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© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. Many developed economies, especially in ‘liberal welfare regimes’, have experienced a substantial growth in private rental housing. Bound up with this dynamic is the rising incidence of long-term private renting (private renting for ten years or more). Regulation of the private rental sector in liberal welfare regimes is light and post the written agreement residents are subject to constant de jure insecurity. Drawing on a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews (the primary focus), this article investigates the impacts of perpetual de jure housing insecurity on long-term private renters in diverse housing markets (low-, medium- and high-rent) in Sydney and Melbourne. The results indicate that de jure insecurity does not necessarily translate into de facto insecurity. Long-term private renters typically respond to perpetual de jure insecurity in one of three ways – incessant anxiety and fear; lack of concern; and concern offset by economic/social capital and traded off against locational preference.

Key findings This is the Final Report of an AHURI Inquiry into the capacity of Australia's affordable housing industry. Earlier reports from the Inquiry have focussed on the current state of the industry, the capacity impacts of transfers of public housing to non-government providers, and international experience of capacity issues pertaining to provision of affordable housing. Informed by these reports, and by an in-depth study of industry stakeholders' views, this report considers capacity constraints that need to be addressed in order to realise the industry's potential to help expand the nation's affordable housing supply and transform Australia's neglected public housing. Australia's affordable housing industry is a nascent but growing sector, largely involving not-for-profit providers subject to government regulation. With the nation's public housing system lacking the means to properly maintain its portfolio, let alone to expand provision, the affordable housing industry's future is critical to address the rising housing need experienced by low-income Australians. An estimated minimum of 200,000 additional affordable housing dwellings will be required over the next 20 years. Over three decades, the provider part of the industry has built a strong reputation for effective affordable housing management and, more recently, development, and has potential for further expansion. While a pre-eminent cohort of large, professionalised providers has emerged over the past decade, the industry retains considerable diversity including many providers serving specialist groups or rural and remote locations. An Inquiry research report (Milligan, Martin et al. 2016) provides a profile of registered providers. The following key findings draw on the informed perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders about perceived capacity issues within the industry and their ideas of possible ways to address these. • The existing policy and public subsidy framework is not fit-for-purpose. Stakeholders representing all main constituencies see the lack of an appropriate policy and resourcing framework for affordable housing as the single biggest constraint on the industry's capacity to supply more affordable housing. • A stable and supportive policy context is essential. Organisational scale and capacity has developed strongly during periods of growth, but retention of provider capacity has been undermined by volatile policy settings, and piecemeal and stop-start patterns of growth opportunities, experienced in recent years. •The industry is committed to, and ready for, expansion. Having invested heavily in their organisational capabilities, many existing large providers have under-utilised capacity. Further capacity building among providers can be stimulated via a planned and predictable approach to growth. • Governments should help providers achieve a stable financial footing. The goal to increase private financing of affordable housing calls for provider organisations to have larger balance sheets, and predictable and secure cash flows. Thus, governments have a key role in ensuring that providers have effective control over their assets and resources (many of which currently remain government owned) and that tenant rent subsidies (mainly paid via Commonwealth Rent Assistance) are secure and continuous. • There is scope to generate further provider economies of scale. Lenders and other industry experts argue that building the business scale of providers is crucial to enable them to shoulder greater financial risk and deliver larger-scale projects. However, this impetus must be balanced with preservation of industry diversity and the contribution of specialist providers. • Supporting institutions and frameworks lack necessary capacity. A web of supporting institutions and frameworks is crucial in maximising industry effectiveness. Industry-wide, there is general agreement about the following key capacity shortcomings: • Industry regulation needs a major overhaul to complete national coverage, refine the regulatory framework, enhance regulatory capacity, curb regulatory