Article

How Different? Comparing Housing Policies and Housing Affordability Consequences for Low Income Households in Australia and the Netherlands

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Abstract

Much of the literature considering the historic development of housing systems has focussed on the factors contributing to similarities and differences in housing policies, rather than on questioning their significance to housing outcomes. This study suggests that fresh insights may be gained into the importance of differences in housing policy strategy by analysing their consequences. Two countries, Australia and the Netherlands, with contrasting approaches to intervention in housing, while similar in many other respects, have been used to examine whether and to what extent differences in housing policy are significant to low income households. In keeping with the thesis that countries can achieve similar housing outcomes through different policy strategies, the study finds a strong similarity in the extent of affordable housing that has been provided using different policy means: assisted home ownership in Australia and deeply subsidised social housing in the Netherlands. A second finding is that the increasing reliance being placed on market housing in both countries is not proving as successful as past, strongly government-assisted strategies. The significance of this finding to the future is underlined by data showing in aggregate that most growth in households in the lowest two quintiles of the income distribution is being absorbed into the least affordable tenures (to them) at present: the home purchase sector in the Netherlands and the private rental sector in Australia. Third, the last two decades been characterised by deteriorating affordability for low income households generally, although the severity of the change varies both between the countries studied and within each, by tenure and other factors. Other empirical findings expose important differences and divergent tendencies in the housing situation of low income households. First, the geography of affordability is very different. In Australia, there are much larger cost differentials between inter and intra-urban housing markets. Urban and regional price differentials in the Netherlands are much more muted, although that situation may be changing, as a more privatised land development system develops. Second, equity within the low income group differs. In the Netherlands, differences in affordability within the low income segment are much less extreme between tenures and age groups than those in Australia. Third, there are differences in the trade-offs that low income households make to obtain affordable housing. In general, the Netherlands has more smaller and higher density housing, affecting the choices of lower and higher income households alike. In Australia, many low income households in the rental sectors have poorer quality housing, as well as worse affordability ratios, compared to their counterparts who are home buyers/owners. The study concludes that four interconnected aspects of housing policy strategy have had the most influence on the evolution of the similarities and differences in housing affordability outcomes for low income households: ? the short and long run impact of housing policies favouring home ownership; ? the type and extent of urban policies geared to the provision of affordable housing; ? the role, organisation and capacity of social rental housing; and ? the effectiveness of demand side subsidies.

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... It is a selective overview. A more comprehensive review can be found in Milligan (2003). ...
... Ongoing war service home loans provided loans on similar terms to past and present defence service personnel. By 1965, direct government lending represented 34 per cent of housing loans outstanding in Australia (Milligan, 2003). ...
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Thesis
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Article
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... The theory suggests that people are motivated by a desire to satisfy their basic needs first before strongly desiring the satisfaction of the secondary needs. Expressed by A.H. Maslow in his book "Motivation and Personality", the theory propounds that the most basic level of needs must first be met before the individual strongly desires, or focuses motivation upon, the secondary needs (Maslow, 1970). Maslow's clarification of hierarchy of needs consists of five levels of cognitive needs, according to the order of importance, namely: psychological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. ...
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Studies identify that architectural design characteristics affecting design simplicity enhance core housing affordability. Effect of this attribute for affordability improvement, crucial in establishing design strategies for affordable low-cost urban homes, is lacking. Study examined this effect in Anambra State of Nigeria, using mixed method approach (primary data sourced from personal interviews, and questionnaire on 242 sampled residents from a 540 population. Using Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman’s Rank-Order correlation for analysis, all prototypes were found non-affordable, with p-value of 0.000 for significant variation for affordability. Significant relationship, strong and positive (p-value, 0.000; correlation coefficient 0.778), was established between architectural design characteristics affecting design simplicity and affordability. Recommendations for improving core housing affordability include: minimal floor area for initial unit (studio apartments for households earning below N161, 000 monthly, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom prototypes for those earning between N161, 000 and N200, 000); simple geometric plans; and local building materials for roof covering.
... La questione dell'affordability sta diventando centrale nel dibattito sulla casa in Europa, e non più solamente nel Regno Unito, ma i tratti della questione assumono la stessa ambiguità che è propria del termine e del concetto. Come riconosciuto da numerosi studiosi (Chaplin et al., 1994;Hulchanski, 1995;Chaplin and Freeman, 1999;Milligan, 2003;Stone, 2006;Czischke and van Bortel, 2018;Barton and Wilson, 2019). Cos'è esattamente l'affordability e come si definisce? ...
Conference Paper
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... The reason that this is not mentioned in the SDF is because informality does not feature in this document and nor does the increased inward migration in the area. Milligan (2003) ...
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... La literatura en torno a las políticas para vivienda y su rol en la economía es amplia y data de un largo recorrido. Existe una vasta producción literaria tanto empírica como teórica en torno a su relevancia y evolución a lo largo del tiempo (véase por ejemplo Milligan, 2003;Buckley, y Kalarickal, 2005;Sengupta, 2006;Hambleton y Gross, 2007;O'Sullivan y Gibb, 2008;Rojas, 2015;Murphy y Hourani, 2016) A los fines de nuestro trabajo, se puede definir a una política de vivienda de manera general como toda política pública orientada a incentivar, restringir o habilitar la construcción, refacción o ampliación de viviendas. Es el set de intervenciones gubernamentales que tienen un efecto crítico y medible en la actividad del sector inmobiliario y en el sector de la construcción ( Ángel, 2000). ...
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... According to Scott Leckie (1994), appropriate, affordable and accessible housing is generally accepted as a basic component of life in peace, dignity and safety. Srna Mandič (2011) argues that housing is undoubtedly among the most important factors of people's quality of life and welfare, which has also been acknowledged in the social sciences (Erikson, 1993;Atkinson et al., 2002;Fahey et al., 2004;Domanski et al., 2006;Daly, 2007) as well as in many international policy documents, which has been highlighted by many authors (Barlow & Duncan, 1994;Kleinman et al., 1998Kleinman et al., , 2013Doling, 1999Doling, , 2006Milligan, 2003;Czischke & Gruis, 2007). However, the role of housing in people's wellbeing is multidimensional. ...
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Housing is a basic human good and right. It plays a versatile role, allowing people to fulfil a number of needs, and it is not limited only to one’s immediate living space, but also includes an individual’s wider living environment. People’s relationship toward housing and their living environment changes over the course of their lives. Especially in old age, housing becomes more important. Research shows that the elderly want to remain in their home environments as long as possible because they are closely attached to them. In order to determine whether these findings also apply to Slovenia, this article analyses how attached the elderly in Slovenia are to their homes and wider living environment and how satisfied they are with living there. The elderly’s views were obtained with a survey, and a statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software, based on the calculation of various statistical correlation tests. The analysis confirmed the assumption that the Slovenian elderly are also very attached to their homes or home environments and are satisfied with living there. In addition, the analysis showed some differences among the elderly in this regard depending on their age, where they live and how long they have been living in their current homes.
... Respondents with a household equivalent disposable income 7 in the two bottom quintiles were considered 'low-to-moderate-income'. This demarcation is in line with other research (e.g., Milligan, 2003). As the poorest tend to be in social housing, the more pressing problems may be located higher up in the income distribution. ...
Article
Based on a conceptualisation of de-commodification as the right to decent and affordable housing, we assessed to what extent this right is realised for low-to-moderate-income owners and renters across Western European housing regimes in 1995 and 2012. If differences in the social production of housing do matter (regardless of type of welfare state and the country's economic affluence), then distinct configurations of housing outcomes should exist. This was found to be indeed the case: More state intervention results in good housing conditions and low housing cost burdens across tenure-age groups (but particularly for renters), although more so in social-democratic than in conservative-corporatist welfare states. A more important role for the family in housing provision is associated with higher subjective housing cost burdens and poor housing conditions. As housing regimes became more commodified between 1995 and 2012, it seems that configurations of housing outcomes have become less associated with the features of housing regimes, and more with type of welfare state and the country's economic affluence.
... A weakness of the house price-income ratio is that it ignores the cost of housing finance and neglects to indicate the capacity to repay ongoing housing costs. Milligan (2003) suggests that the residual incomes of households after they have met their housing costs provide a much more direct measure of household financial resources because the ratio approach disregards the costs associated with continued ownership, thus neglecting the costs associated with life-cycle affordability. This argument is supported by Burke et al. (2004) who caution that the use of constant lending practices over time neglects to capture the reality of lending practices in the market. ...
Article
Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of housing market affordability. Although the problem of housing affordability has been widely discussed, the theoretical underpinnings of the concept have received less attention. It has become increasingly evident that more holistic insights and integrated approaches are needed to provide a platform to define affordability to influence research and policy discourse. Design/methodology/approach Given the increasing importance of affordability within housing policy reform, this paper seeks to “unearth” the most important prognosticators of affordability. The paper uses principal component analysis to determine how affordability, as a key policy tool, should be analysed. In addition, co integration techniques, Granger causality and impulse response analysis are applied to test the movement and shocks of the key affordability indicators and the two common affordability metrics. Findings The principal conclusions stemming from this paper demonstrate that affordability is a multifaceted policy concept influenced by financial access (purchase) costs and the repayment costs of housing services which are correlated and interchangeable but significantly were found not to be co integrated. Originality/value Understanding the nature of housing market affordability remains problem for policy-makers. This paper adds to the debate and empirical understanding of the cyclic nature of affordability and how it is defined. It shows that there are intricate causal short-term relationships between the key affordability indicators. This is problematic for contemporary housing policy and the key directions in which policy must turn.
