Showing papers in "Housing Studies in 2004"

Fortress UK? Gated communities, the spatial revolt of the elites and time–space trajectories of segregation

Abstract: Anecdotal evidence suggests that ‘gated communities’ are growing in popularity. This paper uses empirical evidence to profile the location and characteristics of gated development in England and details the relative integration of residents. The paper also attempts to think through the wider theoretical and urban policy impacts of gating. In contrast to the view that gated communities provide an extreme example of residential segregation we go further and argue that the time‐space trajectories of residents suggest a dynamic pattern of separation that goes beyond the place of residence. Gated communities appear to provide an extreme example of more common attempts by other social groups to insulate against perceived risk and unwanted encounters. Patterns of what we term time‐space trajectories of segregation can thereby be seen as closed linkages between key fields, such as work and home, which enable social distance to be maintained and perceived risks to be managed by elite social groups. We conclude tha...

Disability, Embodiment and the Meaning of the Home

Abstract: While aspects of the home may provide for privacy, sanctuary, security and other aspects of ‘ideal’ domestic habitation, such provisions are always conditional, contingent, never secure and likely to be challenged by, amongst other things, the onset and development of bodily impairment. However, explorations of the meaning of the home, and housing studies more generally, rarely consider the body and impairment and its interactions with domestic space. This is curious because impairment is a significant, and intrinsic, condition of human existence and can affect anyone at any time. The paper develops the argument that a person's feelings about, and experiences of, the home cannot be dissociated from their corporeality or the organic matter and material of the body. Thus, the quality of domestic life, and housing quality more generally, has to be understood, in part, with reference to the body and conceptions of corporeality.

Home, the culture of nature and meanings of gardens in late modernity

Abstract: The growth in the provision of gardens has been an important feature of housing in the UK during the 20th century, and yet the significance of the humble domestic garden has been neglected in studies of housing and home. This paper examines the role of the garden in the meaning of home, and draws on theoretical discussions of nature, environmental risk and social uncertainty in late modernity. Secondary empirical data is used to investigate the changing uses of gardens and practices of gardening. A survey of garden owners provides primary empirical data to examine meanings of gardens and personal experiences of nature. The paper concludes that the garden is an important site for privacy, sociability and sensual connections to nature, and these activities can be understood as negotiations and practices to address the social and environmental paradoxes of late modern life.

Selective migration in Swedish distressed neighbourhoods: can area‐based urban policies counteract segregation processes?

Abstract: Like many other Western European governments, the Swedish government has launched an area‐based urban policy in order to solve the problems of the distressed neighbourhoods in the largest cities. However, in the current policy it is not clear whether the primary aim is to address the problems of individuals, or if the aim is to change the market position of the distressed areas. The intervention might be successful in terms of assisting residents in finding jobs and better education, but that might not improve the general position of the areas targeted, since people who make a socio‐economic career very often move out of the areas, to be replaced by poorer and less well‐established residents. By drawing upon a comprehensive and unique set of data the paper analyses the issues of residential mobility and selective migration, with special focus on distressed neighbourhoods in the Stockholm region. The results clearly indicate that the migration flows of these neighbourhoods are indeed selective. The people ...

Home ownership, mortgages and psychological distress

Abstract: Although many studies have established that owning a home is associated with a variety of health benefits (lower mortality and morbidity rates), important gaps in our understanding of the relationship between housing tenure and health remain. In particular, previous research has tended to rely upon single, binary measures of housing tenure (home owners versus renters). These broad categories do not capture the heterogeneity that exists within housing tenure classifications. This paper uses an expanded measure to differentiate home owners with mortgages, from those who do not have mortgages and from those who live in rental accommodation. The results reveal a gradient in housing tenure and psychological distress; individuals in rental situations report the highest levels of distress, home owners without mortgages the lowest levels. Moreover, housing tenure modifies the impact of stress on distress in these data. The findings are interpreted in the context of changes to housing policy in Canada, and the eco...

The uneven geography of housing affordability stress in Canadian metropolitan areas

Abstract: Housing in‐affordability is a growing problem within Canadian urban areas. This research asks an as‐yet unanswered spatial question: where do those suffering high rates of housing affordability stress reside and what do the spatial patterns imply about policies intended to address this housing problem? This paper tabulates and maps the spatial distribution of households that pay excessive amounts of their income for rent in order to identify locations within metropolitan regions where housing affordability stress is greatest. It is found that significant unevenness characterises the spatial distribution of housing affordability problems in major Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Only a minority of places conform to the North American stereotype that concentrates this problem near the city centre. Where some CMAs have concentrations of the problem in the inner city or, alternatively inner suburb, other metropolitan areas exhibit a more diffuse pattern of housing in‐affordability. The locus of the ...