burden (e.g. duplicate contractual regulation) and align regulatory effort with a new policy direction. • A lack of political leadership and dismantling of housing policy-making capacity in government agencies in recent years has hindered industry development. This has contributed to a lack of mutual understanding about affordable housing operations between key government and industry players. Governments must invest in their capacity to fulfil their leadership, policy-making and regulatory roles. • A major overhaul of industry data and analytical capacity is required to identify the costs of affordable housing provision, improve accountability for tenant outcomes, inform resource allocations and improve services. Optimising publicly available information about the industry (e.g. publishing more regulator-collected data) will raise the industry's profile, facilitate identification of capacity deficiencies and help secure public and private financing. • Professional development requirements need to be enhanced. Employee development within the industry needs more attention. Industry-specific competencies required include: specialist property development and development finance ability; long-term asset management and asset-management planning; complex tenancy management; culturally-adapted housing services; and contract management. Priorities also include safeguarding the industry's ethos and core social values, and embedding in future leaders a balance of commercial skills and dedication to affordable housing and community development. • Industry leadership representing provider interests must be strengthened. To foster its development and represent its interests, the provider part of the industry will need to fortify its leadership and network more effectively with governments and other stakeholders. Presently, affordable housing providers have a low profile and peak bodies and peer networks are small and under-resourced. The recent absence of an effective national industry peak combined with diverse state-level approaches to industry development has contributed to fragmentation and duplication of effort and resources. • Industry development frameworks need to be explicitly linked to growth plans and targets. Past funding for capacity-building activities by governments and the industry has had mixed results (Milligan, Martin et al. 2016: Chapter 4). State and territory government efforts have been inhibited by the absence of a national framework for industry growth to which their capacity-building strategies could be aligned. • Industry re-engagement with the National Community Housing Standards (NCHS) is desirable. Review and revision of the existing 2010 standards could be a useful vehicle for reinvigoration of industry values and aspirations. Application of revised standards could help reinforce organisational missions and reputations, drive service improvements and help identify areas for training and industry development. • The future of the Indigenous housing sector is precarious. Indigenous housing providers have an important and culturally unique role in housing Indigenous tenants and supporting their diverse needs. Partly because recent policy reforms have dealt major blows to their viability, their place within the industry has diminished and the future for many is uncertain. Indigenous housing leaders participating in this study were deeply concerned about the recent lack of policy attention to their part of the industry in most jurisdictions. Commensurate with the findings from our extensive stakeholder consultations, our investigations into the development pathways of other industries undergoing growth and reform and national affordable housing systems elsewhere showed: • the paramount importance of policy continuity and directional clarity • industry stability and growth relies on government subsidies being adequate, appropriate and assured • the potential contribution of specialist institutions that can support key industry requirements-for example a custom-designed financial intermediary to facilitate provider access to low-cost funds (i.e. under consideration by the Australian Government and the Council of Federal Financial Relations) ? the significance of fit-for-purpose and responsive regulatory frameworks • the critical role for agencies within government to steward and champion the industry in its emerging phase. Policy development implications: a road map for the industry Industry vision The vision for the future of Australia's affordable housing system is one of a vibrant and sustainable industry that: • Mobilises efforts across the policy, financing, development and management fields of housing to create innovative ways to meet the housing needs of low and middle income Australians. • Can address relevant government priorities, including attracting cost-effective private financing, supporting successful city renewal, and creating economic opportunity and socially diverse communities. • Offers a continuum of affordable rental and ownership products that complement market-provided housing. • Sets best practice in tenant support and referral, responsive service provision, responsible asset management, socially integrated housing development and place-making.