... There is also a trajectory of work from the UK, where there is traditionally a symbiotic relationship between planning and housing provision within an overarching social welfare context (Monk, Crook et al. 2005;Whitehead 2007;Crook, Burgess et al. 2010). Other contributions refer to models developed in Ireland (Norris 2006) Europe (Milligan 2003;Gilbert 2009) and the Asia-Pacific (Chiu 2007). ...
Article
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This report reviews and compares emerging approaches to planning for affordable housing in Australia, with a focus on models being applied in urban renewal contexts in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney. The report examines the factors that shaped the design and introduction of these models, their effectiveness to date, their integration with other available affordable housing policies, incentives and subsidies, and the potential for them to be made more effective. The research presented here was funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and the City of Sydney Council. Policy context for the study: Delivering affordable housing in urban renewal contexts is one of the key urban growth management challenges facing policy makers in Australian cities. As metropolitan planning has increasingly stressed the need to contain population growth within established urban areas at higher densities, infill development and urban renewal have become important vehicles for new housing supply. However, there are some major challenges associated with affordable housing provision in urban renewal contexts. Renewal processes themselves can bring about the displacement of existing residents as lower-cost housing is lost to redevelopment, stimulating or advancing gentrification. In higher value markets, land values and the costs associated with site assembly and remediation can also increase overall development costs, making the delivery of affordable housing more challenging. Emerging approaches to planning for affordable housing in Australia: In response to these challenges, there has been increasing use of the planning system to secure affordable housing in Australia in recent years, through a variety of voluntary incentives and mandatory schemes, in the context of the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) (COAG 2009), and new Commonwealth imperatives to address housing affordability in capital city strategic plans (COAG Reform Council 2009). These initiatives can be categorised as: → housing supply levers, designed to generate new housing development opportunities by releasing sites for residential development → barrier reduction strategies to overcome regulatory constraints to developing affordable or diverse homes → preserving and offsetting the loss of low-cost housing → incentives to encourage new affordable housing to be built by the private sector (with or without subsidy) → levers for securing dedicated affordable housing in new development. (Gurran, Milligan et al. 2008) Across ACT, WA and NT, targets for affordable housing inclusion in new residential release areas have been introduced or foreshadowed, while in NSW and Qld, the focus of planning initiatives for affordable housing has been on existing urban areas. In SA, practice is mixed, with dual approaches applying across all new development and redevelopment settings, in the context of a state-wide affordable housing target of 15 per cent. Approaches to planning for affordable housing in urban renewal contexts are currently most advanced in Qld, SA and NSW. Queensland: The Queensland Government has pursued site-specific affordable housing initiatives in recent years under the auspices of its Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA), established in 2007. The ULDA has applied a combination of land supply, barrier reduction, affordable housing incentivisation and inclusionary zoning to large renewal sites in Brisbane. South Australia: In 2006, landmark amendments to South Australia's Development Act 1993 enabled local plans to include provisions for affordable housing. This operationalised a state affordable housing target announced in 2005, for achieving 15 per cent affordable housing in new development areas, including 5 per cent high needs housing. The planning provisions were initially restricted to the redevelopment of government sites, but are increasingly applied when major new residential areas are released or rezoned to allow higher density development. New South Wales: The government introduced State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) (Affordable Rental Housing) in 2009, incorporating a number of existing provisions relating to retention or provision of low-cost or special needs housing, as well as some measures to encourage affordable housing development, including a streamlined planning process and density bonuses. The City of Sydney has also sought to secure affordable housing on urban renewal sites through inclusionary zoning and negotiated planning agreements. Research approach: Within this evolving policy environment, this research aimed to review and assess emerging approaches to affordable housing inclusion in urban renewal areas, focusing on examples from Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. The specific questions guiding the research were: 1. What is the current state of Australian practice in planning for affordable housing inclusion within urban renewal contexts? 2. What factors impact on the translation of planning led incentives that have been used to generate affordable housing supply within renewal areas of Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney? 3. What is the relative effectiveness of these various approaches to planning for affordable housing? 4. How do these approaches integrate with other Commonwealth, state or local investments or subsidies for affordable housing and how might they do this better? 5. What are the policy implications in terms of more effective outcomes through better integration of planning and housing policy in urban renewal contexts and more widely? Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane were selected for the study because each offered potential to review approaches that: → are specifically applicable to urban renewal contexts → demonstrate the use of different planning levers → are already in place, so offer some opportunity for reviewing outcomes achieved to date. In each city, a series of case study schemes were identified to allow detailed assessment of each approach in practice, as well as their development outcomes. Following a comprehensive scoping exercise across the three states, the following case studies were selected for the study: → Brisbane: Northshore Hamilton, Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba Urban Development Areas. → Adelaide: Cheltenham Racecourse, Woodville West and Bowden. → Sydney: Harold Park, Telopea and Ermington. Once the case studies had been selected, the team used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to address the research questions. Literature and practice in planning for affordable housing was reviewed and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with local and state government officials, for-profit and not-for-profit (NFP) developers and special interest groups in each city. The team also analysed quantitative and qualitative data on case study scheme outcomes to date (dwellings delivered, type, financing etc.). Key findings: Australian practice in planning for affordable housing: The review of national practice found that: → Most Australian jurisdictions have introduced specific planning initiatives for affordable housing since 2008. Nationally, there is a focus on supporting the growth of a new affordable housing sector and the potential role of the planning system in facilitating access to development opportunities for affordable housing providers. → There is increasing use of government land or development authorities to facilitate land for housing supply in urban renewal contexts, with varying levels of mandate for including dedicated affordable housing for low and moderate income earners as well as wider affordabibility goals. → At least three jurisdictions (NSW, Qld & SA) have introduced planning system incentives or bonuses to encourage affordable housing development, and this is foreshadowed in Western Australia (Housing WA 2010). → Five of the eight Australian states and territories refer to affordable housing, or housing diversity in their overarching planning legislation, opening the door for affordable housing to be considered when plans are made and proposals assessed, although further work is needed to operationalise specific planning mechanisms in most instances. → Nationwide, this study has identified at least 20 specific urban renewal sites on which the planning system has contributed to the procurement of affordable housing for low and moderate income earners to rent or purchase. In NSW, a total of 3964 affordable dwellings have been delivered in urban renewal contexts through the planning system from 1995-2012, and schemes in Qld and SA have been steadily gaining traction. New models identified in this practice review appear to be achieving far more than what might be termed Australia's "first generation" affordable housing schemes, which for the most part have simply provided a modest revenue for affordable housing development funds via specific development contribution requirements. Rather, the new models ensure that: → Affordable housing is well located and integrated within the overall development process. → Affordable housing products are generally more diverse (across the spectrum of low-cost home ownership through to subsidised social housing), which require varying levels of additional subsidy to meet the needs of target groups. → The planning process is contributing to the overall strategy of supporting and growing Australia's affordable housing sector. Design and Implementation: Analysis of individual schemes in renewal areas of Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney highlighted several design and implementation factors that may influence the delivery of affordable housing for low and moderate income households. © 2012, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. All rights reserved.
... Households with an equivalent disposable income 7 in the two bottom quintiles (deciles 1–4) are considered " low-income " , whilst households in deciles 5–7 have a " middle income " . This demarcation of " low income " is in line with other research (e.g. Milligan 2003). As the poorest tend to be in social housing, the more pressing problems may be located higher up in the income distribution. ...
Article
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We evaluate to what extent the financialization of housing is associated with changing inequalities in housing outcomes for low-income owners and private renters, using data for two time points (1995 and 2012) for 11–13 western European countries. We find that in countries with a more commodified housing regime, low-income respondents experience more affordability problems (resulting in a wider gap with middle-income respondents), but better housing conditions. Concerning trends over time, we find that with regard to housing affordability, in most countries the position of low-income owners and private renters has deteriorated over time compared to their middle-income counterparts. This trend can be explained by increases in the level of financialization of housing, and decreases in the supply of private rental housing – controlling for trends in absolute incomes and income inequality. Declining affordability for low-income owners and private renters in more financialized housing regimes has furthermore not been compensated by improved housing conditions. Although it may have intensified since 2008, the observed trend does not originate from declining household incomes following the Great Financial Crisis (2008–2009), as the affordability gap between low- and middle-income private renters already grew significantly larger with the increased financialization during the period 1995–2007.
... . 국내에서도 노인가구의 주거문제를 해결하기 위해서는 노인주거의 계획과 운영에 밀접한 관련이 있는 그들의 재정상태에 기초한 주거비용 지불능력을 살펴봐야한다고 하였으나 Yoon, 2005) (Morris and Winter, 1978;Combs and Olson, 1990;Smith, 1990;Hulchanski, 1995;Bourassa, 1996 (Whitehead, 1991;Hulchanski, 1995;Shin, 2007) 소득에서 주거비가 미치는 영향의 정도를 의미 한다 (Milligan, 2003). 대부분의 연구자들은 이러한 주거비 부담능 력의 적정성을 판단하기 위해 소득대비 주거비의 비율(Rent to Income Ratio: RIR, 이하 RIR로 기술)을 사용하고 있다 (Hancock, 1993). ...
