Outline

Housing and social policy

Pro-poor housing policies,

Community Development, and

Urban Renewal.
 Housing and social policy
Social policy
Includes a wider range of interventions across all sectors,

Is designed to resolve problems in the social world, and

Bringing the more theoretical issue of social justice to bear

on a social problem.

Goals
 Adequate and affordable housing for a growing population;
 Con…
Meeting the aspirations of individuals as to
 the amount of space,

the location and

nature of housing to be provided;

Efficient allocation of resources, in particular,

Land, environmental and amenity considerations.

The outcome of any deliberate attempt by the government;

to promote individual and
social welfare using any suitable policy instruments
 The evolution of global housing policies
 long-term focus in urban development, social and economic policy
Habitat I in 1976,
 some countries have made tremendous progress in meeting the housing
needs of their nations,
severe housing shortage, substandard housing, and slums.

Housing issues in many countries received marginal interest in

the academic community and political arena.
after World War II, the national independence movement,
The newly independent developing countries
had a strong desire to change their own fates and
to improve their economic and living conditions
 Con…
 Increasing recognition by both developing and developed nations

the interdependence and globalization of the world economy.



 Agencies of the UN and NGOs actively advocate for

social and economic justice and equity among nations and

between the rich and the poor.

 progress and material well-being of people and nations at the centre of
government policy and academic interests
 an increasing interest in integrating housing into social and economic
policies
 which advocate inclusiveness and progressiveness.
 Con…
 Developing countries,
 trained a large pool of experts and

 developed a good awareness of housing issues and

 their marginalized status in world development.

 The provision of housing for the poor not only has social benefits but also

improves human capital and lifts the economic capacity

Habitat I, the focus of global housing debates has changed,
 moves from advocating a strong government role to

 an enabling role of governments and facilitate the development of housing markets.

 Con…
The evolution of housing policies (European)
Strong state-led social welfare tradition,

 Postwar rapid economic growth made welfare policies feasible

 Housing policy was a key element in this state

(welfare and mixed economic development framework).

Policy objective was adequate and affordable housing should be available to all.
 Homeownership and rental housing were supported through

demand-side and supply-side programs,

 Con…
Welfare approach to housing
 Created burdens for not financially strong governments.

The resource constraints for public spending and changing

socio-economic patterns,
some countries more reliance on the enabling approach and market mechanisms
to respond to demographic pressures and shocks.

The weakening intervention to housing market instability

(1980s and 1990s),

 Created difficulties for less economically well-off homeowners

(Britain, Sweden…),
 Con…
In some countries, the priority given to
 Curtailing public spending through privatization, and

 Shrinkage of public programs has promoted reductions

in capital spending,
Led to a major shift of housing policy which questioned large subsidies.

In the 21st-century European housing markets,

exhibited considerable instability which worsened

affordability for many.

 Con…
The global financial crisis, difficulty in dealing with housing
as an isolated sector,
 in detaching it from significant linkages with the financial
markets and broad economies

economic growth, employment,

macroeconomic stability, and

well-functioning financial markets are crucial for effective

functioning of the housing sector

Housing policy development is increasingly taking more
comprehensive approach.
 Con…
The role of the state in housing policy and other welfare activities,

Rational planning model

The state attempts to remedy a perceived problem
 the problem is identified,

the best solution is formulated, and

the necessary policy is implemented to remedy the problem.

State as being responsive to society’s needs as a whole

(crime, disease, illiteracy, poor housing…).

 rather than to the needs of a particular section of society
 Con…
Housing policy evolves as a result of pressing housing needs
by a large section of the population,
 Governments appraise problems and devise appropriate strategies(objectives).

 The state acting for majority of its citizens, and

responds to some obvious problem for the common good.