The responsible tenant: housing governance and the politics of behaviour

Abstract: Writers influenced by Foucault's work on governmentality have characterised emerging forms of governance in advanced liberal democracies as being based upon ‘technologies of the self’ in which power works through the self‐regulation of subjects within constructed norms of responsible and ethical conduct. This ‘politics of behaviour’ has been particularly prominent in UK housing policy debates in relation to anti‐social behaviour, benefit reform and tenant participation. This paper argues that recent reforms are premised upon the identification of the responsible (and responsive) tenant as a central organising mechanism in new processes of housing governance. Although tenant responsibility is not a new concept, the paper argues that the nature and scope of this responsibility is currently being broadened and deepened, and discusses how this reconfiguration of responsibility reflects a wider realignment of governing identities within housing policy and practice.

The changing effect of home ownership on residential mobility in the Netherlands, 1980–98

Abstract: In most western countries, homeowners are much less likely to change residence than renters are. In the last few decades, the rise in home ownership in the Netherlands has been spectacular. This would imply that the population has become less mobile, which has consequences for the functioning of the housing market – at least, if the relationship between home ownership and residential mobility has not changed. This research addresses the question whether the effect of home ownership on the probability of residential mobility has changed over the last few decades and if so, how. Using data from the 1981-1998 Netherlands Housing Demand surveys and logistic regression models, we find that the difference between homeowners and renters in residential mobility has changed over time. The results indicate a decrease in the effect of home ownership with an interruption in 1984-85. This finding might indicate stability in the effect of home ownership, except for periods of booms or busts on the housing market.

Canada's increasing housing affordability burdens

Abstract: This study uses national survey and census data on shelter costs and income to describe changes in the proportion and the number of low‐income households spending more than half of their income on shelter. While affordability problems increased consistently over the last two decades for almost all classes of households, the problems are highly concentrated among those with low‐incomes. Women household maintainers are significantly more likely to experience problems and the number of income recipients in a household is a key indicator of a potential problem. While all regions and major cities had increasing problems, the data show major differences across regions and urban centres. No correlation is found between the growth of cities or the growth in rent levels and the growth of the proportion of low‐income households with severe affordability problems. Housing prices were remarkably stable during the 1990s and cannot be claimed as the main cause of the escalating problem. However, strong correlations rel...

Geographies of mortgage market segmentation: the case of essex county, new jersey

Abstract: Since the late 1980s, mutually reinforcing trends in economic growth, public policy, and community activism have fostered a wave of residential mortgage lending to ‘underserved markets’ in US cities. Yet many of the changes in housing finance that supported sustainable home ownership also lured a new generation of subprime and predatory credit institutions specialising in high-cost, high-risk lending. For many urban and minority neighbourhoods, the old problems of exclusionary redlining are now accompanied by new dilemmas of exploitive greenlining. This paper analyses the market penetration of subprime lending institutions and the subsequent concentration of mortgage ‘pre-foreclosures’ in low- and moderate-income, African American neighbourhoods. Focusing on Newark, NJ, and its surrounding suburbs, Gary King's ecological inference technique and a series of logistic regression models are used to assess the role of borrower characteristics, institutional divisions, and neighbourhood context in the process o...

Intra‐Urban migration and housing submarkets: theory and evidence

Abstract: In the 1950s and 1960s a group of housing economists at Columbia University developed a framework for the analyses of urban housing markets which was based around the concept of housing submarkets and household migration. There is now widespread agreement amongst housing economists that submarkets should be adopted as a working hypothesis but the concept has been reformulated in terms of intra‐urban relative house price differentials. The accepted test for submarket existence uses a hedonic model of house prices which assumes market equilibrium. This paper returns to an analysis of submarkets which focuses on spatial migration patterns. By examining household intra‐urban mobility patterns in the Glasgow housing market it is possible to demonstrate that submarkets tend to be self‐contained. The analysis also suggests that the current standard statistical tests may be incomplete and in the case of Glasgow underestimate the number of submarkets.