Chronically starved of resources, Australia's public housing is trapped in a spiral of decline. State governments have been increasingly looking to large-scale transfers to not-for-profit housing providers as a possible salvation. Focusing on the relatively small-scale largely experimental programmes enacted to date, and using the UK council housing transfer experience as a comparative context, this paper analyses the nature and extent of tenant voice and choice in such initiatives. Mainly based on interviews with social landlord staff and tenants involved in recent transfer programmes, it is found that resident input to decision-making has been generally very limited. At least among social landlord staff, a consensus view has emerged that the ‘individual choice’ model so far utilised would be untenable within the context of larger scale programmes. The paper weighs up the feasibility of a ‘collective choice’ approach akin to that used in the UK and assesses the thinking underpinning the ‘mandated transfe...

Mainly stimulated by concerns over inadequate housing supply, both the UK and Australia have recently seen renewed policy-maker interest in channelling ‘institutional investment’ into rental housebuilding. This has coincided with the recognition that – as seen in both countries – ongoing changes in the demographics of expanding private rental sectors reinforce the need for new forms of provision.Drawing on recent ‘informed stakeholder’ perspectives in both countries, we build on existing accounts through our analysis of barriers to institutional financing of rental housing and our investigation of what, if any, fundamental changes in market conditions and investor sentiment have recently occurred, so that such obstacles might potentially be overcome. Further developing this story, we compare and contrast recent ‘policy reform’ recommendations proposed in both countries with the aim of stimulating institutional investment in housebuilding.Although impediments to large-scale institutional funding for rental...

Drawing on international comparative research, this paper examines recent policy moves to withdraw security of tenure in social housing in England and Australia. We contend that there are theoretical and empirical grounds for believing that tenure security is crucial both to social housing tenants themselves and to conceptualisations of the sector. Starting from this premise we analyse the underlying rationale(s) for phasing out open-ended social tenancies. First, we consider the ‘welfare dependency’ argument and the claim that ‘conditionality’ mechanisms will incentivise social renters to (re)engage with the labour market. Second, we interrogate the, arguably more influential, rationale which stresses equity considerations in ensuring that scarce social housing resources are targeted to those in greatest need. We conclude by reflecting on the implementation prospects for this high-level policy reform, arguing that individual social landlords' motivations will be crucial in shaping the practical impacts o...

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. In liberal market Anglophone nations, where private rental housing is typically lightly regulated, little is known about the household-level drivers of recent private rental sector growth. In Australia, where long-term private renting (10 years plus) has doubled since the 1990s, growing numbers are thus exposed to risks of landlord-initiated moves and unpredictable rent rises for lengthy periods. Our research suggests that although long-term renting mainly reflects adaptation to increasingly unaffordable home ownership, lifestyle choices are also significant—at least in Australia’s major cities where renting in a ‘desirable’ area may be preferred to owning elsewhere. While many tenants appear sanguine about their housing security, this is highly problematic for lower income residents lacking other choices, many of whom appear likely to remain lifelong renters. The paper contributes an additional perspective to debates about the interplay between changing housing market dynamics, lifestyles and housing choices/constraints.