The outcome determined by the decision-makers,

 perception of the nature of the original problem,

 Causes as well as their preferred outcome, and

 Preferred vehicle to deliver that outcome

 Con…
Intervention on the rational planning model is to correct some form
of market failure,
Either by promoting the supply of homes,
 when and where the market fails to do so

Providing people with the resources to access housing,

 when their income is too low to afford the market prices

Intervention solves a ‘problem’ in enabling citizens to gain access to

the use of decent housing,

 Interventions were mainly concerned with seeking to ensure a supply
of decent homes for the general population
 Social housing policy
Social housing policy is an essential and indispensable component of any
coherent and integrated social policy.
Two major transitions
the Canadian government’s involvement in providing affordable housing

to low-income earners (1940, 1973).

 ensuring that all members of society are adequately housed

Housing policies were originally developed on the premise that

the state should not interfere with the ability of the private sector to provide

affordable housing
 Con…
1940s, the government’s primary approach
 to encouraging homeownership,

 building affordable housing for low-income earners,

 took the form of financial incentives to private sector businesses.

However, financial incentives have had unpredictable levels of success,

the private sector’s inability to provide affordable housing

for those who cannot purchase private housing.

 an increased role for government in financing affordable housing
 Con…

Nonequity housing is an important subset of such housing

 Government and nonprofits become involved in markets where the

private sector does not succeed.

 Municipal governments that provided financing and the necessary

land for public housing projects.

The partnerships resulted in the government’s having

 a share in owning and directly managing housing projects of

varying scales across

 Con…
1973,
Encourage the production of other forms of nonequity housing
changes to the legislation,
 the government limits its direct administration of nonequity housing
(Public housing),
 to enter into a partnership with different nonprofit and cooperative
organizations
 as the principal means of developing and administering nonequity housing
Partnership
 cooperative and nonprofit housing (social housing)
share the characteristic of resident involvement in how their community is managed
residents a sense of ownership
 Con…
First, World War II,
 the government itself started to own and administer nonequity

housing in the form of public housing

Second, in 1973 with the formation of partnerships between

 the government and nonprofit organizations to build nonequity housing,

 replaced public housing as the sole approach to providing low-income

 earners with affordable housing, and

 public, private nonprofit, municipal nonprofit, and cooperative.

 Pro-poor housing policies
 Unprecedented urban growth rates (urbanization of poverty),

 Pressing housing needs of the urban poor have always primarily been satisfied

by the poor themselves.

 Self-help builders with their varieties of housing solutions as a factor

effectively be employed in

 Pro-poor government housing strategies.

In developing countries,
 the prime actors in the shelter delivery processes are the households themselves
 Con…

Massive numbers of people practice incremental self-help housing

Official strategies to support self-help (1970s),

 Through small-scale sites-and services schemes,

Combined with some form of assistance for self-builders.

the main housing practice has been through self-help
propelled by massive rural-to-urban migration
 Con…
International research and policy agendas focused Habitat approach(1980s),
Self-managed house construction gradually declined,
 self-help housing, a widespread phenomenon

 New pro-poor housing policies are to be developed that actively support

self-build initiatives

Assisted self-help housing central on the urban development agenda.

The most affordable way of providing sustainable shelter,

Based on minimum standards and incorporates a substantive amount of

sweat equity(cheap),
 Con…
 Communities engaged in it acquire precious skills(useful),

 Responds to people's actual need and levels of affordability(practical), and

 Dwelling units are often designed to be able to expand over time(flexible).

Building advisory bureaus,

 Local governments and NGOs can offer technical, legal and financial

assistance to the residents,

 More readily accessible to the poor than municipal offices,

 Technical staff is able to provide advice (smart blue-print solutions,

issue building permits),
 Con…
Self-build homes are designed and built depend on environmental,

cultural, technical and socio-economic factors.

 The availability of building materials from local resources,

 Indigenous architectural traditions and

 Climatic conditions

all influence the collectivity of self-build styles in each specific context, and

The national and local policy environments are vital,

 the key role which government policies play with respect to

the provision of public services and infrastructure.

 Con…
Self-help housing comes in many shapes and sizes
When original plot sizes are rather large
Consolidation of self-build neighbourhoods,

Subdivision and the construction of more floors,

 leading to the densification of housing and population in the neighbourhood.

Conditions of increasing land scarcity and rising prices of

(peri-) urban land, and

High urban densities become increasingly necessary for low-cost and

cost-efficient housing.
 Con…
 Sites-and-services schemes which anticipate future densification

based on aided self-help policies can also be prepared for that.