Justifying conditionality: the case of anti‐social tenants

Abstract: The measures that New Labour have introduced to punish and prevent anti‐social behaviour need to be discussed in the context of the broader debate about conditionality in welfare. This paper outlines briefly three arguments that have been put forward to justify conditionality in welfare, the contractualist, the paternalist and the mutualist justifications. It then considers the force of these arguments in respect of New Labour's approach to anti‐social tenants. The paper concludes that it is possible to formulate a powerful case for the kinds of measures that New Labour is currently taking by integrating elements of the three justifications. It is argued that it is a mistake to view such measures as necessarily disciplinary in intent or in effect. Measures to enforce the obligations that people owe to each other are not incompatible with policies to widen opportunities for self‐fulfilment and to reduce social exclusion. On the contrary, they can be seen as two sides of the same coin.

Whites' neighbourhood racial preferences and neighbourhood racial composition in the United States: evidence from the multi‐city study of urban inequality

Abstract: Within the housing segregation literature major disagreements have developed over two fundamental issues: (1) the role that whites' aversion to racially mixed neighbourhoods plays in causing modern segregation in the US; and (2) the factors that underlie this aversion, including the effects of inter‐racial contact on whites' neighbourhood racial preferences and whether these preferences reflect neighbourhood stereotyping as opposed to pure racial prejudice. Extant evidence on these issues is either old or indirect. This paper provides direct evidence on these issues using new data from the Multi‐City Study of Urban Inequality. The results suggest that (1) whites' neighbourhood racial preferences play an important role in explaining the racial composition of their neighbourhoods; (2) inter‐racial contact in neighbourhoods and workplaces leads to a greater willingness among whites to live with blacks; and (3) although younger and more educated whites express a stronger taste for integration than other white...

Defining housing quality and environment: disability, standards and social factors

Abstract: This paper considers quality standards and meanings of housing environments while discussing disability and housing. It challenges assumptions about the importance of physical housing quality, and suggests caution about the benefits of raising physical standards. After a brief introduction, comments are made on contemporary issues concerning standards, past difficulties arising from professional power and political priorities, and problems in proving causation. There is then a discussion of the approach appropriate when drawing on the social model of disability, and the multi‐dimensional nature of the home environment. This is followed by observations on housing quality. A classification is offered of factors potentially influencing consumer perceptions, indicating social dimensions of a good quality home and residential environment.

Understanding needs: a starting point for quality

Abstract: Before good quality housing design can occur, the needs of human beings have to be properly understood. Drawing on a research study into the effectiveness of housing adaptations for disabled people, the paper looks at the human needs revealed by adaptations recipients when they described either satisfaction or disappointment with the work done. A model of need originally proposed by Winfield, a partner in the research, is built upon to include extra factors. The evidence suggests that material needs are not always the most important, and that need for such things as dignity, control or the need to play may take precedence over needs for access or safety. At present however, models of housing need, whether for disabled or non‐disabled people, take little account of what is known of human need.

Will technological innovation create the true lifetime home

Abstract: This paper discusses the relationship between different forms of design and technological innovation and their ability to support older people in their own homes It considers (1) innovation in the design and construction of new housing, notably ‘lifetime homes’ and ‘open building’ systems; (2) the introduction of electronically enhanced assistive technology; and (3) telecare Each of these is examined in terms of its potential benefits for meeting the housing needs of older people and its limitations The paper proposes that these innovations are likely to have a variable effect on the possible housing pathways of older people, depending on the way they are combined It also outlines the policy and market influences that may stimulate their adoption, concluding that design and technology innovations must be matched by new care delivery models

Promoting home ownership in a social‐rented city: policies, practices and pitfalls

Abstract: Amsterdam's housing market is dominated by the social‐rented sector. It comprises 56 per cent of the total housing stock, while home ownership comprises only 19 per cent, lower than anywhere else in the Netherlands, and among the lowest in the world. Central government policy is currently seeking to increase the share of home ownership in the Netherlands from 53 per cent (2001) to 65 per cent in 2010. This paper will summarise recent national and local (Amsterdam) housing policy developments, focusing on the recent practice of selling social housing in Amsterdam. Unlike the Right to Buy scheme in Britain, the Netherlands employs an ‘offer to buy’ strategy. Sales, however, have been disappointing so far. Two factors were found to be crucial in this regard: (1) the sluggish change in ‘policy mentality’ and bureaucracy and (2) the high prices in the home ownership market. By way of conclusion, the paper reflects on the desirability of shifting the tenure structure from tenancy to ownership and on the risks t...