Key findings Public housing transfers and affordable housing industry development Since the mid-1990s, but especially since around 2007, property transfers by Australian state and territory housing authorities have added significantly to the housing stock and capacity of community housing providers (CHPs). Latterly, there has been increasing interest among housing policy-makers in the prospect of further transfers, at a larger scale, as reflected by the 2009 Housing Ministers Conference target of community housing achieving a 35 per cent share of the social housing sector. This interest has been particularly motivated by the increasingly financially stressed and physically run-down condition of public housing, and by the perceived benefits of 'contestability' arising from a multi-provider social housing system. Crucial here are the revenue advantages afforded CHPs under current subsidy settings-in particular, CHP tenant eligibility for Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) paid through the social security system, thus enabling CHPs to charge higher rents without reducing tenant net incomes. Until recently, however, public housing transfer programs have been relatively small in scale and experimental in nature (Pawson, Milligan et al. 2013). Public housing transfers post-2012 Since 2012, three Australian states with little prior experience of transfers have commenced ground-breaking new transfer programs. Tasmania's Better Housing Futures (BHF), South Australia's Better Places, Stronger Communities (BPSC) and Queensland's Logan Renewal Initiative (LRI) are considered here as case studies on contemporary public housing transfer policy and practice. BHF involved four parcels of properties (about 500-1,100 dwellings each, with some vacant land for development), representing, in total, 35 per cent of Tasmania's public housing stock; these were transferred to four CHPs, three based interstate. BPSC involved transfer of two parcels (about 500-600 properties each) to two SA-based CHPs. These two programs proceeded through to management handovers in 2014 and 2015, and the respective state governments are, at this writing, progressing further transfer initiatives with more ambitious objectives. By contrast, LRI, which would have been the largest and most far-reaching transfer program yet undertaken in Australia (about 5,000 properties to a partnership of two interstate CHPs), has recently been terminated, along with other planned Queensland transfers, after protracted preparations, political controversy and a change of government. Transfer objectives and models Relative to the objectives and models of transfers identified in our 2013 research (Pawson, Milligan et al. 2013), the case study transfers examined here consolidated, extended and innovated in various ways. All three programs embodied the objective of capturing CRA as the most important motivating factor. In South Australia (SA) and Tasmania, this enhanced revenue was directed to increased spending to address maintenance backlogs. More ambitiously, the Queensland Government aspired to leverage funding for large scale estate renewal and housing construction, which would have involved investment reportedly totalling $800 million. Building the capacity of the not-for-profit housing industry was an important secondary objective of each of the programs. Recognition of local industry capacity limitations was reflected in the initially modest objectives for renewal and growth adopted by the SA and Tasmanian governments. The case study transfers also consolidated the model of transferring property management rights by lease or agency agreement, rather than freehold title. However, they also extended the model by transferring for longer periods (terms of 10 years for Tasmania, and 20 years for SA and Queensland (as planned)). Competitive selection processes, without a role for tenants, also consolidated previous practice-although the openness to interstate providers represented a new development. Transfer processes, terms and tenant implications In all the case study states, the transfer selection, contracting and transition processes built capacity in government and housing providers, but were costly-most of all, of course, in Queensland, where the Logan transfer was aborted despite an extensive tendering process and a subsequent lengthy period of preparation for handover. In the two states where transfers progressed to completion, significant process issues were encountered-particularly in connection with Centrelink payments and the transfer of tenant credits and liabilities. The transfer contracts contain notable provisions relating to: • Government termination of contracts-raising questions of security. • Backlog maintenance liabilities-subject to spending caps that mitigate risk for CHPs. • CHP organisational management and tenancy management in accordance with social housing policies-raising questions as to the proper place for this level of regulation. Large-scale transfers raise questions around the employment of public housing staff; however, BHF and BPSC largely avoided the issue through prior recruitment freezes and internal redeployments within the public service-approaches that could not be replicated in a larger- scale transaction or program. LRI would have required the successor CHP to employ ex-public housing staff-but with the project's cancellation, the associated organisational challenges and opportunities were not seen through to implementation. None of the case study transfers sought to build the capacity or agency of tenants in the transfer process, but CHPs' post-transfer engagement with tenants and service improvement initiatives appear to have been well received. Transfer finances, accounting and CHP asset bases Financial modelling indicates that, through CRA-enhanced rent revenues, transfers of public housing to CHPs may be a viable way of achieving maintenance backlog reduction and, at the same time generating a modest revenue surplus to underpin other designated CHP activities. Employing social landlord income and expenditure assumptions derived from transfer tendering practice, this modelling focused on a number of '30-year business plan' scenarios for a notional 1,000 dwelling public housing transfer. These scenarios were compared with a 'continuing public housing management' base case. Allowing for the elimination of a maintenance backlog averaging $15,000 per dwelling, our transfer 'base case' generated an operational surplus over the business plan period sufficient to leverage construction of 113 new homes. Of these, 13 would be for market sale, 29 to replace obsolete transferred public housing, and 71 as additional affordable housing units. Alternatively, in the most favourable scenario-where strong government action facilitates access to cost-effective private finance (through a financial intermediary) and free land (through planning interventions)-it was estimated that leveraging could yield as many as 557 new homes. Of these, 77 would be for market sale, as well as 143 units to replace worn out public housing and 337 additional affordable dwellings. However, any transfer contract commitment for a recipient CHP to carry out larger scale catch-up repairs and/or to undertake non-landlord activities (e.g. place making, housing advice and support) would quickly erode and eliminate this development capacity. And, even in the most favourable circumstances imaginable, the social housing financial regime would (over 30 years) enable the successor landlord to replace only a very small proportion of the ageing transferred portfolio. The above objectives may be achieved where CHPs are granted a mere leasehold, as opposed to freehold, interest in transferred properties. This is because lenders consider 'long-lease' acquisitions of former public housing as potentially sufficient to underpin cash flow-based lending to reputable providers. For accounting purposes, 'long lease' is now being interpreted as including contracts of as little as 10-year duration. As confirmed through recent practice, proper accounting treatment of such transactions involves the asset concerned being recorded as a 'disposal' on the public accounts. It must be emphasized that significant questions linger as to what, under current policy settings, transfers may be reasonably expected to deliver. In particular, there is no validated information about the true scale of dwelling condition impairment in transferred property portfolios, nor on the time needed for 'catch-up repair' programs to eliminate such problems.