Article
The purpose of this study is to find the housing affordability of elderly household according to household types and housing tenure and to contribute to desirable elderly housing policies. The data from the 2010 Korea Housing Survey was used for the analysis of this study and the final sample included 6,780 elderly households. The results of this study are summarized as follows; It was found that all kinds of elderly household for housing affordability were affected by income, residence period, housing location and size of house. And housing location was a highly influential factor. Besides, female elderly house-owners and male elderly renters living alone were likely to have higher housing cost burden. And if elderly renters households suffer more financial burden, they had have higher housing cost burden. It is implies that desirable elderly housing polices by government need to consider elderly househod`s diverse characteristics in aged society.
... In the UK, the model has been to require affordable housing to be provided as part of planning approval, an approach which by 2011 was involved in over 50% of all affordable housing completions in England (Whitehead 2007;Crook et al. 2010;Gurran and Whitehead 2011). Long-standing approaches that use the planning system to support dedicated affordable housing provision also exist in other parts of Europe (Milligan 2003;Norris 2006;Gilbert 2009) and in the Asia-Pacific region (Chiu 2007). In Australia, a national intervention in land supply to address housing affordability can be traced back to the Land Commissions set up in several states by the Commonwealth Government in the mid-1970s, which were charged with developing land banks to manage land release on the urban fringe (Troy 1978). ...
Article
This paper outlines the current Australian policy environment for delivering affordable housing in urban renewal contexts. An increasing shift towards infill development, coupled with a decreasing provision of government-owned social housing, is placing severe pressure on housing affordability. The cumulative effect is to create the need for governments to intervene on urban renewal projects to ensure that affordable housing options are delivered as a part of any new development. Three different approaches to planning for affordable housing in three states are examined: the former Urban Land Development Authority in Queensland, the 15% inclusionary zoning requirement in South Australia and the Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy in New South Wales. Despite significant differences between these approaches, a number of potential roles emerge for government to support delivery of affordable housing by market and not-for-profit housing providers, without adversely affecting development viability. These roles are as the land facilitator, educator, risk taker, subsidiser and long-term planner. Given that one aim of current policy directions is to reduce the role of government in delivering housing and urban growth, the paper concludes by considering the extent to which the approaches across the three states studied can be considered successful.
... Finally, England is a unitary state with a centrally coordinated housing policy even if implementation is localised and shared between local councils and non-profits (Berry et al., 2006). In contrast there has been no Australian Housing Minister since 1996 with each state setting its own policies (Milligan, 2003). There is considerable regional variation between the proportion of social housing provided by non-profits, ranging from 1.6% in the Northern Territory to 12.6% in Victoria (National Community Housing Forum, 2004: p.11). ...
Article
With the recent decline in additions to the public housing stock, responsibility for the supply and management of affordable housing has shifted towards non-profit organisations. The sector covers a wide range of institutions, from small community-based welfare charities to large professionally managed non-profit developers and arms-length branches of government. This paper reviews the limited research on organisational typologies in countries with similar liberal welfare regimes, focusing on examples from England and Australia. It provides an understanding of the emerging types of non-profit housing organisations using the management theories of new institutionalism, isomorphism, networks and global convergence. Finally the paper proposed a new multi-dimensional typology for non-profit housing organisations and suggests how cross-national case study research could be used to test its validity.
... There is long history of government supported assistance for lower income households and first home buyers in Australia (Dalton 1999), which has been integral to achievement of high rates of home ownership among non-Indigenous households. Large scale program elements at different times over the 20th century have included: government loans; facilitated access to private mortgage finance (especially via regulatory controls placed on banks and building societies that were aimed at channelling finance to home buyers at capped interest rates); large scale sales of public housing to sitting tenants or other eligible buyers on a concessional basis; and various forms of deposit assistance and mortgage subsidies, especially for first home buyers and those at risk of losing their home (Milligan 2003;Pinnegar et al. 2010). ...
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There is considerable interest in Australia at present in increasing home ownership rates among Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders (hereafter Indigenous people). There is a current drive for housing policy reform to enable innovation and nuance and appropriate tenure adjustments for an important group within the Australian population. As a body of commissioned research in response to a targeted application process, this research project is a direct result of that interest. While a strong political and policy objective, increasing Indigenous home ownership is a complex issue that gives rise to many legal, policy and practical challenges. Core challenges relate to: existing Indigenous land tenure systems; income and employment profiles of Indigenous households; the capacity and viability of Indigenous organisations; and, diverse conditions across local housing markets. Existing land tenure arrangements on Indigenous lands might not readily enable mainstream forms of home ownership, especially where land is held collectively and not currently subdivided. Many Indigenous households - especially in remote areas - experience low and fluctuating income levels that suggest mortgage-backed home ownership could be problematic. Many Indigenous organisations that operate in the housing field and support local communities have come under pressure from policy and regulatory changes and face uncertain futures. Lastly, many Indigenous communities have small populations and would not open their market to non-community members, so the potential market for ownership in such situations would in all likelihood be very small. In other locations such as mining areas and tourist towns, market conditions are displacing Indigenous people and are unfavourable to affordable home ownership. Local housing market characteristics are especially relevant to policy positions that are considering home ownership as a wealth creation and economic development vehicle for Indigenous communities and households, as the reality of markets in many Indigenous communities would suggest these objectives would most likely not be realised. Policy interventions and program developments therefore need to be considered carefully in order to not unduly expose Indigenous populations to any unreasonable risks of market-based ownership. Previous research shows that there is interest amongst Indigenous communities in core traits associated with home ownership, such as stability, a sense of ownership and inheritability (Memmott et al. 2009). That research found less interest amongst Indigenous communities in the house as an asset or a wealth creation vehicle; in many locations it may also be unreasonable to expect housing to act as a wealth creation vehicle due to market constraints. Consideration of these aspirations highlights the potential relevance of utilising hybrid tenure forms to diversify appropriate housing options for Indigenous people and communities. 'Hybrid tenure forms' refers to a suite of tenure options that span the gap between rental and full ownership models (see Figure 1). The terms 'intermediate tenure' 'shared equity', 'shared ownership' and 'shared equity home ownership' are also used to describe models in this space. These include various forms of housing co-operatives, dual mortgage schemes, deed-restricted mortgages and Community Land Trusts (CLTs), which are the focus of this study. All of these hybrid variants reflect attempts to provide accessible tenure forms that can offer stability without undue exposure or vulnerability, most often by balancing or sharing the equity of the housing with a partner organisation. Such hybrid tenure forms exist in marginal numbers in Australia, despite ongoing and growing affordability concerns. There is a need to explore the potential of such models in the Australian housing market in general and in Indigenous communities, as they might be more responsive and appropriate to local housing aspirations and market conditions. Given the challenges of achieving home ownership among Indigenous households just outlined, consideration of alternative tenure models must begin with recognition that what is required is a range of housing options that do not present unnecessary risk to the resident nor 'trap' residents in a housing tenure and location from which there is no viable exit pathway. Research aims and questions: This report presents the findings of AHURI-funded research into the potential relevance of models based on Community Land Trusts (CLTs), one form of hybrid tenure, for the Indigenous housing sector. The aims of the project have been to tease out relevant aspects of CLTs as developed overseas and to investigate their resonance with and applicability to Indigenous housing policy objectives, with a practical focus on their potential operation in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland. To address these aims five research questions were posed: 1. What are the key features of CLTs as implemented overseas? 2. What outcomes have been achieved? 3. What are the possible applications of CLTs for Indigenous households and how would this vary geographically? 4. What are the legal implications of CLTs? 5. For Indigenous housing policy and housing programs, what are the implications (especially financial) of establishing CLTs? Research process: Research for the project was undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 addressed the first two of the above research questions and consisted of a desk-based literature review combined with material collected from previous discussions with CLT researchers and practitioners in the United States of America (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). The second phase responded to questions three through five via field work with communities in NSW and Queensland, and by examining Indigenous land title and relevant Acts, undertaking financial modelling and exploring potential governance issues. The outcomes of Phase 1 were presented in the Research Report 'Principles and practices of an affordable housing community land trust model' (Crabtree et al. 2012), which is a companion report to this Final Report. This Final Report presents findings from the second phase of the project, responding to the remaining questions listed above and documenting the processes through which the research was undertaken. An Indigenous Advisory Group (IAG) formed at the commencement of the project was central to bringing Indigenous knowledge and engagement to the project. The IAG: workshopped core research questions with the research team; provided guidance on case study selection criteria developed by the team; reviewed the case study shortlist; provided feedback on fieldwork findings and scenarios; and, provided feedback on the draft Final Report. Following the field work, the IAG was expanded to include members of communities that were visited over the course of the research. Primary research for the project was centred on a case study approach to assessing the potential for adopting or adjusting CLT models for Indigenous housing in specific locations in two state jurisdictions, NSW and Queensland. This fieldwork was supplemented by expert analysis of three areas that would be critical to the successful establishment of a CLT type model for Indigenous housing. First, specialist advice about legal issues that would need to be addressed in order to implement CLTs was obtained. In particular, expert legal consideration was given to the implications of the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act (ALRA) and the Queensland Aboriginal Land Act (ALA). Second, preliminary financial modelling of the costs of core CLT activities in different market contexts was performed, supplemented by interviews with Indigenous and mainstream financial agencies. Third, possible governance mechanisms for delivering CLT programs were examined, in the context of both the existing institutional arrangements for the delivery of Indigenous housing in Australia and international best practice. What is a Community Land Trust?: As discussed in detail in Crabtree et al. (2012), CLTs are a form of common land ownership where land is held by a private non-profit entity and leased on a long-term basis to members of the community or other organisations. Buildings and services on that land are then held as owned or leased properties by residents, businesses and/or other community housing providers. Ground leases are inheritable, and properties on leased land can be bought and sold at prices determined by a resale formula. This arrangement can offer many of the widely acknowledged benefits of home ownership, including resident control over a dwelling, security of tenure and transfer of occupancy rights, and the potential for asset-based wealth building. Further, this arrangement provides housing that is affordable to residents - whether buying or renting - and which remains affordable for subsequent residents. Affordability is retained most commonly through a locally-determined resale formula contained within the ground lease. Crabtree et al. (2012) found a high degree of flexibility in CLT programs in the US and UK, whereby CLTs can and do deliver affordable rental, co-operative and owner-occupied housing, as well as provide opportunities for additional commercial and/or community facilities. The sector in the US has provided secure and affordable housing, and has experienced much lower default and foreclosure rates than the open market average during the recent US mortgage crisis. That sector is a few decades old, having started in the 1960s and experienced exponential growth since, fuelled partly by interest in the sector's ability to provide affordable and stable home ownership for lower-income households. There are now over 240 CLTs in the US. The UK sector is only a few years old and emerged from interest in the success of the US sector. © 2012, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. All rights reserved.
