The Social Value of Housing in Straitened Times: The View from England

Abstract

This paper provides a commentary on the contemporary housing crisis in England and links it to broader questions of role of housing in capitalist economies and societies. It starts with the assumptions that housing and community development issues are linked to the wider housing market and that the housing crisis is not new but has long-run antecedents. The paper begins by reviewing the contemporary terrain of housing markets and policies in the UK. It then discusses several aspects of 'crisis': market volatility, rates of new supply, affordability, state welfare subsidies and sociospatial inequalities. Policy responses to these are examined through a discussion of efforts to expand the role of the private rented sector, sell-off 'expensive' public housing and curtail market renewal investments. The paper concludes that current conceptualisations of the value of housing are often partial and insufficiently integrative and that policies must explicitly recognise housing as a social and economic asset.

The affordability of “affordable” housing in England: conditionality and exclusion in a context of welfare reform

“…The research considers welfare reforms that have particular relevance for housing associations because they impact on Housing Benefit, which forms a majority component of rental income streams (Mullins & Jones, 2015). Table 1 summarizes these changes, whichalongside other measureswere presented by government as a response to perceptions of growing dependency and the increasing cost of welfare provision (Ferrari, 2015). Welfare reforms sought to, variously, reduce public spending on welfare, incentivize employment, and introduce 'fairness' between those in receipt of out-of-work benefits and those in employment (Mackley et al, 2018).…”

Direct payment of Housing Benefit: responsibilisation at what cost to landlords?

“…In July 2010, the newly elected Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government in the UK published 21st Century Welfare (Department for Work and Pensions, 2010a), a consultation document on the reform of the benefits system. The analysis concluded that the existing system was too complex and presented disincentives to move into work which resulted in rising costs of welfare support and persistent welfare dependency (Ferrari, 2015). The principles and proposals set out in the consultation paper were detailed further in the White Paper, Universal Credit: Welfare that Works (Department for Work and Pensions, 2010b) and enshrined in law when the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2012) received royal assent in March 2012.…”

The impact of the direct payment of housing benefit: evidence from Great Britain

“…The existing system was perceived to be too complex and created disincentives for working-age claimants to move into paid work. The result, it was argued, had been rising costs of welfare support and persistent 'welfare dependency' (Ferrari, 2015). The principles and proposals set out in the consultation paper were detailed further in the White Paper, Universal Credit: Welfare that Works (Department for Work and Pensions, 2010b), and enshrined in law when the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2012) received royal assent in March 2012.…”