Australia's emerging affordable housing industry has considerable potential to expand housing options for lower income households. This study examines the industry's current profile and capacity. For the purposes of this study, the affordable housing industry comprises: ?Non-government (for-profit and not-for-profit) affordable housing providers. ?The institutions and individuals that enable, support and regulate their work. Capacity is the ability of the industry to perform its work. Capacity is multidimensional and includes having: ?The resources to do the work, appropriate organisational and workforce capacities, industry-specific skills, effective networks and political influence. The regulated industry comprises two main types of providers: A group of 40 commercially-oriented entities that raise private finance, procure housing and offer diversified housing services. Most in this group could accommodate further expansion and develop their own future capacity. A second group of 283 smaller organisations that mainly provide governmentcontracted tenancy and/or homelessness services. Many have growth potential but lack resources. Capacity-building could be targeted to assist this group. There is also a sizeable group of (both registered and unregistered) Indigenous-run community housing organisations (ICHOs). Limited operating scale, poor viability and recent policy disruptions have left many ICHOs vulnerable. An intentional tailored approach to building scale and capacity among this group is critical to ambitions to 'close the gap' in Indigenous disadvantage. Key gaps in industry infrastructure include the absence of: Clear and consistent government and industry leadership. A core industry data set. A financial intermediary to harness private investment. For the industry overall, the main capacity issues identified so far concern: ?The need for scaled-up and predictable growth opportunities to promote further capacity development and strategic investment. Shortcomings in policy-making capacities and regulation.

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.

How far can the concept of tenant activism be situated within ideas of class conflict? Has the post-1990 UK government's attempt to consumerise social housing sounded the death knell for tenants' c...

Since the 1980s there has been a growing emphasis on consumerizing welfare services as a form of provider accountability and as part of the commercialization of public agencies, which has formed part of the New Public Management reforms. Associated with this, the structured measurement of tenant satisfaction is well established in England's social housing sector and has become increasingly important in informing official assessments of social landlord effectiveness. This paper investigates whether published tenant satisfaction scores are sufficiently reliable and robust to serve as a pre-eminent and unambiguous service quality measure, examines the validity of comparing recorded satisfaction rates for social landlords operating in different social and demographic contexts, and looks into how raw survey results could be adjusted to take account of ‘context’ factors outside a landlord's direct control.

This paper seeks to inject a new dimension into comparative housing research by exploring policy transfer in the case of choice-based lettings (CBL). Conceived in the Netherlands around 1990, CBL has attracted widespread interest in other developed countries as a ‘consumerist’ quasi-market technique replacing a traditionally bureaucratic process of regulating access to social housing. We examine the implications of importing the concept to two different social housing contexts—the UK and Australia. First, we identify the aspects of the CBL model found attractive in these jurisdictions and the extent to which it has been implemented in practice. Second, we explore how far it can be effectively operated within policy and institutional contexts substantially different from the country of origin. In ensuring compatibility with established institutional frameworks, has importation of CBL to the UK been rendered an empty gesture and to what extent have such frameworks acted as a barrier to the implemen...

The private rental sectors (PRS) in Australia and the UK differ substantially in terms of size and composition, institutional settings, and historical role in their respective housing systems. However, governments in both countries envisage the PRS as playing an enhanced role in accommodating lower-income households, in part to offset declining opportunities to access social housing. In examining this development we ask how far contemporary housing policy objectives can be met within current institutional settings for the PRS. We examine the sector's role within the broader rental housing market and the institutional settings for the PRS in the two countries, which affect outcomes for lower-income private tenants. The paper argues that achieving policy objectives to house lower-income households in the PRS, as well as in social housing, will require attention to the institutional settings for the PRS in addition to the acknowledged need to nurture supply. We examine prospects for better coordinat...