... Advocated by many primarily as a route to a more diversified social housing sector, the momentum for housing transfers received substantial impetus from the Australian Government under the 2007-13 Labor administrations (Plibersek 2009;Butler 2013 ). In the Netherlands, 80 per cent of social housing was owned by NFPs by 1980 and 99 per cent by the turn of the century (Milligan 2003). ...
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This study, the first to cover this topic in the Australian context shows how transfers to community housing management could provide a crucial fix for the nation's increasingly rundown public housing. With several states having recently committed to large-scale transfers in coming years, this study identifies the required policy and financial reforms which will be pre-conditions for success.
... Van Kempen and colleagues (2005) compare how problems in large housing estates in 10 different European countries are dealt with by policymakers. Milligan (2003) compares housing policies and accessibility to affordable housing in Australia and the Netherlands. Friedrichs and colleagues (2003) contrast neighbourhood effects in the United States and Europe. ...
Article
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Based on a comparison of HOPE VI and Big Cities Policy in the United States and the Netherlands, we argue that despite major differences in context, there has been a convergence in regeneration strategies in the two countries. In both countries the neighbourhoods look better, are safer and have a better reputation. However, in the Netherlands shopping facilities have improved more than in the United States. In both countries, most of the original residents have a better quality of life after than before the policies were implemented, whether they live on-site or have relocated. However, the needs of multi-problem families are not being met by either HOPE VI or Big Cities Policy. Finally, there is no evidence that the original residents have become more self-sufficient in either country as a result of the regeneration.
... The residual income paradigm materialised in the USA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with discussions culminated in the formulation of an operational standard utilising normative family budgets and their application to measurement of affordability issues (Stone, 2006a, b). Indeed, the residual incomes of households after they have met their housing costs provide a much more direct measure of household financial resources (Milligan, 2003). There are two broad groups of affordability measures, "shelter first" and "non-shelter first" (Burke et al., 2004), which differ in approach. ...
Article
Purpose – The downturn in the residential housing market in Northern Ireland (NI) has been the most pronounced of any UK region, with house prices contracting circa 40 per cent between 2007Q3 and 2009Q4. The downturn at first glance appears to have increased the “ability to afford” however this is nonetheless a “false dawn”. Significant deposit levels coupled with a more prudent lending culture has ensured that housing affordability remains a primary policy concern. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse the interrelationships between mortgage liquidity and housing affordability in NI during the boom‐bust cycle in the residential property market. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses mortgage‐lending statistics for NI in the period 1993‐2009, using time series panel data. House price data are drawn from the University of Ulster House Price Index over the same time series. To facilitate analytical interpretation and outcome analysis, quantitative evaluation is applied within a first‐time buyer (FTB) affordability framework. Findings – This study finds that the relationship between mortgage finance and affordability has been driven by deregulation of the mortgage market contributing to the rise in house prices and affordability pressures during the market up cycle. More recently, ongoing liquidity constraints within the financial sector are impairing recovery in the residential property market culminating in heightened concerns of both purchase and “deposit gap” affordability. The key findings suggest that the new significant capital requirement needed to access the housing market will inevitably prolong affordability pressures for the foreseeable future. Originality/value – This paper contributes to affordability debate in two ways. First, it examines the effect of both liberalised and contracted patterns of mortgage finance on affordability and argues that conventional approaches appear to present a “false dawn” for FTBs in NI. Second, the paper demonstrates that affordability post‐financial crisis has shifted in genre towards a purchase and deposit gap (lag time) issue.
... This chapter therefore highlights the main pressures on contemporary public housing management by examining how the roles, purposes and expectations of public housing have changed over time, and how this has resulted in a series of tensions and difficulties faced by public housing managers (and by tenants) today. A number of writers and commentators have highlighted how public housing provision in Australia has changed over time (Hayward 1996; Milligan 2003). While it is not necessary to attempt to summarise such past analyses in any detail, a couple of historical points are worth reiterating. ...
Chapter
Firstly, this chapter investigates the determinants of the housing affordability issue within the perspective of contemporary housing and urban questions. The focus on the urban dimension unveils the importance of the relation between urban land rent and housing (un)affordability: this rather under-explored relation proves crucial in determining housing affordability problems, giving shape to the contemporary housing affordability issue in attractive cities. Secondly, this chapter frames public action in the domain of housing affordability within local housing systems, by introducing the theoretical (and practical) sphere of the “foundational economy”, and the related concept of the “grounded city”. The final section brings public policies into the picture and develops a conceptual framework for policy analysis, offering new avenues for understanding how grounded on housing affordability local housing systems are.
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Affordability of housing has been a hot topic among various socioeconomic groups. Surprisingly, given the current situation, the majority of the young generation is negatively affected by this stressful issue. This study, therefore, focuses on young professional groups from the built environment profession, namely, the engineer, architect, urban planner, and quantity surveyor. These professional groups also earn an income between B40, M40 and T20. Two research objectives were composed in this study: (1) To measure the monthly affordable housing cost and (2) To define affordable housing types by different household income groups amongst young professional based on the residual income model (RIM), which is used to measure housing affordability. The surveys were distributed amongst 341 respondents selected through stratified random sampling. The findings have revealed that B40 can only bear a monthly housing’ costs not exceeding MYR 728, followed by M40 and T20 around MYR 2503 and MYR 6159, respectively. Hence, the B40 group had lesser house option types, i.e., around ten house types compared to M40 and T20.
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Studies indicate flexibility in space use in architectural design as enhancing core housing affordability. Despite this and the notion that intended residents cannot afford core houses, it is not yet documented what constitutes this attribute, and whether they featured in the core house designs. This information, required as a check for future designs, is lacking. Study examined flexibility in space use in architectural designs of existing public core housing schemes in Anambra State, Nigeria, using Mixed Method approach (data sourced from architectural drawings of existing prototypes, field observations and personal interview protocols). Observation schedule with “Yes” and “No” ratings was used in ascertaining reflection of the attribute in each of the 7 prototypes studied. The attribute was found featuring only in 1 out of the 7 prototypes. For affordability improvement, the paper recommends consideration of the variables constituting flexibility in space use in future core housing designs in Anambra State.
