an increase in the devaluing of certain categories of mother. US census data collected through the IPUMS project is used to provide evidence of these trends, where available, and further avenues of research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing policy in the United States now serves an agenda defined by concerns over economic and racial segregation in older central city neighborhoods. HOPE VI, the main US initiative in this area, is aimed at the large-scale demolition of public housing projects and their replacement by smaller-scale, mixed-income developments. The logic model behind the effort to redevelop public housing and disperse subsidized housing residents anticipates benefits at both the individual and community level. Individuals are expected to progress in a range of economic, social and physical ways when freed of the negative area effects associated with high levels of income and racial segregation. Communities are expected to become more livable when rid of dysfunctional and outmoded public housing estates and their discouraging influence on private investment patterns. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of this model, assessing, in the process, the potential for achieving the policy goals set out by those advocating dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1990s, the HOPE VI program has been the United States' largest, most ambitious community revitalization program. HOPE VI sought to transform not only distressed public housing communities, but also to transform residents' lives and help them to become self-sufficient. This paper uses new evidence from the HOPE VI Panel Study on how HOPE VI families have fared. The long-term findings from this research paint a more positive picture than many critics had predicted, showing that the program has had profound benefits for many public housing families—particularly those who have relocated to less poor communities. However, the long-term results highlight the limitations of the HOPE VI approach, particularly the lack of impact on economic outcomes. These findings point to the need for new and creative strategies for addressing some of the worst consequences of concentrated poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using American Housing Survey (AHS) data, this empirical paper suggests that if someone already has a second home, it may not affect their decision about the price of a new primary home, and they will not be likely to choose a cheaper one than their counterpart without a second home. This runs counter to the implicit suggestion of a previous study that second-home ownership may reduce the demand for primary housing. Many baby boomers have second homes and they have not yet locked up their current primary housing as the final home of their lifetime and may even trade up before they trade down. At present, except for continuous immigration, few other factors point toward growth in housing demand. Thus the finding here can be seen as good news for the housing market when it eventually recovers from its current downturn and crisis in mortgage lending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented rises in house prices across much of the industrialized world during the period 1997-2006 have been closely linked to the massive global credit expansion of the past decade. They have also coincided with the highest rates of growth of the global economy on record. The downturn of house prices in the US that began in late 2006 has been the trigger for the US sub-prime crisis, itself the catalyst for the broad financial crisis that began in August 2007 which by September 2008 had become the worst US financial crisis since 1929. As a result, the structure of the highly influential US mortgage finance system has already changed fundamentally. These US problems will lead to a thorough review of mortgage securitization processes and of the wholesale funding of mortgage finance across the world. However, housing markets and housing finance systems differ significantly between countries and will channel the shocks originating from the US with varying intensity. Given the interdependence of the global economy, the quality of the US policy response and its impact on the depth and duration of the US recession will influence house price downturns in all other countries. This paper, written in the midst of the US crisis, looks to our understanding of fundamental economic and financial relationships: first, to describe the key features of the house price boom; second, to examine the likely impacts of the unwinding of that boom; and, finally, to bring out implications for affordability, the provision of housing credit and the most appropriate forms of tenure for higher risk households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreclosures of single-family mortgages have increased dramatically in many parts of the US in recent years. Much of this has been tied to the rise of higher-risk subprime mortgage lending. Debates concerning mortgage regulation, as well as around other residential finance policies and practices, hinge critically on the social as well as personal costs of loan default and foreclosure. This paper examines the impact of foreclosures of single-family mortgages on levels of violent and property crime at the neighborhood level. Using data on foreclosures, neighborhood characteristics, and crime, the study found that higher foreclosure levels do contribute to higher levels of violent crime. The results for property crime are not statistically significant. A standard deviation increase in the foreclosure rate (about 2.8 foreclosures for every 100 owner-occupied properties in one year) corresponds to an increase in neighborhood violent crime of approximately 6.7 per cent. The policy implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the speed at which lender's enter the mortgage foreclosure process, interpreting slower rates as evidence of forbearance. A telephone survey was conducted to evaluate the presence of lender discrimination in defaults that lead to foreclosure in New Orleans, Louisiana between 1985 and 1990. These data are used to estimate the independent effects of race and neighbourhood characteristics on the extent of lender assistance during the foreclosure process. The analysis does not reveal discrimination based on race of borrower or racial composition of the neighbourhood. Instead, greater time in default is granted loans with lower interest rates and loans with outstanding balances below the mean value of housing in the surrounding neighbourhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the housing segregation literature major disagreements have developed over two fundamental issues: (1) the role that whites' aversion to racially mixed neighbourhoods plays in causing modern segregation in the US; and (2) the factors that underlie this aversion, including the effects of inter-racial contact on whites' neighbourhood racial preferences and whether these preferences reflect neighbourhood stereotyping as opposed to pure racial prejudice. Extant evidence on these issues is either old or indirect. This paper provides direct evidence on these issues using new data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality. The results suggest that (1) whites' neighbourhood racial preferences play an important role in explaining the racial composition of their neighbourhoods; (2) inter-racial contact in neighbourhoods and workplaces leads to a greater willingness among whites to live with blacks; and (3) although younger and more educated whites express a stronger taste for integration than other whites, the magnitude of these differences leads to only a small increase in the black percentage of the neighbourhood. In addition, the results provide no evidence in support of the hypothesis that whites stereotype black neighbourhoods rather than blacks per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1980s, mutually reinforcing trends in economic growth, public policy, and community activism have fostered a wave of residential mortgage lending to 'underserved markets' in US cities. Yet many of the changes in housing finance that supported sustainable home ownership also lured a new generation of subprime and predatory credit institutions specialising in high-cost, high-risk lending. For many urban and minority neighbourhoods, the old problems of exclusionary redlining are now accompanied by new dilemmas of exploitive greenlining. This paper analyses the market penetration of subprime lending institutions and the subsequent concentration of mortgage 'pre-foreclosures' in low- and moderate-income, African American neighbourhoods. Focusing on Newark, NJ, and its surrounding suburbs, Gary King's ecological inference technique and a series of logistic regression models are used to assess the role of borrower characteristics, institutional divisions, and neighbourhood context in the process of mortgage market segmentation. The evidence corroborates theories emphasising the dynamics of capital investment, financial services restructuring, and the economic incentives for racial-geographic targeting, and not the presumed credit deficiencies of urban and minority home owners. Unfortunately, the tidy empirical analysis offered here is overshadowed by the enormous societal experiment now underway across the US, as a wave of delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures undermines the belated minority home ownership gains achieved during the unprecedented boom of the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deconcentration of poverty in the US has involved both voluntary mobility programmes for low-income households and involuntary relocation of families through government action. This paper examines the effects on families of these two different strategies. Using data on over 600 families in the Twin Cities region of Minneapolis/Saint Paul, the study reveals only sporadic support for the hypothesis that voluntary or involuntary participants in the deconcentration effort will report improvements in their living conditions, or report better conditions than a control group of public housing and Section 8 residents. Several possible explanations for the lack of programme effects are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By enabling low-income families to move from high- to low-poverty neighbourhoods, tenant-based rental subsidies for poor families have the potential to reduce the degree of economic segregation in the US. This paper provides a framework for identifying the benefits and costs of such housing mobility programmes, and reviews the available empirical evidence on the net effects of quasi- or formal randomised housing mobility experiments. The best available evidence suggests that families in public housing who receive rental subsidies to move from high- to lower-poverty areas may experience reductions in welfare receipt and improvements in health status. Such moves may also improve schooling outcomes for children and reduce their problem behaviours. The benefits to society from these changes are substantial when measured in dollar terms. Unfortunately, very little is currently known about the effects of housing-mobility efforts on non-participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, non-profit organisations have played an increasingly important role in meeting the housing needs of low and moderate-income families. Not enough is known, however, about the performance of the housing developments sponsored by non-profit organisations. The purposes of the research described in this paper were: to assess the performance of a sample of housing developments sponsored by non-profit organisations in the US; to identify the factors that affect that performance and; to identify the lessons learned about effective project development and management. These questions are examined by studying the performance of 36 developments that received the Fannie Mae Foundation's Maxwell Award between 1989 and 1994. The results indicate that all the developments continue to provide decent, affordable housing for low-income persons. A major threat to the future viability of the rental and special needs developments, however, is the lack of adequate operating and replacement reserves. The most important factors in performance are stability in the leadership of the sponsoring organisations, local demand for affordable housing, the terms of the permanent financing and the screening and selection of tenants. Lessons learned from the experience of the developments studied and policy recommendations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a more reliable approach to measuring public housing customer satisfaction than has been used in the past, that is, one that (a) looks at trends in customer satisfaction rather than satisfaction at one point in time; (b) looks at different components of satisfaction; and (c) combines qualitative and quantitative information. Cross-tabular and logistic regression analysis were applied to a dataset containing approximately 1300 telephone interviews with residents of Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) housing, interviewed