Accommodating nomadism? An examination of accommodation options for gypsies and travellers in England

Abstract: The policy approach towards Gypsy and Traveller accommodation in England is currently being reviewed. In this context, the paper explores issues around accommodating nomadism. Drawing primarily on the findings of research carried out by the author on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, it establishes that a number of Gypsies/Travellers actively pursue a traditional travelling lifestyle. Culturally‐specific accommodation, mainly in the form of residential Gypsy sites, is inadequate to accommodate the desired amount of movement without unauthorised encampments. Unauthorised encampments fail to provide adequate standards for Gypsies/Travellers, tend to perpetuate their social exclusion and lead to friction with the settled community. A network of transit sites and stopping places is needed to accommodate travelling. The main barrier to provision is the planning system and, more fundamentally, resistance from the settled population to the idea of new sites for Gypsies and Travellers. The nature...

Regulation and innovation: rethinking ‘inclusive’ housing design

Abstract: The Lifetime Homes (LTH) concept initiated in 1989 by the Helen Hamlyn Trust, and subsequently promoted by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, emerged at a point when there was growing awareness of the decline of both private and public sector housing quality, especially in relation to floorspace standards (Karn & Sheridan, 1994). LTH were intended to offset the concerns of first, the house buying public of the appearance and affordability of homes suitable for successive generations, second, the private house building industry of the cost and marketability of incorporating ‘inclusive’ design features, and third, Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), who had to balance cost constraints with addressing the needs of a growing number of households with older and/or disabled people. Approved Document Part M of the building regulations was extended in 1999, from public buildings to private dwellings, and currently requires that all new housing meet minimal ‘visitability’ criteria. Indeed, although the signs are that...

Positive choice, no choice or total rejection: the perennial problem of school catchments, housing and neighbourhoods

Abstract: Housing and education are two aspects of social policy which form particularly important dimensions of the current debates around social stability and exclusion in neighbourhoods, particularly for those living within areas of deprivation. Unequal access to quality education is a critical dimension of participation in or exclusion from the knowledge‐based economy, yet in a housing market dominated by home ownership, access to oversubscribed schools can be determined by the ability to afford housing in particular areas. Alongside this, school popularity may also impact on neighbourhood composition, thus making schools influential in the socio‐economic profile of their local neighbourhoods. A key question for policy makers, then, is to what extent this occurs. This paper presents a review of the existing research on the relationship between school choice and housing decisions, focused around the question of what evidence exists to indicate how seriously school choice interacts with neighbourhood composition....

Degrees of destitution: a typology of homelessness in developing countries

Abstract: There is an ongoing attempt to develop a globally acceptable definition of homelessness. Whether such a definition is broad and inclusive of squatters, and those living in particularly poor quality housing, or narrowly focused on street homelessness, it is likely to include a large population. Therefore, we are left with a need to develop criteria for identifying, allocating and prioritising appropriate support. Drawing on a study of homelessness in nine developing countries, this paper presents a new categorisation or typology of homelessness, based on choice and opportunity. It highlights the way in which homeless people, living in identical shelter situations, and for ostensibly similar reasons, might require different responses to support them out of homelessness. This paper does not seek to debate the definition of homelessness but to stimulate discussion on finding a way to identify and prioritise the needs of those included within any given definition.

The Commodification of Land and Housing: The Case of South Korea

Abstract: The developmentalist state in South East Asia has played an important role in guiding and promoting economic growth. Although an implicit theme of much of the discourse is the role of the state in controlling the factors of production, this is not located within the decommodification/commodification debate. Proceeding from the premise that underlies much of economic theory, namely that land values at a time reflect the residual (or surplus) of economic activity that requires land as a factor input, the purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which the Korean state has managed the commodification of urban development and the distributional effects of this process. In spite of private land ownership the state has had a major impact on the processes by which land has become commodified, using extensive land expropriation and land‐use planning powers. The Korean state used different strategies to manage trends to commodification at different times: land readjustment projects were used from the 1950s ...

House prices and income tax in the Netherlands: an international perspective

Abstract: A sharp drop in prices on the home owner market is not only hard to predict but also the reason why many politicians would prefer to implement any tax changes gradually, if at all. Against this backdrop, the present study explores the relationship between a change in the personal income tax treatment of home ownership and a change in house prices. First, based on a literature study, it identifies the factors in the development of house prices. Then, using data from several European countries, it compares the effects of personal income tax reform on the development of house prices. As the comparison reveals, the method and timing of adjustments in the tax system have a strong influence on house price development. Furthermore, econometric modelling of the Dutch home owner market suggests that when the restrictions on tax concessions are less stringent, the real decline in house prices is not as steep and does not last as long.