Conference Paper
Objectives New inequality phenomena generate unprecedented demand of social protection and a new housing question, that has achieved relevance in Europe and the world. The provision of affordable housing is assumed as essential to contrast material deprivation and to foster social justice. It is especially urgent in cities where scarcity of available land, the polarisation of the labour market and financialisation of housing (including gentrification and tourism) are causing dramatic rises in the housing demand and costs: with the lack of social housing supply and the retrenchment of the welfare systems, the so-called ‘affordability’ issue is pushing inhabitants out of the cities and into housing fragility and undermining the possibility for the lower and medium-lower classes to remain in the city where they usually live and work. These circumstances pose important issues of social justice and call urgently for collective action. In many countries all over Europe the lack of affordable housing is entering the political agendas, seeking for new practical solutions: due to concerns for the economic sustainability of the providers (but also because of segregation effects) the past models of providing social housing through state-funded large-scale interventions is not considered sustainable anymore. There is therefore wide interest on innovative practices and emerging actors that could support the public in the development of what is called affordable housing stock. The issue of housing affordbility has been used to summarize the nature of housing difficulties: lack of low-rent housing; housing shortage; housing need; etc. It is a concept that is nowadays widely used in the normatives, in the political debate and in the policies and practices of many actors of the housing market, all over Europe. Anyway, its meaning is still very loose and dependent on the local political/marketal condition and on the nature of the actors involved. The risk of rhetorical use and of misleading interpretations of the terms ‘affordble housing’ as well as ‘social housing’ is reflected in some controversial aspects of these emergent practices, with the possible effect of directing public action and resources towards uneffective or negative effects. Among the controversies: there is no reference to the spatial dimension of housing affordability, and to the possibility of losing spatial capital in exchange of lower housing costs; they often play with a strong idea of ‘community’ and community-based services, with the possible result of creating spaces and services that are exclusively for the inhabitants, without any benefit for the urban environment and weakening the very idea of a city; they represent a very fragmented supply (in terms of localisation, social groups of reference, prices, services, etc.) while consistent amounts of public funds are invested; the price offered for the dwellings is often determined on the basis of a reduction (more or less substantial) of the market price, without any consideration for the local income level. Concerning this last point, while studies concentrate on the need of affordable housing and on the evolution and growing complexity of the housing demand, there is no shared definition of what housing affordability really means – both in terms of economic relation with available incomes and in terms of political debate – in connection to the local socio-economic context. The research aims therefore at contributing to a shared definition of affordable housing that takes into consideration the subjective socio-economic conditions and housing needs, as a precondition for the implementation of successful housing policies and a re-actualization of the role of the traditional public providers and the new entrepreneurial actors with particular regard to housing cooperatives. Research question While housing affordability is widely defined as a relation between cost and income (the “rule of thumb”), housing affordability is generally operationalised through a reduction on the market price. A housing project is defined as affordable when there is some price reduction in comparison to the market price. The implication of this are crucial: while the social character of the projects are stressed with reference to community-making and the provision of common spaces and services, from an economic point of view there it often correspond to a pure market logic of profit and ultimately to the acceptance of the unequal distribution of incomes: affordable housing is affordable for those who can afford it. Since it is unacceptable that public action and resources are directed towards such projects and in order to make a step further towards a housing welfare system, housing affordability should be redefined taking into account also more subjective conditions. Two temptative ones: a limited ratio between housing cost and available income; the guarantee of a minimum residual amount (after housing expenditures) for a decent life. Research question: in the framework of the housing question, the lack of affordable housing is gaining importance in Europe, together with the emergence of new marketal, social and cooperative actors and practices involved into affordable housing projects. However, housing affordabilty still has a loose meaning that leave open to rhetorical interpretation that hide market operations and misuse of public funds and action. How can housing affordability be redefined from the actual marketal definition towards more subjective definitions that take into account the households’ disposable income and a minimum residual income for a decent life? How can it be delivered through planning? Methodology The research is carried out with an action-research approach with the Consorzio Cooperative Lavoratori in Milan and Confcooperative – Habitat. The firts part is dedicated to the understanding of the importance of housing affordability into the european political debate, and to a review of the different uses of the concept of housing affordability: looking back to the conditions in which housing affordability was first used; taking into account different national and local contexts; different actors (e.g.: institutional, marketal, societal, third sector, tenants unions, etc.); looking for innovative interpretations of the term that consider more subjective factors related to the household conditions (e.g., the cost to income ratio and the minimum residual amount). After this, case studies will be conducted. A set of cases, chosen among the most relevant emergent affordable housing projects and practices all over Europe, will be investigated in order to show the real outcomes of different affordable housing schemes and to elaborate policy recommendations for an appropriate use of housing affordability towards a housing welfare system. To do this, different methodologies will be used: policy analysis for the recognition of regulatory systems and policy frameworks, including interviews to key actors; quantitative analysis of funding schemes and management approaches; qualitative analysis and representation of a user-based evaluation of implemented housing projects; field work involving the interaction with potential recipient and beneficiaries of the research.
Conference Paper
In many countries all over Europe, Social and Affordable Housing is entering the political agendas and seeking for new practical solutions. While the past models of providing social housing through state-funded large-scale does not seem politically sustainable, new entrepreneurial actors are assuming an increasing role in the development of the social housing stock, promoting innovative housing solutions that pretend to be 'social' and 'affordable'. However, while studies concentrate on the evolution and growing complexity of the housing demand and on the new collaborative ways of living, there has been only little analysis on their actual levels of affordability in comparison to the local incomes and housing market. The paper aims at giving an overview of the various concept of housing affordability as a tool to investigate these emerging practices and at framing the action of the new entrepreneurial actors in the realm of public action and of housing policies.
Article
There is growing concern about a crisis in housing affordability in the UK, renewing longstanding debates about what constitutes ‘affordable’ housing. The growing use of the private rented sector by low income households has also led to increased interest in understanding the impact of housing costs on living standards. This paper builds on existing work on ‘residual income’ measures of housing affordability, accepting that what households can afford to pay for housing is related to their ability to cover other costs, and so not directly proportional to income. It proposes a new approach to defining and measuring housing affordability, based on the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). The paper then uses data from the Family Resources Survey (2008/09 to 2015/16) to examine housing affordability within the rented sector across the UK, exploring the value of this measure both in revealing the scale of the ‘problem’ and assessing the likely impact of suggested interventions. © 2018
Article
Housing options for an ageing, predominantly home-owning society have evolved within the shifting context of social, economic, policy and locally-specific property conditions. Drawing on a case study of the retirement housing industry in Victoria, this paper finds that actor groups from overlapping aged care and housing agencies, from not-for-profit and for-profit sectors, have continuously redefined taken-for-granted housing “problems” of old age and developed solutions. The paper contributes to understanding the ideas and conditions that have shaped the retirement housing industry, and contributes theoretically to research that seeks to understand how ideas about housing and ageing are built into institutional arrangements.
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This chapter reviews and discusses the concept of housing affordability and its measure in academic and political studies. Several commonly used methods will be examined to determine the proper approach for Chinese studies.
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This report is concerned with the nature of housing occupancy for households that rent, particularly low-income and vulnerable households. It describes and compares provisions for secure occupancy across a variety of rental systems in Australia and similarly developed countries, and attempts to interpret to what extent such provisions are adequate and appropriate to the needs of households, especially those who rely on renting for significant periods (or all) of their lives. To inform and broaden consideration of this current policy issue in Australia, the study's methodology has been designed to enable an assessment of the means by, and the extent to which, secure occupancy in rental housing is provided in a cross-section of local and international jurisdictions. The primary aims of the study are to explore how different types of rental systems shape the nature of occupancy, and to generate new ways of thinking about secure occupancy and policy settings to help promote this in Australia. facilitate the study's comparative approach, the Australian authors have worked in close collaboration with a group of international housing research colleagues (named in Table 4) with expertise in one or more of the eight national and provincial jurisdictions that have been selected for comparison. These are: Austria New Jersey (US) Flanders (Belgium) Ontario (Canada) Germany Scotland Ireland 8. The Netherlands. As the rental systems of these countries differ considerably, they provide a rich laboratory for exploring ways that secure occupancy is shaped by multiple factors, including historical conditions, market functioning, cultural influences and institutional settings, and generate a variety of challenging ideas about how rental systems might best support the housing needs of their residents, while also encouraging appropriate and secure levels of rental investment. A concise summary of the rental system and policies of each of these case studies can be found in Appendix 1. These summaries are provided to complement the thematic analysis that is adopted in the body of the report. The international case studies were augmented by local research on the current framework for secure occupancy in Australia, as well as by a more in-depth review of the situation in two jurisdictions (New South Wales and Victoria), which was conducted by the authors.
Article
Drawing on the work of renowned Canadian methodologist, philosopher, theologian and economist, Bernard Lonergan (1904–1984), McNelis outlines a framework for collaborative research: Functional Collaboration. This new form of collaboration divides up the work of housing research into functional specialties. These distinguish eight inter-related questions that arise in the process of moving from the current housing situation through to providing practical advice to decision-makers. To answer each question a different method is required. Making progress in housing is the result of finding new answers to this complete set of eight inter-related questions.
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Social housing in Western welfare states has undergone change over recent decades, characterised by greater reliance on private actors, market mechanisms and commercial capital. Within housing research, this shift has been described as a linear ‘migration from the public sector towards the private market’, and conceptualised as ‘modernisation’. While empirical change calls for conceptual renewal, the labels we apply to processes of change may limit or enhance potential to understand them. This paper explores the problem of conceptualising change in social housing, focusing on a key facilitator of market-based reforms: the mobilisation of private not-for-profit housing associations as social enterprises in the housing market. It explores their changing roles in English and Dutch housing provision, tracking state policy shifts and debate over their organisational legitimacy for insights into their emergence and trajectories. Contrary to linear ‘modernisation’, findings suggest cyclical movement. Over time, aspects of the work and identity of housing associations shift between public and private domains. © 2013, International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University.
Article
Land use planning systems in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) share a common history. In both nations, one objective of town planning has been to improve housing conditions for the urban poor and facilitate sufficient housing supply for growing post-war populations, with UK legislation serving as a model for Australia, at least until the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Since this time however, approaches have diverged. In the UK, housing assistance and the land use planning system have co-evolved, with planning an important tool for securing affordable housing, particularly in England. In contrast, a deep cleavage between urban planning and housing policy persists in Australia. Drawing on a series of studies undertaken separately by the authors over the past decade which concentrate on Australia and England, the paper compares urban and housing policy in both nations, and examines planning system performance in securing new affordable homes.
Article
The change in the Japanese rental housing policy since the 1990s appeared as a reduction in the role of central government, an expansion in the local government's discretion, and an increase in the dependence on the housing market. As a result, the supply of new public rental housing decreased drastically and the rent regulation was eased. This study is designed to evaluate the validity of the policy change through an analysis of the change in housing affordability of tenants during the period of 1983~2008. The analysis showed that the housing affordability and the accessibility to the housing market by tenants had been improved, confirming that if the public rental housing stock was properly used, the housing needs of the low-income tenants would be met without new supply. Therefore, it appeared that the change in the Japanese rental housing policy may have a certain amount of validity. However, the study pointed out that the validity of the policy change must be limited as the future risk factors such as the possibility of residualisation of public rental housing and the increase of poor households according to job insecurity were not well considered. Accordingly, in conclusion this study suggests that new policy instruments should be developed at central government-level, such as offering incentives for local governments and establishing a housing allowance etc.
