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Purpose: This paper aims to assess the overall social housing development, point out factors affecting it and propose some policy implications for social housing development. Design/methodology/approach: The research investigated investors, credit institutions and officials involved in social housing development. Bac Ninh province currently has 51 social housing projects that have been and are being implemented. The hypothetical regression model has seven latent variables and is tested by the criteria through the SPSS25.0 software. Findings: There are 29 factors belonging to seven groups affecting housing development. Their impact rates range from 3.47% to 30.25%. Research limitations/implications: The study has only identified the factors affecting social housing development but has not undertaken an in-depth assessment of its development status and forecast for the future. Therefore, this gap needs to be further studied. The proposed research method could also be applied when researching social housing developments in other countries around the world. Practical implications: To develop social housing to meet the needs of the real estate market, it is necessary to improve the policies that have the strongest impact first. Then, it is necessary to improve the factors with a smaller impact. Social implications: The study proposes policy implications for faster housing development for low-income people that improve their living standards. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the paper has studied for the first time social housing development and the factors affecting it. The paper also shows the level of their impact so that priority policies can be applied to each factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Housing policies in India (last modified in 2017) define "affordable housing" on three main parameters – income of the target group, dwelling unit size and house price to income ratio. The Covid-19 pandemic has questioned the robustness of the defining parameters of affordable housing. This paper aims to study the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on housing affordability and adequacy for the urban poor and highlights how one pandemic has directly challenged the practicality of the affordable housing criteria in urban India. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a pilot test conducted through interviews with the consumer group. Furthermore, the affordable housing policies of urban India were studied in conjunction with the pandemic guidelines laid down by the World Health Organization. The consumer responses were analyzed in relation to the policies and guidelines to arrive at the inferences. The secondary case examples of the Dharavi slums in Mumbai and the Savda Ghevra slum resettlement colony in Delhi, along with the findings of the primary survey in the economically weaker section category, are used to formulate the conclusions. Findings: The pilot test conducted for the target consumer group clearly indicates that (i) the pandemic has severely affected the housing purchase capacity of the target consumer, thereby questioning the "affordability" of housing; (ii) proposed housing solutions are inadequate to enable livability, thereby questioning the "adequacy" of housing; and (iii) proposed housing solutions are inept to accommodate pandemic protocols. The Covid-19 pandemic and the conditions it imposed on the built environment clearly highlight the inadequacy of affordable housing parameters being followed in urban India. Research limitations/implications: Further research may be conducted on global best practices in housing, which may advise the housing policies in India. Practical implications: The study suggests key areas that need intervention and modification to make the housing policies more robust and effective. Social implications: The study explores the social sustainability aspects of housing, which are often considered secondary in policies. Originality/value: Because housing has a direct bearing on the physical, social and mental well-being of society, it is imperative to find housing solutions that are safe and resilient for a sustainable future. This paper is an original attempt by the author to question and highlight how the current affordable housing solutions adopted in urban India will continue to fail under any external adverse conditions unless modifications are considered in the existing housing parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to remove the self-evidence of the concept of severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) by drawing upon a historical as well as a critical perspective to show its contingency. Design/methodology/approach: This paper will introduce the concept of SMD by examining how it has come to be understood in the way that it has. This paper does so by exploring key texts which have informed the development of the concept as well as its conceptual near neighbours such as "multiple needs". This paper traces some advancements of the concept within practice and further research with a focus on the Fulfilling Lives programme and the Lankelly Chase Foundation. Finally, the author reflects critically upon the concept and the manner in which the concept has become operationalised. Findings: This analysis demonstrates how a particular definition of SMD has come to dominate over the past few years because of the research and practice of key organisations. On the one hand, this has further marginalised alternative definitions and ways of working, but on the other hand these stakeholders have been able to influence the way in which UK policy has taken up the concept within its governmental priorities. Originality/value: To date, research has taken the term SMD for granted which limits the ability to critique its definitions and applications. This is an important and timely contribution because concepts are all-too-often taken for granted and at a pivotal moment when SMD has become nationalised through policy, critique is a political, potentially transformative, act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine housing need for older people and people with dementia, with reference to Scotland. This