The expanding provision of affordable housing by non-profit community housing organisations, coupled with possibilities of substantial stock transfer from State Housing Authorities, suggest Australia's social housing sector may be entering a transformative phase. Based on a review of restructuring in Britain, where over the last 25 years, traditionally owned and managed ‘council housing’ has been reduced from over 90 per cent to less than 30 per cent of overall social housing stock, this article considers possible policy implications for Australia. In particular, it analyses British experience which could inform Australian decisions on organisational size, institutional vehicles and governance structures within the context of the future programme of stock transfers envisaged by many commentators on the Australian housing scene.

In both Scotland and England, reducing anti-social behaviour (ASB) and building a culture of respect are key central government priorities. Accordingly, since 1997 both jurisdictions have seen the introduction of a raft of punitive legislation. Over recent years, however, there have been signs that the official ASB agenda has shifted away from a reliance on ‘enforcement measures’ towards a more balanced approach incorporating measures to address the underlying causes of problem behaviour. With their emphasis on ‘whole family’ approaches and parenting interventions, ASB family projects, pioneered by the Dundee Families Project (DFP), are seen to respond to official concerns about social exclusion and have been promoted as an effective and sustainable response to ASB. In both Scottish and English jurisdictions official endorsement of the DFP model has been marked by government-funded programmes to ‘roll out’ this concept more widely. Drawing on findings from a recent evaluation of ASB family projects operating in Scotland combined with scrutiny of evidence from a number of English studies, this article explores, in a comparative manner, the differences and similarities in the policy discourses and models of practice employed by Scottish and English projects. More specifically, we critically appraise the role played by sanctions in evoking service user engagement.

By 2008, ownership transfers of former council housing had been proceeding for 20 years. Since 1997, the process has encompassed many larger urban local authorities, with housing departments which could have been fairly characterised as monolithic, producer-oriented bureaucracies. Drawing on new research evidence from England, Scotland and Wales, this paper considers the extent to which these ‘second generation’ transfers have delivered against policy objectives to reform the governance and organisational culture of social housing. The empirical evidence suggests that second generation transfers have provided a substantial stimulus to tenant involvement and to the development of more consumer-focused, inclusive and commercially minded organisations. However, ministerial aspirations for transfer as a vehicle for community empowerment have not always been realised. And, to the extent that they have triggered beneficial change in governance and organisational culture, questions remain about the durability of such gains.

Domestic violence has been recognized as a major contributory factor to homelessness in the UK and elsewhere, with women more likely to be affected. In the UK and other countries undergoing welfare reform, moves toward 'active citizenship' increase the complexity of the relationship between states and citizens and open up new strategies for both. However, analysts have noted some strategies can create new forms of inequality, including gender-based ones. This article considers the impact of prevention-centred homelessness policy responses to domestic violence, with specific reference to the 'Sanctuary' model. Sanctuary schemes support women facing homelessness due to domestic violence to remain in their current residence, protected against attack from outside the home. Drawing on analysis of the literature and empirical work, we compare the experiences of women who have used traditional forms of support and Sanctuary services. We argue that while the model has the potential to provide greater autonomy to some women in these circumstances, it is not appropriate for all. Increased emphasis on Sanctuary schemes could make it more difficult for women who might prefer to move. We conclude that more attention needs to be paid to addressing the origin of women's homelessness due to domestic violence.

High rates of tenancy turnover in social rented housing have increasingly been identified as problematic both in the UK and elsewhere. High turnover has been variously associated with management failings, individual vulnerability or (absence of) tenant choice. Drawing on original research into ‘prematurely terminated’ tenancies in Glasgow, we investigate explanatory factors associated with tenancy sustainment rates. In doing so, we interrogate the (managerialist) rationale which positions such residential mobility as potentially ‘excessive’ and therefore ‘problematic’. The empirical findings demonstrate evidence for all three posited explanations for high tenancy turnover but also suggest that some tenants vacating their homes after only a short time may be making a positive choice. They also emphasise that, in seeking to reduce early tenancy termination, social landlords should recognise the importance of improving mainstream housing management services and the condition of the housing stock, as well as attempting to address individual vulnerability through targeted support.