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Abstract The relationship between housing and the welfare state is a heavily researched topic in international comparative housing research. This exploratory paper provides a historical overview of the academic debate. For a long time, the discussion primarily focused on the degree and the nature of government intervention within the field of housing. Various scholars have contributed to this discussion by presenting housing policy related typologies of housing systems, or by applying welfare state regime typologies to the field of housing. In recent years, welfare systems and housing systems were influenced by some new trends: the Global Financial Crisis, an increasing influence for European Union regulations and the rise of multi-level welfare states. In the last part of the paper, these new trends will be translated into a research agenda.
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Significant changes were introduced to the finance of social and affordable rental housing in Australia from 2007. These aimed to restructure social housing provision and encourage an increase in the supply of affordable housing. This paper evaluates these changes in light of experience with the provision of social housing in Australia over a 50-year period. It suggests that lessons from history explain why, without additional support, current changes are unlikely to be successful in meeting their intended goals.
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In the last few years, shared equity arrangements – where the consumer shares the capital cost of purchasing a home with an equity partner in return for a share of any home price appreciation that occurs – have seen significant growth in Australia. Most states and territories now have schemes operating, although a number remain on a relatively modest scale. More substantive engagement has occurred in jurisdictions where ‘government-backed’ but arms-length agencies, such as HomeStart in South Australia and Keystart in Western Australia, remain an integral part of local institutional and mortgage finance frameworks. For these organisations, shared equity provision has signified a key innovation within their product portfolios, providing a response to growing housing affordability constraint and a continued commitment to assist lower and moderate income households into homeownership. Alongside government interest, Australia has also been a market leader in terms of unsubsidised, private sector-led shared equity product development.
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This paper compares approaches to planning and delivery of affordable housing across England, Australia and New Zealand. While all three nations began with a common starting point—early British town planning legislation—underlying differences in urban regulation, property rights and housing provision soon emerged. However, signs of convergence have lately re-appeared, as all three countries have responded to affordable housing shortages by exploring new strategies to boost supply through the planning system. In the tradition of comparative housing research, this paper examines these strategies in the context of each country’s particular historical, socio-cultural, governance and urban planning frameworks. Our analysis shows how differences in planning systems and approaches to housing assistance can delimit opportunities to secure new affordable homes, particularly in the context of increasing land values. Effective delivery of affordable housing through the planning system depends on consistent and enforceable policy articulation, government commitment, a mature affordable housing sector, and particular market conditions.
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This article explores variations in housing outcomes in European Union member states that are measured in terms of the quality and affordability of accommodation. It reveals marked north/south and east/west inter-country variations in the outcomes considered. These variations are related to differences in housing inputs and outputs which are analyzed with reference to Esping-Andersen's (1999) distinction between the three main societal institutions that provide welfare services – states, markets and households. This analysis indicates that poor housing outcomes are associated with reliance on a single driver, i.e. state, market or household. Reliance on multiple drivers – states and markets for instance – is associated with better housing outcomes. However, household-driven housing systems, whether associated with another driver or not, generally result in poor outcomes.
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The Australian housing contextPrivatisation of housing in AustraliaCase studyConclusion NotesReferences
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This paper examines the concept of housing ‘tenure’ and its use in housing research. We argue that this concept is in fact misused. This occurs in two ways. First, it is frequently assumed that taxonomic collectives of tenure like ‘owner‐occupation’ necessarily correspond with significant concrete categories such as housing quality or social status. Second, abstract categories like ‘housing class’ or ‘consumption cleavages’ are identified with specific tenures. In both cases ‘tenure’ is taken well beyond the relations of occupancy and ownership which the term actually describes, and in both cases this leads to severe loss of information and of analytical sensitivity. The paper challenges the use of tenure as some overall shorthand and ends by considering some alternative ‘shorthands’ which better describe the social relations of housing.
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This paper evaluates Jim Kemeny's analysis of the causes and consequences of mass home ownership in Australia. The first part of the paper summarises Kemeny's position, and the second questions the adequacy of some of the key theoretical and historical aspects of his argument. The critique pivots on three theoretical themes: firstly, Kemeny's apparent failure to recognise that home ownership is simply a category of consumption which is given historical, political and economic specificity by the social relations of housing provision; secondly, Kemeny's tendency to ‘fetishise’ home ownership; and thirdly, the problematic way in which Kemeny attempts to account for state housing policy formulation. Historical material is presented to show how these theoretical and conceptual problems result in Kemeny developing a questionable explanation of the development of mass home ownership in Australia, and tentative policy implications are offered. Although the paper concentrates on Kemeny's contribution to Australian housing studies, many of the points raised in the review are of particular relevance to other countries with high home ownership rates.
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The Netherlands are of considerable interest to students of comparative social policy, because christian democracy and not social democracy is the leading political force. This article analyses the history of the Dutch system of social security in terms of political forces and their power resources. In particular, it considers the reasons for the comparatively high level of social security development in the Netherlands. The various approaches which have been adopted in much current research in comparative social policy are critically discussed in the context of the Dutch experience. -Authors
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This paper argues that despite the number of housing policies that have been put in place recently, Australian housing problems remain largely the same as they were a decade ago. This we argue is in part because of the "shotgun' nature of the Australian housing policy process, but is primarily because policies continue to be formed in a disembodied, decontexturalized and ahistorical way. In consequence, housing outcomes are unlikely to show any meaningful signs of improvement in the coming decades. In this paper we provide an overview of the Australian housing system, and document the variety of housing problems that surfaced during the 1980s. We then consider the policy response, which has been both broad and sustained, if not chaotic. Finally we evaluate the likelihood of these policy initiatives succeeding during the 1990s. -from Authors
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This paper is concerned with making sense of current ways of explaining housing policy. Four different types of explanation are identified and analysed in detail:explanations in terms of systems of actors, hypothetico-deductive explanations, realist explanations, and culturalist explanations. The characteristic ontology and epistemology of each type of explanation is made explicit. The four types of explanation are then evaluated, partly in their own terms, and partly in relation to each other. It is argued that explanations in terms of systems of actors are inherently superficial, so it is essential to go beyond and below them in order to achieve an acceptable level of explanatory adequacy. Hypothetico-deductive explanations are rescued from realist and culturalist criticisms which tend to dismiss them altogether, but they are recognised as having serious limitations in terms of conceptual vagueness/ambiguity and contextual fragmentation. Realist explanations are considered in greater depth through an examination of regulation theory. This examination amounts to a critique of the theory as regards its application to housing policy. Finally, culturalist explanations are assessed by using Kemeny’s theory as an illustration, with both ontological and epistemological problems being identified. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the logical relations and differences between explanations of the four different types.
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This article seeks to demonstrate the way in which labor market choices are shaped by institutional arrangements devised by the state. Since these arrangements differ markedly from country to country, much that is distinctive about national labor market outcomes is a function of diverse encounters with the state. This argument is illustrated by an account that explains why Australia, a country which apparently devotes little in the way of public resources to the old, manifests an exceptionally high level of early retirement. This account shows that, in contrast to the standard European welfare state strategy of public pensions, the Australian state has over many decades tackled the need for provision for the old by encouraging retirement strategies that are not subsidized directly from the public purse. These strategies include the encouragement of widely dispersed home ownership and occupational pensions. Read broadly, the article suggests that the extremity of contrasts frequently made between the advanced welfare states of Western Europe and the miserable social policy outcomes in the democracies of the New World have been far too extreme. The article experiments with novel presentational techniques designed to focus attention on individual choices and on policy outcomes for the individual rather than policy outputs by governments.
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This paper examines the availability of housing in Israel and The Netherlands. Both are small, densely populated countries where land and planning policies affect housing supply significantly. The differences in house prices and densities between the two countries are due to the way land and planning policy is pursued. In The Netherlands, policies are used actively to ensure a plentiful supply of cheap land for housing, whereas in Israel severe restrictions are placed on the transfer of land into housing use. The comparison highlights the effects of policy choices and questions the effects of those choices on access to housing in the future.
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This article compares the housing tenure choices of the Australian-born population with those of 10 major immigrant groups in Sydney and Melbourne. An economic and demographic model of housing tenure choice is used to decompose differences in ownership rates into endowment and residual effects. Endowment effects are due to factors such as incomes or time spent in Australia. Residual effects are due to behavioral differences or parameters not accounted for in the model. Endowments account for virtually all the differences for 7 of the 10 groups. Residual differences are significant for the remaining three groups, but in each case the effect of such differences is to increase the immigrant group's owner-ship rate. Behavioral differences are evident for only one group (Lebanese). In general, immigrants' tenure choice behavior is the same as that of Australian-born residents. This result represents significant confirmation of the economic and demographic model of homeownership.
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This article investigates how the affordability of single-family housing has changed by analyzing whether a home of a given quality from, say, 15 years ago is now more affordable for a household similarly situated to one that occupied the home then. For low-skilled workers occupying low-to moderate-quality homes, ownership is less affordable. Constant-quality prices of their housing bundles have risen, and their real wages have fallen. The only way they can still afford a home of a given quality is to have another worker in the household. Many of these households appear to be allowing the quality of their homes to deteriorate because of reduced maintenance. There is not an analogous affordability change for higher income households. Even with slower real wage growth over the past two decades, they can still afford the high-quality homes from the 1970s.