paper also examines policy responses and tensions arising from such need and looks critically at the evidence of care needs and what older people want in relation to later life conditions, including dementia. Design/methodology/approach: Taking the Being Home: Housing and Dementia in Scotland report (2017) as a baseline descriptor, the authors have collated evidence from a range of sources to help them examine what has changed in terms of policy, practice and population ageing. Set against this backdrop, using desk-based analytical methods, the authors interrogate existing planning processes and systems in Scotland. Findings: Scottish Spatial Planning has a policy blindness on the overwhelming evidence of the housing needs derived from an ageing population. Policy focus is geared towards the amount of housing supplied, rather than appropriate types of housing, leaving older people with little choice of suitable accommodation. A key area to improve is in establishing greater co-operation and policy synthesis between health, social, housing and planning functions. Broad policy ambition must be transferred into detailed reality for older people and people with dementia to benefit. Originality/value: The integrated approach and in-depth analysis, linked to planning policy and housing need, is highly original and much needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on the housing situation in Indian cities and the various stakeholders involved in the housing sector. This study addresses the conflict in expectations of the supply and demand side of the housing and establishes the factors crucial to making housing successful for all the stakeholders, essential for sustainable urban development. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is developed using the content analysis of preceding independent reviews on housing sustainability by authors across the globe, a review of the current housing situation in Indian cities and a Pilot study of the desired qualitative aspects of housing by the consumer group. Findings: This paper identifies the challenges and constraints of the various stakeholders involved in the housing sector. A comprehensive list of all the parameters, both qualitative and quantitative, essential for successful housing implementation, focused on the preferences of the demand side, also referred to as the "Critical Success Factors (CSFs)" is generated. The results advocate a strict consideration and integration of these CSFs with the housing policies for all future housing projects. Research limitations/implications: Most of the studies conducted in the past have reviewed the housing situation in India from the perspective of the government authorities and the initiatives undertaken by them to improve the housing crisis. However, a gap exists in achieving a balanced understanding of the supply-side constraints, with the demand-side expectations from the housing. Focusing only on the supply without adequately understanding the consumption can only lead to further chaos in the already turbulent housing situation. Originality/value: To the best of author's knowledge, this is among the first attempts to address the housing scenario in urban centers of India, simultaneously from the perspective of both the demand side and the supply side of the housing, giving additional impetus to the expectations of the demand side which are often ignored. This study becomes more relevant in the ongoing pandemic situation to be able to provide appropriate and acceptable housing solutions to all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Considering the case study presented, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the pandemic in local services for homeless people. Drawing from the concept of ontological security, it will be discussed how different services' levels of "housing adequacy" shaped remarkably different experiences of the pandemic for homeless people and social workers in terms of health protection and agency. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on a case study concerning homeless services for people during the COVID-19 pandemic in the metropolitan and suburban area of Turin, in Northern Italy. In-depth interviews with social workers and participant observation during online meetings of workers from the shelters constitute the empirical data that have been collected during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. Findings: According to the findings, the pandemic showed shelters as unsafe places that reduce homeless people's decision power and separate them from the rest of the citizenship. Instead, Housing First projects emerged as imore inclusive and safermore inclusive and safer spaces, able to enhance people's power over their own lives. The pandemic did not create emerging issues in the homeless services system or discontinuities: rather, it amplified pre-existing problematic aspects. Originality/value: The case study presented provides empirical insights to recognise at the political and organisational level the importance of housing as a measure of individual and collective security, calling for an intervention to tackle homelessness in terms of housing policies rather than exclusively social and emergency treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a supply-side review of policies and practices that impact on the shortage of supply in the contemporary specialist housing market for older people in the UK.Design/methodology/approach The review is based on a review of academic literature, policy documents, reports and other sources.Findings There is a critical conflict between the key social purpose of specialist housing (i.e. living independent of socially provided care) and the values that underpin and ultimately limit the quantity of units in both the social and private sector. In the social sector, government policies prohibit rather than encourage local authorities and housing associations from increasing specialist housing stock. The nature of leasehold tenures in the private sector tends to commodify not only housing stock but also those who use it and therefore acts to instrumentalise housing supply in favour of the profit motive and the focus on the person and her or his needs is largely