Mutual self-help housing

 Good development opportunities (knowledge transfer),

 Used for better cooperation with the local government and other actors,

 Members of housing cooperation must take time to get to know

each other, and

 Well and good leadership is crucial.
 Con…
The establishment of small housing cooperatives,
Extra incentives (building materials, technical assistance),

Successful local and regional experiences (Nicaragua, India…).

New pro-poor housing policies are to be developed that build upon the

Power of self-help efforts,

Promote and support self-build initiatives,

(institutionally, financially, technically and politically).

Community Development
 Con…
Great depression of 2007,
Unemployment rates and long-term unemployment resulting in decreases
 median incomes, household wealth, and homeownership rates,

 Obama administration responded with a mix of policies,

 Community development and social cohesion
Common Interest Housing Developments (CIDs) have encouraged debates

regarding community development and social cohesion.

 lack social cohesion

 people regulate the community via rules and contracts rather than through social

relationships and mutual contact

 High levels of socialization and friendship in CIDs,

led to the formation of new communities in developed and
developing countries.
 facilitated by the homogeneity of the community in terms of
socio-economic class and cultural background.
 Con…
 Social cohesion in CIDs.
Community-based renovation of empty homes (CBH)
 Involves local organizations procuring housing by means of bringing

back into use empty properties to live in,

 organizing repairs that are necessary to make them habitable’

 The significance of recent self-help housing in the context of the

wider sector, (community-led) sector is developing (400 new homes a year).

(between 2012 and 2015, 1200 homes back into use)

 Housing shaped and controlled by the wider community
 Con…
A network of self-help organizations as part of a wider community-based
housing sector with,
 know-how and assets
 External support from some local authorities,
 social investors and foundations enabling further growth and
 prospects for future development.

International significance (world habitat awards 2015–2016) recognized

The engagement of local residents in their own solution has positive results,
key challenge for CBO,
To gain political will and funding through effective networking, and

Lobbying and demonstration of wider benefits.

 Con…
Community-based housing organizations

organizations provide a good level of service to their tenants.

Regarded as legitimate and trustworthy to a much greater extent
(the local authority and other institutions),
 not simply a product of the finances they received for development

 attract participation from a substantial proportion of residents,

 and are governed by local people who have much the same social and

economic characteristics as those receiving the service.

 Con…
Management committees are accountable to other residents through

visibility and regular contact,

 cannot be the case for regional and national housing organizations or for
local authorities.
CBHOs
 promoters of accountability and democracy in public life, and
 more popular and more trusted among citizens.

Created for successful collaboration between deprived communities and

local and central government agencies,

 Con…
They all get something out of the arrangement,
residents get improved houses,

a better housing service and the possibility of being actively involved,

Services can be tailored to local needs and demands

(Local authority housing department),

The local authority is able to get rid of its most deteriorated housing stock, and

Attract additional public spending into its area through grants.

 Self-help housing
Private self-help in both individual and collective levels,

State-initiated self-help and state-assisted self-help.

Self-help housing for the urban poor

The government's role is to create the conditions (land with

infrastructure),
Enable the urban poor to build their own houses incrementally,

The private sector does not offer housing products to poor families,

Proves to be much more significant for housing the poor.

 Con…
The self-built house has the use value and commercial value of the property.
 The family has a high degree of tenure security and

The house is built in a durable way (the family's moneybox).

Formerly informal and now consolidated and mostly regularized

neighbourhoods is significant(Bogota, Mexico City…).

 Slums and squatter settlements are the principal locations of

informal-sector enterprises,
Contribute to employment creation, local economic development,
the urban economy and national growth.
 Urban Renewal
Evolution of housing and community development policy post-War era of
urban renewal

The "slum clearance" program launched by the federal Housing Act of 1949
 later Model Cities programs were perhaps the classic place-based policies.

 sought to eradicate poverty by radically changing the places where poverty

most strongly persisted.

 a top-down planning vision(federal bulldozer)

 little attention to those living in the communities,

 Con…

Policies that focus more on individuals in poverty and on

preserving existing communities (1950)

Housing policy (1960)

move from public housing to public-private partnerships that provided

incentives for private owners to build and operate subsidized housing

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program(1980)
 Con…
A central debate in housing and community development policy
 People-based and place-based responses to poverty
People-based strategies invest in individuals(a better life)
Place-based strategies target specific communities or locations

(Revitalizing entrenched pockets of poverty)

 Tenant-based rental housing vouchers and moving-to-opportunity programs

(empower low-income residents to escape failing communities)

 Project-based rental housing subsidies and many urban renewal policies
(strengthen distressed neighborhoods)
 Con…
Three types of urban renewal activity

Continuing market led activity of adapting urban areas to the changing

needs and demands of capital,

State social expenditure to ensure social harmony and well-being

(The renewal of housing and related social facilities),

State social physical capital investment and state regulation to facilitate
profitable private sector property development and redevelopment

(provision of utilities, public transport networks…).