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European economic integration raises important questions about the role of social policy in an economic and monetary union. In the past, it was often argued that there would be upward convergence in the social policies of member-states. More recently, fears have been expressed about downward convergence, partly as a result of globalisation pressures. These fears are shown to be largely unfounded, although there have been trends towards greater similarity in social policy across countries. In the future, it is very unlikely that an extensive welfare state at the European level will develop. However, further European action in 'peripheral' parts of the social policy agenda is more likely. This includes actions in relation to housing, which lies at the intersection of economic policy and social policy.
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In the postwar period the European welfare states undertook large-scale housing interventions. The primary purpose was to provide all households with housing of a good standard. The proponents of the welfare housing model argued that the housing measures employed would sharply raise housing investment as well as lower housing costs. The purpose of this article is to systematically assess this claim.
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The social rental sector in the Netherlands is not stigmatized as housing for the have nots. This is largely the result of a deliberate government policy to keep social rental housing accessible to households with a wide range of incomes. This has, however, led to mismatches on the housing market: many households with a (relatively) high income live in inexpensive rental dwellings. But at the same time, a considerable number of households with a (relatively) low income take recourse to more expensive rental dwellings. The national government's current housing policy aims to reduce the mismatch by promoting mobility among high-income tenants in social rental housing. So far, however, this has produced few results at the local level. Municipalities and housing associations rarely see any need to reduce the mismatch of income and housing costs. Besides, the financial disadvantages are compensated by the positive effects of high-income households living in the inexpensive stock. For instance, the mismatch prevents segregation by income, which would otherwise emanate from a concentration of low-income households in the social rental sector. The presence of low-income households in expensive rental dwellings is seen as a more serious problem. It results in a growing demand for housing allowances, which may overtax the program. Nonetheless, it is difficult to resolve the mismatch in expensive housing.
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Esping-Andersen's The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism has been very influential in comparative social policy because he develops a power analysis of welfare state formation. However, the analysis of political power that underpins his thesis has been widely misunder stood. In particular, the concept of welfare regime has lots its original conceptual meaning as a system of power stratification that upholds different types of welfare state. Instead it is widely misused merely to refer to particular types of welfare system.
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This article argues a number of points, some to do with comparative analysis and some with political choices. In relation to comparative housing study it argues that: Ex-socialist systems in transition are seeking to learn partly by drawing on western housing experience; comparative study to form the basis for this learning depends upon a sound analytical framework; the Housing Provision Chain model provides one such framwork; the “private/public” division is better seen as a “democratic/non-democratic division”; the various stages of the Chain and the various forms of subsidy input need to be clearly separated out. In relation to policy-making it argues that: The notion of housing provision by “free market plus safety net” is fallacious; all western markets are carefully regulated; the central financial question concerns the distribution of state support between supply and demand side subsidies; the central political question concerns the distribution of power, money and initiative between the Democratic and Non-democratic sectors; the questions of the optimal tenure mix needs to be approached pragmatically not ideologically.
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A brief description of the public housing system in the Netherlands provides the context for a preliminary and partial evaluation of the effects of the program of selling public rental housing to sitting tenants. In recent years, the program was virtually dead, but the Dutch government is now attempting to revive it. The evaluation is concerned with the financial effects and especially with the consequences of past sales for the continued functioning of housing associations, the operators of public housing complexes. The empirical basis of the study includes conversations with spokesmen for the associations and a pilot study among buyers of public housing units. Despite current unpopularity of the program among tenants and housing associations, the sales volume is expected to rise: To deal with their increasing financial problems, the associations will be forced to sell property.
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Most studies of land policy, in the abstract and when applied to a country and to comparisons between countries, use a theoretical framework which is derived, ultimately, from Ricardo's land price theory. This is used to predict the effects and the incidence of the costs and benefits which result from applying land policy instruments. This article begins by comparing land policy in Israel and the Netherlands in that way. Both countries have a highly sophisticated and integrated set of land policy instruments. However, some very important differences between the effects of applying those instruments in the two countries cannot be explained within that framework. In particular, in the Netherlands, the development value of land is low and development gains small-in stark contrast with Israel. A supplementary framework is needed, and this is given by the stock adjustment model applied to housing. With this, the difference between the two countries can be explained as being the result of differences in the way the instruments are applied to influence the amount of housing supplied. The Ricardian theory and the stock adjustment model can be combined into one framework that relates land policy to housing production. The key variable in this relationship is the type of land development process that dominates in a country. Whether this process is carried out by a private or a public body can affect the volume of production, and hence the price, of housing. This adds a new element to the discussion about the relationships between planning, land supply and house prices.
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This paper examines the distribution of, and changes in, house prices in Australian cities during the 1980s, a period of considerable change in asset prices in general. The analysis is concerned to document the marked spatial variability of price movements and to relate these to processes of urban restructuring. Spatial variability is apparent at two scales: at the first, metropolitan level as evidenced in trends across the major capital cities and of the intra-metropolitan scale where difference between localities within one city, Melbourne are identifiable. Substantial spatial differentials in both the level and in the rate of change over time of housing prices, have both efficiency and equity implications. At both scales, the most substantial rises and subsequent falls have been experienced in areas which have undergone of spatial restructuring consequent on a concentration of the effects of social and economic transformations. Changes in demand through long-term economic and social restructuring were overwhelmed in the late 1980s by the deregulation of the financial system. Despite high interest rates, a widespread belief that continued inflation would both raise the price of the commodity and reduce the real costs of borrowing, prompted a sharp but locationally specific rate of housing price increase followed by a slump in prices where the rises had been most extreme. -from Author
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The Netherlands has a large and differentiated stock of social rented dwellings, forming more than 40 per cent of the total housing stock. Housing associations are by far the largest providers of housing services in this sector. Traditionally, these associations were subsidised heavily but since 1995 Dutch government has no longer directly subsidised these associations. This paper deals with changes in Dutch housing associations in a period (1988-95) characterised by government austerity, deregulation, market conformity, privatisation and promotion of home-ownership. It is explained how the housing associations were able to survive and even maintain prospects for a promising future in a political climate that threatened the social rented sector. It is clear that housing associations can now operate more independently than in the past. This is seen as a positive development, but the government is now discovering the drawbacks of complete privatisation. A firmer embedding in a public framework is considered desirable now. Recently the cabinet introduced a strengthening of public supervision. The housing associations' umbrella organisations presented their own National Housing Programme and published a business code for housing associations. A crucial issue has not been discussed so far: who will subsidise the housing investments for low-income households in periods of economic stagnation?
Article
Most housing policy analyses conclude that housing is a commodity that cannot be efficiently and equitably allocated via the market process. Major contentions in this respect are that market allocation will result in suboptimal housing investment and that the market process leads to the creation of slums. Furthermore, the proponents of the welfare housing model argue that welfare state interventions have raised the average level of housing consumption above the level that would have been achieved under a more market-oriented allocative model. However, both theory and evidence fail to support these beliefs.
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This paper traces some of the linkages between globalisation and social regulation via the example of the Netherlands. The paper is in four main sections. The first section considers recent debates on globalisation through an attempt to identify key economic processes. The second section considers the main objections that have been made to the globalisation thesis, and especially its lack of attention to matters of social regulation. The third section considers the way in which the Dutch economy has been able to become comparatively successful through a judicious blend of globalisation and social regulation. The final section of the paper then considers the special role of the Randstad in promoting this concordat.
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The analysis reported in this article incorporates direct measures of borrowing constraints into an otherwise standard model of the home-ownership decision in Australia. Borrowing constraints take into account mortgage underwriting criteria, household incomes and wealth, and the household's optimal level of consumption of housing services. Models containing borrowing constraint measures are estimated for households with heads ages 25-34, the age-group that is most likely to be moving into home-ownership. Consistent with previous findings in the US and Canada, borrowing constraints are significant determinants of the probability of ownership. Including borrowing constraints in the tenure-choice model results in a reduction in the independent impacts of household income and the relative costs of owning and renting, implying that in the standard model these variables are at least in part proxies for borrowing constraints. As wealth is the binding constraint for most constrained renters, the article concludes that government programmes to encourage first-time buyers should focus on reducing deposit requirements.
Article
In the postwar period Sweden has undertaken extensive political interventions for the purpose of achieving social housing goals. Today, the Swedish housing standard is one of the highest in the world with virtually all households provided adequate shelter. Yet, serious reservations concerning both efficiency and equity must be raised with respect to the Swedish model.
Article
Since the early 1980s many Western governments have been faced with the challenge of dismantling their unwieldy social policy systems. In the Netherlands, housing policies were one of the first fields to undergo the shift from the previous patterns of direct 'governmental' intervention to the new regimes of 'governance'. The social and political aspirations of housing policy were not put aside however. Instead, they are now being pursued by establishing rules which determine the relations between social and governmental actors in another way (the new regime of 'order' rules). The author analyses the emergence of the rules of the new regime and discusses some of the institutional and distributive implications.
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This paper examines how personal income taxation has changed across countries and whether and how this has affected the taxation of owner-occupied dwellings. It presents a partial analysis as it focuses on imputed rent taxation and the mortgage interest deduction. Furthermore, the paper places housing taxation in a wider context by describing different benchmarks which could be used to assess the taxation of owner-occupied housing in different types of personal income tax. These international and theoretical points-of-departure are used to evaluate the taxation of owner-occupied housing in the Netherlands. The paper concludes that all along political arguments have conquered theoretical premises to the advantage of the owner occupier in comparison to the private landlord. It also concludes that the theoretical base in 2001 has become so weak that owner-occupied housing is in an exceptional position in comparison with other private wealth thus becoming an easy victim for future tax savings.
