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In England, housing market renewal (HMR) proved an urban policy cause célèbre held to be representative of state-sponsored gentrification. This paper considers some critiques and explores the relocation experience of a group of residents in South Yorkshire, England during the implementation of HMR policies during 2005–2007. This paper argues that: (i) from the mid-1970s, ‘place-based citizenship’ and participation standards had been eroded and the introduction of HMR was an antidote to state neglect; (ii) state failure in addressing ‘slow-burn’ shocks such as deindustrialisation and housing market restructuring can be viewed as a form of ‘passive revanchism’ and (iii) HMR can be viewed as a means of addressing deficits in participation standards that arise from differential experiences of place: the term ‘citizenship of place’ is therefore used to signal the call for a more nuanced account of policy interventions such as HMR in order to assess how complex processes of restructuring affect citizens across spatial and temporal scales. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The private rented sector (PRS) in England has often been described as having a ‘residual’ role in accommodating low-income households who are unable to gain access to social housing. This paper examines the accuracy of this residual role thesis. It does so using secondary analysis of the 2007 English House Condition Survey. The paper shows that the PRS plays a disproportionately important role in accommodating households living in poverty. It also shows that the odds of being income poor are the same for private tenants as for social housing tenants and three times higher than for owner-occupiers. It is concluded that, as a source of accommodation for low-income households, the role of the private rented sector is not residual at all. In addition, the paper assesses how well accommodated low-income households are in the PRS compared with non-poor private tenants and with low-income households in social housing and owner-occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of flood risk on the value of English residential properties. We find that a location within a flood zone significantly lowers property values even if we control for the proximity to a watercourse, the history of flooding and neighbourhoods effects. Although the flood risk discount is more compelling for waterfront properties, it is still highly significant for dwellings further from the water. The markdown arises around 2004-2005, which coincides with the publication of detailed flood maps by the UK Environment Agency and with a more risk-based pricing of flood insurance policies. As expected, the effect of flood risk on house prices is stronger in the months following major flood events but, interestingly, it almost disappears in a hot market when buyers have arguably less negotiating power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines governance processes shaping the experiences of neighbourhood restructuring-induced residential relocation in Housing Market Renewal (HMR) areas in England. Since the 1950s and 1960s, residential relocation has been examined as a matter of social and political debate, especially in gentrification studies focusing mainly on negative residential relocation outcomes long after the process was over. This paper argues that such a focus had led researchers to ignore subtle, practical dimensions of relocation delivery and the causal relationships between these and often very diverse relocation experiences. Based on the HMR case, the study shows that residential relocation in a differentiated polity is delivered by complex networks of actors and that residential relocation outcomes are the result of cooperation or non-cooperation of network members. Key innovation rests in devising a theoretical vehicle that shows how governance has a profound impact on relocation delivery and residential relocation experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the recommendations of the Barker Review of Housing Supply in 2004, the Department of Communities and Local Government in England commissioned the construction of an econometric model of regional housing markets in order to examine the effects of different levels of housing construction on long-run affordability. The model has been regularly used as part of the policy-making process in England. The paper describes the structure of the model, which includes sectors covering house prices, household formation, tenure, migration flows, demographics and labour markets. Furthermore, through simulation analysis, the paper examines some of the key policy questions that have occurred in UK housing in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been increasing calls for studies of housing systems that are more integrative and pluralistic in nature. Understanding the relationship of social housing systems to the wider housing market remains a key challenge. The mobility of households and the structural configuration of supply are both of importance, demanding methods able to reconcile both. This paper propounds vacancy chain models as offering significant potential in this regard, allowing policy analysis and options appraisal to be built on more dynamic conceptualisations of housing systems. The theoretical basis for vacancy chain models is developed before an account is given of a model developed of the Bradford (UK) social rented sector. The results suggest that social renting is very closely linked to the wider housing market and consequently the impacts of policy and investment may be felt beyond the sector. Observations on the future development of vacancy chain models are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically evaluates the market and welfare impacts of rent restructuring policy in the housing association (RSL) sector. The focus is on the financial viability of housing associations in the north of England, the affordability problems of tenants in the south, and the changes of turnover rates of RSL tenancies that have resulted. Using data from the Regulatory and Statistical Returns and the CORE (COntinuous REcording) from 2001/02 to 2005/06, the analysis shows that the 'market' component of the rent formula plays a more substantial role in affecting the RSL rent levels despite the 'welfare' measures in the policy—the greater emphasis on local earnings, the restriction of annual rent increase and the imposition of rent ceilings. Given that social housing in England is essentially a residual mode of provision, it is argued that a more flexible approach in balancing these two conflicting principles in rent setting is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the spatial extent of the housing search. Using the concepts of mental map and awareness space, we argue that search space is affected by households' preferences, what is available on the housing market, and the use of information channels as well as their interactions. We hypothesize that households whose members disagree with each other have a larger search spaces than those whose members agree. Furthermore, the supply in the housing market and the use of different information channels may influence the search space differently for agreeing versus disagreeing households. We collected data from face-to-face interviews with 82 households (couples with or without children) who purchased a home in the New York City area between 2004 and 2009. The results support our hypotheses, suggesting that intra-household dynamics plays an important role in housing search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of administrative boundaries as approximations of housing markets has long restricted the scope for housing market analysis and planning policy development to be undertaken within a functional housing market framework in England. This has prompted consideration of the value of deriving housing market areas (HMAs) to underpin the development of housing market intelligence for planning and policy purposes. Drawing on a case study of North West England, this paper critically reviews alternative approaches that have been used to define HMAs. The review highlights that in practice technical and methodological constraints have restricted the operationalisation of an idealised conceptualisation of HMAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past 30 years have seen England's housing associations (HAs) transformed from marginal players in the wider housing market to a point where, in 2008, they overtook local authorities as majority social housing providers. This paper reviews theoretical perspectives on the evolution of the UK social housing and the rise of HAs since the 1970s, with a particular focus on the ‘modernisation’ thesis advanced by Malpass & Victory (2010). Against this backdrop, we analyse the sector's recent reconfiguration, integrating the impacts of housing stock transfers and HA mergers. Our analysis focuses on the consequences of sector restructuring in terms of organisational homogenisation and, at least as perceived, the growing dominance of giant landlords. Finally, within the context of the Coalition Government's localism rhetoric, we discuss the accountability implications of restructuring activity and the light our analysis sheds on theoretical understandings of social housing change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the links between the growth of high incomes and gentrification in inner London on the homeownership market. It examines changes in average London house prices by borough using data from 1995 to 2006. It shows that while the top priced boroughs in 1995 were still at the top of the distribution in 2006, and the lowest priced boroughs were still at the bottom, there has been a catching up process with some of the highest rates of price inflation in the lowest priced boroughs, and vice versa. It considers various explanations for these changes and outlines the concept of spatially displaced demand from the expensive boroughs to help explain price rises in the cheaper boroughs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighbourhood housing markets play a pivotal role in the evolution of the demographic, social and economic functioning of neighbourhoods, and hence are necessarily a key concern for national and local policy makers. This paper examines propositions about the determinants of neighbourhood housing market outcomes in England, particularly price changes over the last 10-20 years. These concern the influence of (sub-)regional economic and demographic forces, the nature and persistence of disequilibrium, the existence of sub-markets and the influence of supply. Data from a wide range of sources at ward and local levels underpins models of price level and change set within a multi-level structure. Results are discussed in relation to the role of neighbourhood in an understanding of the micro-structures of housing markets, as well as in relation to contemporary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]