Understanding changing housing aspirations: a review of the evidence

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on changing housing aspirations and expectations in contemporary housing systems. It argues that there is a conceptual and definitional gap in relation to the term 'housing aspirations', as distinct from expectations, preferences, choices and needs. The article sets out working definitions of these terms, before discussing the evidence on changing housing (and related) systems. Emerging research has begun to consider whether trends such as declining homeownership, affordability concerns and precarious labour systems across a range of countries are fundamentally changing individuals' aspirations for the forms of housing they aim to access at different stages of their lives. Whilst much of the research into housing aspirations has been considered in terms of tenure, and homeownership in particular, this article suggests that research needs to move beyond tenure and choice frameworks, to consider the range of dimensions that shape aspirations, from the political economy and the State to socialization and individuals' dispositions for housing. ARTICLE HISTORY

The value of self-build: understanding the aspirations and strategies of owner-builders in the Homeruskwartier, Almere

“…Households make assessments based on expectations regarding future housing value or living satisfaction. This ties into the insight that aspirations are aspirations are dialectically constituted by social conditions and material reality indicated by existing housing research (Crawford & McKee, 2018;Preece et al, 2019). Social imaginaries around homeownership, autonomy and self-sufficiency are influential in shaping self-building practices (Soaita, 2015).…”

“…The constitution of aspirations is not exclusively framed by the interaction between social conditions and material reality. The experimental nature of self-building adds a processual dimension to the dialectical constitution of residents' aspirations, as had been established by Preece et al (2019). This adds an element of contingency into the relation between conditions and aspirations.…”

“…This paper sets out to analyze why people engage in the self-building of owneroccupied housing, what strategies they utilize, and how they interact with the regulatory framework in the context of an aided self-build scheme. By explicitly addressing the process of self-building, the paper contributes to the study of the social dynamics of self-build housing (Benson, 2015;Benson & Hamiduddin, 2018;Hamiduddin & Gallent, 2015;Soaita, 2013) and housing aspirations and choice (Clapham, 2011;Marsh & Gibb, 2011;Preece et al, 2019;Smith & Munro, 2008). This paper challenges the dominant view of self-build as an expression of an individual's subjective desires.…”

A methodological quest for systematic literature mapping

“…We also demonstrated that literature mapping can be a crucial stage towards evidence reviews in that it can formulate new research questions as well as delineate subgroups of studies for analysis. Indeed, our literature mapping was mobilised to inform related evidence reviews (Preece, Crawford, McKee, Flint, & Robinson, 2019) and to offer contextual information in other reviews (Lenoel, Matsu, & Naisbitt, 2018). Like any sound methodology, systematic literature mapping can thus contribute to the advancement of housing knowledge or theory.…”

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

“…The affordability of housing is a pressing international concern (Preece et al, 2019), and 'one of the most prominent domestic public policy issues' in England (Joyce et al, 2017, p. 5). However, as Bramley (2012, p. 134) argues, affordability is invoked in a wide variety of contexts, with different meanings and connotations.…”