Social landlords in the United Kingdom are embedded in governance regimes that regulate citizens’ conduct, including addressing antisocial behaviour. This article seeks to contribute to the literature on the geography of regulating conduct through examining the spatial dimensions of social landlords’ attempts to influence behaviour, and to map the range of technologies and measures utilized by social landlords on to particular urban spaces. Two spaces are identified: the property and its vicinity, and the wider neighbourhood. The article argues that social landlords have been engaging in increasingly intensive regulation of the private and domestic arena of the home as well as expanding their role in the regulation of spaces and populations within and beyond residential neighbourhoods.

This article illustrates and evaluates the use of the cost-effectiveness concept in local housing policy. It addresses this task by examining its application to two contemporary housing policy innovations in England – choice-based lettings (CBL) and homelessness prevention. The research assesses the costs and benefits to local public agencies of these policies through the use of the case-study method. It demonstrates that increased public expenditure to prevent homelessness or introduce CBL can be cost-effective. This finding supports the ‘Best Value’ agenda but the article demonstrates that the simple principle can be difficult to apply. The article offers a major contribution to the application of cost-effectiveness analysis within this context in elucidating the research processes and data required. We illustrate how the assessment of cost-effectiveness poses challenges in terms of both data availability and theoretical issues. Whereas the balance of costs and benefits may be clear, conclusions are oft...

This paper reviews the evolution of homelessness policy and practice in Scotland since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. It uses, as its reference point, simultaneous developments in England. It critically examines the practicability of flagship Scottish government policy to widen the remit of the homelessness legislation – effectively an extension of citizenship rights. This is compared with the more ‘consumerist’ tilt of the New Labour housing policy in England. At the same time, the paper draws attention to the parallels in the recent development of homelessness policy in the two jurisdictions; in the promotion of a ‘strategic approach’ to homelessness on the part of local authorities and the associated advocacy of ‘prevention-focused practice’. Drawing on empirical research in both Scotland and England, the paper compares and contrasts approaches to homelessness prevention north and south of the border, and explores the limits of ‘devolutionary divergence’ in this policy area.

High profile commitments to stemming homelessness have been integral to New Labour's emphasis on promoting social inclusion since 1997. During this period official policy has favoured an increasingly assertive approach in this area as exemplified by the successful post-1998 programmes to reduce street homelessness. The period since 2002 has seen a broader ministerial drive to reduce homelessness, mainly through encouraging local authorities (LAs) to adopt more pro-active, preventative approaches to the problem. Aided by substantial central funding LAs have responded by developing numerous initiatives to this end. Particularly where they involve assisting people at risk of homelessness to access private tenancies, such schemes are often justified by LAs as empowering consumers and promoting choice. With official homelessness figures in England having fallen dramatically since 2003/04, it would appear that the new ‘homelessness prevention regime’ has made a marked impact. However, what such figures do not r...

This paper considers the future role of social rented housing in England. It is based on an analysis of policy trends over the past 30 years, and a critical examination of current policy dilemmas. The central contention is that there are fundamental tensions underlying the present government's policy objectives to maintain the ‘safety net’ role of social housing but at the same time widen access to the sector so that it becomes a more mixed ‘tenure of choice’. The paper charts the marked change of direction seen since 2000, with a switch from a highly rule-bound approach emphasising equity in housing allocations, to a more consumerist system stressing choice. Survey data and statistical returns are analysed to illustrate the changing mix of households entering social rented housing and to reveal the sector's varying role in regions characterised by contrasting housing market conditions. The paper charts the spread of the ‘choice-based lettings’ approach and discusses the possible implications of this deve...

English Despite a long period of public management reform in social housing, including shifts from state to non-profit providers and exit opportunities for tenants, access to new tenancies has until very recently continued to be mediated by bureaucratic rationing approaches. This article explores the reasons for the long dominance of rationing, and the factors that are now leading to its replacement with more consumerist approaches known as ‘choice-based lettings’. Chaos and complexity theory are used to explore the role of market factors and changes in understanding in destabilising an entrenched initial attractor pattern, and the role of local experiment, policy transfer and new political agendas in establishing a new attractor pattern.

Social housing allocation systems have often been identified as contributing to the socio-economic polarization of neighbourhoods. Part of this argument has rested on a contention that – notwithsta...

