A study examined the problems faced by landlords, lenders, and tenants in respect of tenure rights, responsibilities, risks, and problems. It covered the issues of intermediate home-ownership; access to social housing; problems of tenancies (both social and private rented); and repossession and arrears.
Source: Helen Carr, Dave Cowan, Caroline Hunter and Alison Wallace, Tenure Rights and Responsibilities, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A report examined the links between housing and regional economic disparities. Housing was likely to contribute to regional disparities: but there was a danger of blaming housing for more deep-seated social issues.
Source: Geoffrey Meen and Andi Nygaard, Housing and Regional Economic Disparities: Economics paper 5, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
A paper (published in two parts) examined housing wealth inequality. The first part set out the results of a government seminar (held in 2007) that considered housing wealth inequality and its possible implications for housing policy. The second part examined changes to housing wealth inequality.
Source: Housing Wealth Inequality: Economics paper 6 – Volume 1, Department for Communities and Local Government | Eric Levin and Gwilym Price, Measuring Changes in Housing Wealth Inequality: Economics paper 6 – Volume 2, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Paper (Part 1) | Paper (Part 2)
Date: 2010-Nov
The coalition government announced (in its 2010 Spending Review) that spending on affordable housing would be cut by 60 per cent in real terms by 2014-15. Rents paid by new social housing tenants would rise sharply, to as much as 80 per cent of market rates. There would be an increase in the age threshold for the shared room rate in housing benefit from 25 to 35 – so that single people aged 25-35 would no longer be able to claim housing benefit for a flat. There would be a cap on total benefit payments for out-of-work single people of £18, 200 per year (as well as a £26, 000 cap for workless families, as previously announced) – administered by cutting housing benefit down to the cap level. Local councils would be required to find ways of cutting spending on council tax benefit by 10 per cent, or nearly £500 million per year.
Source: Spending Review 2010, Cm 7942, HM Treasury/TSO
Links: Report | Summary | Letter | Hansard | HMT press releases | CIH press release | CML press release | Crisis press release | Crisis briefing | EROSH press release | Homeless Link press release | NHF press release | PwC press release | RICS press release | St Mungos press release | Inside Housing report (1) | Inside Housing report (2) | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Oct
A report examined public attitudes towards housing tenure; public attitudes towards neighbourhood and property types; perceptions of housing taxation; and the implications of the evidence for reforming the housing system to support vulnerable households.
Source: Alison Wallace, Public Attitudes to Housing, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper examined the potential role of mutualism in the social housing sector.
Source: Chris Handy and Kevin Gulliver, Mutualism Rising?: Housing's vital role in the 'Big Society', Compass
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Aug
A think-tank report called for a big increase in the number of new homes being built for sale or rent in areas of high demand, and new ways for social housing tenants to get on to the first rung of the housing ladder. Local people would get a veto on how much, if any, development was allowed near them through ballots of those directly affected: cash incentives would be available help persuade them to vote yes.
Source: Alex Morton, Making Housing Affordable: A new vision for housing policy, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Aug
A 'housing pact' called for the new coalition government to prioritize investment in housing, preserve quality standards for all tenants, and support reforms that promote mobility – in return for a commitment by the housing sector to be more innovative in pursuing new partnerships and new ways to deliver affordable homes.
Source: Making the Case For Housing, Chartered Institute of Housing
Links: Pact | CIH press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A paper examined general household formation trends in Scotland. Overall household numbers were increasing because the average household was getting smaller, with more people living alone and in smaller households. Between 2008 and 2033 the number of households was projected to increase by 21 per cent to 2.8 million.
Source: Household Formation in Scotland: What does it mean for housing policy?, Scottish Government
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Jul
The new coalition government announced plans for a 'community right to build' that would give local communities in England the power to build the homes that they needed without being 'thwarted by red tape and bureaucracy'. Community organizations would be free to go ahead with development without the need for planning permission, provided that there was 'overwhelming' community support and 'minimum criteria' were met.
Source: Press release 23 July 2010, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: DCLG press release | Leaflet | RTPI press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A new book examined the effectiveness of the housing market renewal pathfinders (designed to arrest the collapse in prices and demand in nine areas of the north and midlands).
Source: Ed Ferrari and Peter Lee, Building Sustainable Housing Markets: Lessons from a decade of changing demand and housing market renewal, Chartered Institute of Housing
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined the key causes and social consequences of the 'housing bubble'. There was a need to return to viewing decent, affordable housing as an essential social resource that provided the bedrock of stable individual, family, and community life: its increasing treatment as a purely economic asset was a key contributor to the so-called 'broken society'.
Source: John Bone and Karen O'Reilly, 'No place called home: the causes and social consequences of the UK housing "bubble"', British Journal of Sociology, Volume 61 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jun
The new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government dropped its opposition to a measure devolving certain housing powers to the Welsh Assembly Government. It said that it had received assurances that the powers would not be used to hinder the sale of social and council housing.
Source: Press release 29 June 2010, Wales Office
Links: Wales Office press release | Welsh Assembly Government press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jun
A literature review examined the social and economic impact of housing in Scotland. A fiscal stimulus for additional housing investment in Scotland to combat the effects of the recession had saved private sector jobs and enabled public agencies to retain skills in the construction industry.