Depending on digital design: extending inclusivity

Abstract: This paper documents work from the EPSRC ‘EQUATOR’ and Dependability Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration on Computer Based Systems (DIRC) concerned with the appropriate design of dependable assistive technology to enable older and disabled people to maintain a quality of life within their own homes. Technology, especially so‐called ‘smart home’ technology, can only be used to assist people if it is effectively designed. Designers are therefore required to consider certain key questions such as what situation they are designing for, what solutions should do, and who should use them. The focus in this paper is on understanding and identifying user needs and system requirements for dependability in the complex challenge of inclusive design. The feature of inclusive design addressed here is the new emphasis on the user, a living, breathing person situated in real world settings along with others, rather than some designer's abstraction. The acceptance or rejection of assistive technology relies on the users' perceptions of the designed technology as well as the appropriateness of the technology designed. Consequently, this paper suggests that despite highly imaginative views of future technologies, getting such dreams to work generally means they must, at some point, meet the real world and engage with the needs of users if they are to be sufficiently grounded. Given this emphasis on users, the highly personal character of domestic settings presents conventional research techniques with obdurate problems that can make research practically and ethically difficult. Researching domestic spaces and domestic values requires different methods to understand the unique needs and experiences of residents. Accordingly, the authors report on their experiences of using observational studies and adapting ‘cultural probes’ to foster an ongoing dialogue with the members of their user groups, to gain insights into their needs and generate design relevant information and inspiration. The paper discusses how such information might feed into dependable design through consideration of a model of dependability.

The present and future of income‐related housing support: debates in Britain and the Netherlands

Abstract: This paper examines income‐related housing support in Britain and the Netherlands. It considers the main issues that are at stake in current policy discussions, compares the arguments that are put ...

Public participation in area‐based urban regeneration programmes

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of research into the representation of local interests in area‐based urban regeneration programmes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The two case studies are contextualised by a review of the promotion of public participation in urban regeneration in both parts of Ireland and theorised as a site of interaction between state agencies and civil society. It is argued that the practice of public participation is a hegemonic project, which, within urban regeneration, is operationalised through partnership structures. The paper concludes that many factors from within and outside the case study programmes affected their consultation processes. Therefore the design and implementation of regeneration programmes should be undertaken in the context of an understanding of the relationship between the state and civil society in the empirical case.

A wasting resource: public housing and drug use in inner‐city Melbourne

Abstract: Public housing is one of few sources of low‐income rental housing in inner‐city Melbourne, Australia. Most of this housing is easily identifiable high‐rise estates. Some of these estates have become established centres of heroin dealing and drug use. This has had significant consequences: applicants reject offers of housing on the estates; tenants apply for transfers; and housing officers face workplace occupational health and safety issues. In sum, the presence of the drug trade is undermining the provision of affordable, well‐located public housing. This paper contributes to discussions that seek to restore the value of this common resource. It does so by drawing on qualitative interviews and focus groups conducted with heroin users who live in and/or use public housing. The experience of these individuals gives insight into the current relationship between the illicit drug trade and public housing, as well as some understanding of the resilience of the illicit drug trade. The paper looks at measures th...

Housing quality, disability and domesticity

Abstract: This Special Issue of Housing Studies considers the interrelationships between disability, housing quality and the domestic environment. The papers are a product of a one‐day workshop held in June ...

Repayment risk and European home owners: the interplay of housing markets, labour markets, financial markets and social security systems

Abstract: Across Europe mass home ownership has been based on financial arrangements that have provided individual buyers with loans that can be repaid over long periods of time. These arrangements vary in their detail, and their integrity is subject to the risk of default. This paper focuses on the probability of households in different European countries experiencing repayment difficulties, and seeks to identify some of the macro factors that lead to this happening. It shows that national levels of repayment risk can be attributed to the nature of labour markets, social security systems, housing markets and financial markets.

Managerialism and public housing reform

Abstract: This paper discusses market inspired changes to the delivery of public housing in Queensland, Australia during the late 1990s. These policy changes were implemented in an organisational environment dominated by managerialism. The theory and method of critical discourse analysis is used to examine how managerial subject positions were assimilated and/or creatively resisted by different actors within the public housing policy community. These themes are discussed using interview data with a range of policy actors, including policy managers, front-line housing staff and public housing tenants. The analysis suggests that policy actors who openly challenged the emerging policy and organisational direction were marginalised in changing power relations.