Jon Pierre, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 170 pp., £20.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780333732687 This book aims, ambitiously, to present a theoretical analysis of urban governance relevant across the w...

There has been in recent years considerable emphasis on market-oriented reforms and consumer empowerment measures within British social and housing policy. Underlying many such initiatives is a model of human action and motivation based on rational choice theory. Proposals for the introduction of ‘shopping incentives’ within Housing Benefit are a prominent current example of this trend. This paper reflects on these developments by examining evidence from an experiment undertaken by the Department for Work and Pensions in three London boroughs to provide underoccupation incentive payments. The objective of this programme was to encourage ‘underoccupying’ council tenants receiving Housing Benefit to relocate to smaller properties. This was to be achieved by providing a financial incentive scaled to the net reduction in rent consequent upon the move. The analysis concludes that the relatively small financial inducements offered by this scheme had no impact on tenants’ housing consumption decisions. Indeed, t...

This paper evaluates, through a fourfold framework, the extent to which devolution in Great Britain has enhanced the organisational accountability of housing associations three years after the creation of the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales. The evaluation framework examines the goals set for social housing organisations, the processes by which they are set, and the ways in which goals are monitored and enforced. The assessment reveals that, whilst it would be a mistake to suggest that housing policies and administrative frameworks have been traditionally monolithic across Britain, there is evidence that they are now diverging further, and that policy priorities for housing associations are coming to reflect local circumstances and locally-determined decisions to a greater extent than hitherto. The utility of the evaluation framework is thus demonstrated. It is concluded that the organisational accountability of housing associations has been enhanced alongside, and, to some extent, as ...

This article examines claims that social housing allocations policies can, on the one hand, contribute to and on the other, counter, social exclusion. In setting the scene, the paper investigates connections between housing processes and social exclusion and describes the development of social housing allocations systems over the past few decades. Drawing on evidence from two recently completed national studies in England and Scotland it shows that allocation policies contribute to social exclusion in three main ways. First, a large proportion of social landlords restrict eligibility for social housing thereby contributing directly to exclusion. Second, mechanisms within allocation systems continue to segregate the most excluded to the worst residential areas. Third, through the 1990s allocation policies became increasingly coercive, so reducing or eliminating tenant choice over their own housing in distinct contrast to the choice that is available in the private market. The paper then reviews the dilemmas faced by policy-makers: whilst aspects of allocations contribute to social exclusion at the individual level, they may be justified by their role in promoting sustainable residential communities. Although there are hopes that the ‘choice-based’ approaches to lettings which emerged in the late 1990s can both boost community sustainability and counter the disabling impact of coercive approaches, the article suggests it is unlikely that such methods can significantly enhance social inclusion as long as social housing remains a housing sector of last resort, with in-built disadvantages.

Low and falling demand for housing has come to be recognised as a fairly widespread phenomenon in late 1990s Britain. Whilst research has tended to focus on the negative consequences of this for social rented housing, the weakness of the private housing market has led to increasingly grave problems in some inner cities and former coalfields, particularly in the North of England. The main purpose of the paper is to review and evaluate the actual and potential public policy responses to this complex of issues in relation to both private- and public-sector housing, in the light of new evidence on the extent, incidence and causes of low demand. Whilst central government has displayed a growing recognition of the need to develop counter-measures, particularly in England, the paper questions whether those so far proposed fully address the severity and intractability of the issue.

Morag McDermont, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2010, 189 pp., £30.00 (pbk), ISBN 978 1 84113 0 989 0 With UK housing associations poised to assume the role of majority social rental provider, Morag McDe...

Variations in stock turnover in social housing are important for a number of reasons. First, they influence the supply of properties available to meet housing need; secondly, they have implications for housing management costs and performance; and, thirdly, they are a barometer of neighbourhood stability and cohesion. The paper examines national, regional and local trends in council housing turnover rates over the past 20 years, focusing on changes during the first half of the 1990s. Linking data from various secondary sources together with new evidence, the paper explores the elements involved in the generation of relets and examines the characteristics and motivations of households exiting from the council sector. Finally, the article reports results of statistical modelling of relet rates at the local authority level which reveal new insights on the causal factors involved.