 Con…
 Key role played by transport improvements in changing,

 Regional economic structures, land use patterns,

 Facilitating rising housing standards,

The consequences of
 Manufacturing decline and service sector growth in changing the

nature of demand for land and buildings,

 The increasing difference between central and peripheral regions
(economic conditions),
 rapidly rising demand for urban space.
 Con…
Urban renewal is clearly
 a multi-faceted and complex process requires variety and subtlety

in policy responses.
Such responses need to be based upon a
 multi-disciplinary understanding of the social and economic forces

affecting urban areas,

 the nature of government and organizations, and

 the physical nature of towns and cities.

Both study of urban renewal and the practice of intervention is a team

effort based upon many skills.

 Con…
There are a number of major questions and issues in urban renewal that
deserve further consideration, investigation, and debate,
 Multi-disciplinary nature of the study of urban renewal,

The need for variety in urban renewal policy and training for these activities,

the effects of urban renewal on energy use, pollution, and environmental

quality,
the importance and benefits of community participation in urban renewal,
 Con…
 the goals of urban design and ways in which they might be achieved, and

 the need for a strategic level of urban renewal policy instruments.

Lessons
 historical evolution and current practice of urban renewal and from
management
 theory stresses the importance and advantages of local community
participation in renewal decisions.
 Housing enablement in developing countries
Emphasis is shifting from state provision towards facilitation of private

sector participation in housing development,

Enablement is the productive relevance of human settlements to

economic development, and

Linking of the roles of government, markets and the informal groups

and organizations.
 Con…
Strategy to housing prefer the government to assume the role of

supporter in contrast to provider,

Instead of embarking on the construction of dwelling units,

Concentrate on reforming and managing the legal, regulatory

and financial policy framework,

To create an environment for the people and the private sector to

Provide housing.
 Con…
The global strategy to shelter,
Encourages governments to concentrate on facilitating access to land,

finance, infrastructure and services,

 Removal of restrictive regulations,

 Introduction of realistic building and land use regulations,

 strengthen institutional frameworks that foster people's

participation in the housing process.

 Con…
Sustainability in the housing sector;
The involvement of the community in all steps

(planning, constructing and maintaining planned improvement),

Insuring that those who build housing, have access to good quality

building materials (self-builders or private sector firms),

 building standards,

The realm of housing finance, and

Ensure the availability of adequate land for residential construction

at a price that householders can afford.
 Con…

Housing policymakers must think outside of their traditional silo,

Construct more holistic initiatives that link with other social policy silos

(transportation, health, employment training, criminal justice),

Advancing this agenda will require enhanced capacity for

collaboration and governance at all levels.

 Housing policies in Ethiopia
The housing market operating in free market principles (pre – 1975)

Landlords leasing urban land and

Constructing residential houses to tenants, and

No restriction to sell and buy houses.

Majority of the urban population live in highly crowded dwelling

 Built and owned by small scale land lords

 Con…
Nationalization
Urban land, high rise apartments and office buildings and

Extra houses without compensation

Direct government involvement in the sphere of housing provision

Complete control of the housing market and encouraged self-provision as

the main form of housing supply

Condominium housing regulation in 2003

Reduce its horizontal expansion and

To enhance the economic use of serviced land

 References
Bredenoord, J. and van Lindert, P., 2010. Pro-poor housing policies: Rethinking the
potential of assisted self-help housing. Habitat International, 34(3), pp.278-287.

Clapham, D., Kemp, P. and Smith, S.J., 1990. Housing as social policy. In Housing
and social policy (pp. 21-55). Palgrave, London.

Couch, C., 1990. Urban renewal: theory and practice. Macmillan International
Higher Education.