over four waves (1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998). In general the survey results parallel objective evidence from agency records showing CMHA to be one of the most rapidly improving local housing authorities in the USA. Levels of housing satisfaction remained high and levels of neighbourhood satisfaction rose significantly during the period. Nevertheless, the findings highlight continuing problem areas including a high level of dissatisfaction with CMHA's repair service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US mortgage market has been characterised by a number of factors that have encouraged the growth of securitisation and this, in turn, has substantially reduced the need for mortgage lenders to hold own funds. The situation in Europe is rather different (see Boleat, 1985; Coles, 1999; European Mortgage Federation 1996). This paper looks at the key differences between the US and Europe, their implications with regard to capital adequacy regulation and why a similar evolution for Europe seems unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The housing life cycle is a time-honoured approach to longitudinal conception of people's housing careers, but one difficult to measure accurately. Cross-sectional data often provide a misleading 'snapshot' of changes over time; yet, panel data that follow individual observationsover the life course also have several drawbacks. Construction of cohorts from cross-sectional data provides a useful third alternative, a quasi-panel approach, that captures major benefits of both the cross-sectional and panel approaches while avoiding their major faults. This paper describes three examples of fallacies of interpretation stemming from cross-sectional analysis of housing careers. One involves the stagnant home-ownership rate in the US and the apparent paradox of declining ownership rates of young households in contrast to rising ownership among the elderly. The second is the expected decline in housing consumption as the large baby boom generation ages past middle age. The third is the expected decline in residential overcrowding that could occur when immigrants become more settled in the US. The alternative, cohort longitudinal interpretation is presented to correct each of these fallacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal leadership and funding for affordable housing policy declined in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the commitment to low-income housing continues to wane and is accompanied by funding uncertainties as the federal government redefines its role as policy-maker. The federal withdrawal leaves a void in housing policy-making as yet unfilled by lower levels of government. Given the direct impact of housing availability and conditions on local communities, cities may be the most likely candidates to assume the primary role in affordable housing policy. Some policy analysts, however, argue that cities will not assume the lead role or spend local dollars on redistributive policy such as affordable housing programmes. This paper examines affordable housing policy in the inter-governmental context, the influence of inter-governmental factors on local housing commitment, and the potential for cities to fill the gap left by the federal government. The analysis uses US Census data combined with data from a mail survey of city housing professionals in a representative sample of US cities with populations of 25 000 or greater. The findings from the analysis show that many cities do spend local dollars on housing programmes, but that the decision to do so is influenced by inter-governmentalfactors. Moreover, the results suggest that states, not cities, are likely to assume the leadership role for affordable housing policy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household extension-'doubling-up'-would appear to have straightforward implications for housing policy as a status to avoid, particularly in a country like the US where independent living is prized. This is indeed the implication drawn by housing advocates who suggest that doubling-up represents the 'hidden homeless'. On the other hand, it has also been argued that government policies (e.g. zoning and occupancy standards) are too rigidly drawn in that they disallow or discourage household extension. This argument is often rooted in a recognition of the increase in non-nuclear families. Both of these positions suffer from inadequate information about the various forms of household extension and the housing characteristics of extended households. This paper presents a taxonomy of household extension; a brief description of the income, race and ethnicity characteristics of extended households in the US; and a description of the housing characteristics of extended households. Housing policy implications are discussed, but there is a strong need for more detailed research on the housing of extended households before detailed policy recommendations should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, US policy-makers have given increasing emphasis to geographicallydispersing recipients of housing subsidies, based on the assumption that residence in concentrated poverty neighbourhoods abets socially dysfunctional behaviours. The paper assesses this assumption, both theoretically and through a metaanalysis of extant empirical studies. It demonstrateshow only modest differences in the functional relationship between spatially concentrated poverty and resultant socially problematicbehaviourswill radically affect conclusions about the desirability of housing dispersalprogrammes.Dispersalwill only lead to a net reduction in problem behaviours in society as a whole if the relationship between neighbourhood poverty rate and individual propensity to engage in problem behaviours is characterised by a positive threshold or by an increasing marginal impact. Three types of empirical studies are reviewed in an attempt to ascertain the state of knowledge regarding the nature of this functional relationship: (1) case studies of participants in dispersed housing programmes; (2) statistical studies of property value impacts of dispersed housing programmes; and (3) statistical studies of the neighbourhoodcorrelates of the behaviour of individuals. Meta-analysisconcludes that the evidence is thin and contradictory.Thus, the US now faces the unenviable situation of having adopted a major housing strategy with only a shred of evidence to suggest what effect it might have on aggregate social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]