Source: Sarah Monk, Connie Tang and Christine Whitehead, What Does the Literature Tell Us About the Social and Economic Impact of Housing?, Scottish Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
A report said that the previous Labour government's housing market renewal ('pathfinder') initiative had resulted in the destruction of thousands of terraced houses across the north of England, 'ripping the heart out of communities' and repeating the mistakes of the 1960s and 70s. It looked at how housing earmarked for demolition could instead be adapted, upgraded, and remodelled to a high standard of energy efficiency, creating a range of accommodation and forming exemplar 'eco-communities' of the future.
Source: Mark Hines Architects, Reviving Britain's Terraces: Life after Pathfinder, SAVE Britain's Heritage
Links: SAVE press release
Date: 2010-Jun
A report by a committee of MSPs gave qualified support to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, including plans to remove the 'right to buy' social and council housing.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Housing (Scotland) Bill, 5th Report 2010, SP Paper 456, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jun
The Scottish Government published a discussion document on housing policy, asking where its priorities should lie as between increasing social housing, supporting aspiring home-owners, and reducing carbon emissions. It said that Scotland was facing 'unprecedented challenges' – over the next 25 years, the number of households in Scotland was projected to increase by more than one-fifth to 2.8 million.
Source: Housing: Fresh Thinking, New Ideas, Scottish Government
Links: Discussion paper | Scottish Government press release
Date: 2010-May
An independent commission examined the key challenges and opportunities associated with the delivery of housing in Northern Ireland, and made recommendations on a strategic direction for housing.
Source: Report of the Independent Commission on the Future for Housing in Northern Ireland, Commission on the Future for Housing in Northern Ireland
Links: Report | CIH press release
Date: 2010-May
Proposals designed to give the National Assembly of Wales powers to legislate on housing for the first time failed to get the necessary Parliamentary approval before the United Kingdom general election.
Source: BBC report, 9 April 2010
Links: BBC report
Date: 2010-Apr
The Welsh Assembly Government published a strategy document that brought together separate strategies on meeting housing need, homelessness, and housing-related support services.
Source: Improving Lives and Communities: Homes in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Strategy | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Apr
An article examined whether it was possible to devise a housing policy that aimed to improve the self-esteem and positive identity of residents.
Source: David Clapham, 'Happiness, well-being and housing policy', Policy & Politics, Volume 38 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A discussion paper examined the root causes of instability in the housing market, and ways of tackling it. One of the authors said that the 'obsession with home-ownership' created social and economic divisions and instability, and that there was a need for a more balanced approach to different kinds of tenure. The other said that life tenancies and the benefits system had combined to create social immobility, worklessness, and dependency, and that social housing should be the first step on the ladder to home-ownership.
Source: Matthew Taylor and Philippa Stroud, How Can We Make the Housing Market More Stable for Vulnerable Households?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined the economic savings available from integrating a broad range of health, housing, and social care services. It found 'significant evidence' that integration created efficiencies and savings, with early intervention services potentially saving the National Health Service up to £2.65 for every £1 spent.
Source: Benefits Realisation: Assessing the evidence for the cost benefit and cost effectiveness of integrated health and social care, Turning Point
Links: Report | Turning Point press release
Date: 2010-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs endorsed plans to devolve wide-ranging legislative competence for social housing policy to the National Assembly for Wales.
Source: Proposed National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Housing and Local Government) Order 2010, Relating to Sustainable Housing, Sixth Report (Session 2009-10), HC 186, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report reviewed the activities undertaken by the New Deal for the Communities partnerships from the start of the programme in 1999 until early 2009 in the domain of housing and the physical environment. Impacts of the programme could be seen in terms of an increase in residents' satisfaction with their local area, and rising house prices.
Source: Ian Cole, Michael Foden, David Robinson and Ian Wilson (with others), Interventions in Housing and the Physical Environment in Deprived Neighbourhoods: Evidence from the New Deal for Communities programme, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2010-Feb
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the Welsh Assembly Government should be able to legislate to suspend the 'right to buy' council housing stock in areas where there was a shortage of social housing.
Source: The National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Housing and Local Government) Order 2010, Legislation Committee No 2/National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | NAW press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Feb
An article examined the effect of different levels of neighbourhood housing tenure mix and deprivation on transitions from unemployment to employment and the probability of staying in employment for those with a job. Living in a deprived neighbourhood was negatively correlated with labour market performance: but predominantly for home-owners and not for social renters.
Source: Maarten van Ham and David Manley, 'The effect of neighbourhood housing tenure mix on labour market outcomes: a longitudinal investigation of neighbourhood effects', Journal of Economic Geography, Volume 10 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb
A report examined the role that housing tenure played in facilitating change within deprived areas, drawing on evidence from New Deal for Communities areas. It looked at the relationship between concentrations of social housing, socio-demographic profiles of areas, and achieving change across a range of key indicators.
Source: Christina Beatty and Ian Wilson, Tenure and Change in Deprived Areas: Evidence from the New Deal for Communities areas, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2010-Feb
The Scottish Government published a Bill designed to improve the supply and quality of housing in Scotland. New council house and housing association tenants would no longer have the right to buy their homes.
Source: Housing (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government/TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | Scottish Government press release | BBC report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2010-Jan
A new book examined the 'right to buy' policy (giving tenants in council and social housing the right to buy the property in which they lived). It said that the policy linked with a coherent ideology based on self-interest and the care of things close to people – instead of a policy that sought to do things for people
Source: Peter King, Housing Policy Transformed: The right to buy and the desire to own, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jan