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ABSTRACT In advanced countries the issue of spatial segregation is perceived as a major problem. In many urban neighbourhoods spatial concentrations of social insecurity, criminality and vandalism can be observed. The political challenge is to improve the quality of life in cities; a strategy has been adopted in several countries to promote mixed-income urban areas (Turner, 1997). Since 1995, the Dutch government has gradually become aware of the looming threat of spatial segregation. Measures are now being taken to prevent low-income districts from taking root. The state argues that the restructuring of urban districts and the redifferentiation of the urban housing stock are tools that will prevent spatial segregation. This paper presents the current public policies in the Netherlands which are designed to prevent spatial segregation, gives some background and discusses policy ambitions and their possible impacts in a critical way.
Article
Comparative housing analysis has so far devoted little attention to assessing the performance of national housing systems. The paper argues that more rigorous means of making such assessments are required, not least as an aid to policy making. This in turn means that more explicit statements of housing objectives need to be worked out in order to identify agreed judgemental criteria. The term ‘housing problem’ also requires a more comprehensive definition which recognises that the provision of adequate and accessible housing is a crucial infrastructural benefit to local economies. One way to compare the performance of housing arrangements is to analyse the provision response when rapid employment growth and restructuring produce especial pressures in an area. Using a three‐dimensional conceptual model, the paper presents findings on the extent to which housing provision in three areas, parts of Berkshire, Toulouse and Stockholm, has coped with the rapid employment growth and change of the 1980s. The Swedish and French systems appear to have coped better than the British. On the basis of these empirical findings, the paper finally proposes one possible set of housing objectives.
Article
This paper reviews some recent critiques of the concept of ‘structures of housing provision’ (SHP) and attempts to clarify the nature and status of this concept. It argues that SHP is not a ‘theory of housing’, nor does it imply a production‐centred approach to housing analysis. Rather, SHP is a metatheoretical concept or analytical framework which, together with other theories, may be of use in the examination of particular aspects of housing development.
Article
An understanding of the dynamics of the research process and an awareness of the power structure of research can contribute towards heightened awareness of researchers in developing new ways of thinking and breaking down hegemonic perspectives. The task of this discussion is to begin a process of internal dialogue among housing researchers based on moving towards a more explicated awareness of the implicit paradigms and opaque power structures which determine what become and what do not become accepted wisdoms.When a constructivist perspective taken from the sociology of science is applied to housing studies it is argued that dominant paradigms can be discerned. These can be understood in relation to the organisation of housing research both institutionally and in disciplinary terms, while sustenance of existing paradigms, or the development of new ones, are achieved through pervasive interpersonal micro processes.
Article
Hayward's critique of my Australian work (Housing Studies Vol 1 No 4) was based upon a perspective that takes the provision of housing as its starting point. In this paper I reply to that critique, both in terms of the wider conceptual concerns it is based upon and the substantive critique of my analysis of home ownership in Australia. I argue that the ‘provision thesis’, as I term it, involves a mistaken focus upon what should or should not be the substantive focus of housing research, instead of, as would be more fruitful, developing a theoretically adequate approach to the study of housing as a whole. The critique of my Australian work exemplifies the problems that can arise when provision is taken as the starting point for any analysis of housing to the exclusion of other concerns.
Article
Housing analysis traditionally focuses on the consumption and allocation aspects of housing provision, concentrating particularly on state policies towards housing tenures. This paper presents a theoretical critique of the consumption‐orientated emphasis, and suggests an alternative framework based on structures of housing provision. It is argued that to look at consumption‐related issues in the context of state housing policies is important, but an adequate analysis must place such an investigation in terms of the totality of social relations associated with the form of housing provision in question.
Article
This paper examines the 'global competition' aspects of housing policies and the implications of an emerging 'flexible' economic order for housing markets in advanced economies. An overview is given of movements in international patterns of growth and trade, including a review of the effects on labour and housing markets of increased competition from less developed, and newly industrialised, countries. UK labour market experience is examined, along with the responses of, and implications for, housing systems and policies. Emphasis is placed on the need to understand the connections between global economic change and regional/local housing systems when designing housing policy. The paper underlines the importance of integrating housing strategies with national competition policy.
Article
This article adopts an operational definition of de-commodification that emphasises its significance for the welfare of individuals. It explores what the definition indicates about different forms of home ownership and renting found in industrialised countries. The evaluations are brought together to derive quantitative estimates of the degree of de-commodification found in the housing systems of Britain, Sweden and Germany. Deriving the degrees of de-commodification of particular forms of housing and of entire national housing systems is a complex process. They cannot be read-off from knowledge of, say, tenure, and conclusions may differ from those generally assumed.
Article
This contribution gives some reflections on the Netherlands' New Housing Memorandum 2000-2010, which was published on 15 May 2000. This Housing Memorandum urges the housing corporations (the social housing organisations which own 37 per cent of the housing stock) to sell 500 000 dwellings in 10 years. This seems to confirm Harloe's assertion that social housing in Europe is only a transitional tenure. Even in the Netherlands-champion of social rented housing within the European Union-the owner occupied sector would seem destined to marginalise the social rented sector in the long run. This paper argues that the housing corporations, being private, independent social entrepreneurs, will be only partially inclined to take the political message of the Housing Memorandum to heart. It is expected that the Dutch social rented sector will remain a differentiated sector and continue to blossom alongside home ownership. Harloe's theory will, in short, not be confirmed by the housing developments in the Netherlands.
Article
From the post‐war period through to the 1980s, Australia's housing system was dominated by tenure‐based policies directed towards home ownership and the provision of public housing. Private tenants were virtually excluded from housing assistance of any form. The 1990s, however, have seen an apparent U‐turn in housing policies with elimination of explicit home ownership policies, the withdrawal from direct involvement in public housing funding and a rapid expansion of rental assistance for private tenants. Australia is about to follow its New Zealand neighbour in undertaking a wholesale shift away from direct intervention in the production of housing and moving towards consumer subsidies which rely on the effective operation of the private sector in meeting housing needs. This paper provides a brief overview of changes in policies towards home ownership, public rental and private rental, a framework for interpreting these and an assessment of the appropriateness of the directions currently being followed in light of current economic trends.
Article
This contribution analyses the different developments and roles of two commercial rented sectors in the Netherlands: rented dwellings owned by individuals (private landlords) and rented dwellings owned by institutional investors. Characteristics of properties and households are specified in relation to tenure. An analysis follows of household characteristics of non-movers and movers to, from and within the commercial rented sector. Some policy issues are dealt with, which are relevant for the commercial rented sector. The commercial rented dwellings owned by persons are predominantly pre-war, small, cheap dwellings with a modest quality. They form part of the urban renewal problem. The owners are small-scale landlords, mostly not professional, who do not invest in ambitious renovation or new dwellings. For this sector the future is not very bright. For starters on the housing market and elderly people, this urban sector may have a limited function. The commercial rented dwellings owned by institutions are predominantly post-war (built after 1960), spacious, expensive dwellings with a high quality. The owners are pension funds and insurance companies which sell their properties often after 15 to 20 years when conditions are favourable. This sector has a strategic function at the upper side of the rental market where rents are decontrolled. Well-to-do households in a flexible urban labour market and elderly people are the most important target groups for this sector. This sector demonstrates how a free rental market functions and enriches the whole housing sector with relevant market signals.
Article
This paper draws upon the poverty literature and examines the desirable properties of a descriptive statistic of affordability—namely, that it should satisfy three axioms, monotonicity, transfer and transfer sensitivity. The descriptive statistics of headcounts and averages do not satisfy these three axioms and policies using these statistics as allocative tools may be misallocating resources. The paper advocates the use of a Foster, Greer, Thorbecke statistic (FGT). Examples of different hypothetical households are used to show the contradictory results that can be obtained by using the current statistics. As a case study, the paper compares regional affordability rankings in England by looking at the FGT, headcount and mean values of the rent—income ratio using the 1995/96 Existing Tenants' Survey.
Article
This paper argues that many widely referenced studies on the cost effectiveness of alternative assistance programs were conducted at a time when rental housing markets were depressed. Recent increases in rent appear to have reduced the apparent cost advantage that demand‐side subsidies hold over supply‐side interventions. In addition, the nonsubsidized poor increasingly must compete for a dwindling supply of low‐cost privately owned housing. Housing vouchers or similar demand subsidies may be appropriate in some contexts, but economic theory and recent empirical analysis suggest that such subsidies are “not the best at all times and under all situations.” Rather, the “best policy” depends on program targeting and the nature and extent of program‐induced price increases and externality effects. Since funding limitations currently block the creation of an entitlement housing assistance program, housing policy must balance the often competing goals of expanding the ability of participating low‐income households to pay for decent housing while at the same time working to limit the adverse effects that rent increases and the loss of low‐cost nonsubsidized stock have on households falling outside of the housing assistance safety net.
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This article describes the current housing system in Canada, focusing particularly on the various mechanisms still available for providing affordable housing. Beginning with an overview of the Canadian housing system, it provides a brief history of Canadian housing policy and program initiatives instrumental in developing the inventory of affordable housing available today.Current practices and procedures in private lending for affordable housing are highlighted. A discussion of current initiatives available to provide affordable housing follows, with a focus on the role of government, the third sector, and new partnership arrangements implemented to encourage more affordable housing. The conclusion highlights recent changes, the current state of the affordable housing sector, and the impact these changes may have on low‐ and moderate‐income households in Canada.