ignored.Originality/value While the shortage of specialist housing is well known, this paper is unique in that it provides a comprehensive and critical supply-side review of the factors that have created such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With the temporary housing of rough sleepers in response to the Covid-19 emergency, some commentators have been tempted to believe that the rising population of rough sleepers in the UK has finally been reversed. This paper aims to examine the choices made by persistent rough sleepers and how far they are influenced by the perverse incentives of social policies, in order to challenge the view that they sleep rough out of choice. Design/methodology/approach: Evidence for this paper is derived from two teams of frontline service providers with routine familiarity with the rough sleeping population: a street outreach team and a team of support workers working with adults with multiple and complex needs. Primary data from focus groups were combined with the secondary analysis of both numerical and narrative accounts routinely recorded by both teams. Findings: The exercise of agency by persistent rough sleepers is constrained by a mixed baggage of complex needs, past negative risk assessments, limited resources and regulatory deterrents to generate choices to reject help that appear irrational. These need to be understood if recent policy initiatives to end rough sleeping are to be effective. Originality/value: The paper draws on the experience and comprehensive records of practitioners with intimate knowledge of the rough sleeping population. It extends narrative accounts of causes by focusing on key choices to show how the perverse incentives of policy combine with personal factors to incline rough sleeping to persist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to illustrate realities of homeless people's lives during a time of significant change in UK public sector funding and welfare policy. Design/methodology/approach - A participatory research approach was used including working with two co-researchers; two people who have direct experience of homelessness. A sustainable livelihoods approach was adapted to provide a framework for analysis. The research was undertaken during May to October 2011. Findings - The paper interrogates five areas of assets held by people themselves that support sustainable livelihoods, an existing approach used in other research. Life journey narratives show that a connected range of services, operating through an empowerment model, promote human dignity. Research limitations/implications - Findings resonate with issues identified in larger studies; however, as the funding and policy context is rapidly changing it is recommended that additional local qualitative studies could be conducted during the next three years to illustrate impacts in people's lives. Practical implications - The paper suggests front-line services must include resettlement as well as crisis and stabilising services in order to ensure homeless people can successfully move from home to home. Social implications - The research identified negative attitudes towards homeless people. By illustrating homeless people's achievements the study provides evidence of the impact of, and the value of continuing to fund, homeless services. Originality/value - The paper suggests that people who have experienced homelessness achieve a successful life with support by drawing on their considerable life experience and personal talents. This message is important for practitioners, commissioners and policy makers working through a period of change for homeless services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Responding to the needs of homeless and marginally housed persons has been a major component of the Canadian federal and provincial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, smaller, less-resourced cities and rural regions have been left competing for limited resources (Schiff et al., 2020). The purpose of this paper is to use a case study to examine and highlight information about the capacities and needs of service hub cities during pandemics. Design/methodology/approach: The authors draw on the experience of Thunder Bay – a small city in Northern Ontario, Canada which experienced a serious outbreak of COVID-19 amongst homeless persons and shelter staff in the community. The authors catalogued the series of events leading to this outbreak through information tracked by two of the authors who hold key funding and planning positions within the Thunder Bay homeless sector. Findings: Several lessons may be useful for other cities nationally and internationally of similar size, geography and socio-economic position. The authors suggest a need for increased supports to the homeless sector in small service–hub cities (and particularly those with large Indigenous populations) to aid in the creation of pandemic plans and more broadly to ending chronic homelessness in those regions. Originality/value: Small hub cities such as Thunder Bay serve vast rural areas and may have high rates of homelessness. This case study points to some important factors for consideration related to pandemic planning in these contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Professional partnerships between housing and health are not impossible, but they take time, commitment and dedicated strategic leadership. The language and culture of the two sectors are sometimes complex and do not always match. There can be issues understanding each other's motivation, ethics and terminology which can cause a barrier when working together. The purpose of this paper is to share the journey of how Wakefield District Housing (WDH) is working with the care and health sector to create sustainable partnerships that benefit both parties, getting to a stage where they could successfully integrate with healthcare providers in the Wakefield district.Design/methodology/approach The paper offers the reader an overview of how WDH's membership of the Wakefield Health and Wellbeing Board enabled improved partnership working with NHS and other members, including the establishment of a Housing, Health and Social Care Partnership, the employment of dedicated senior staff, co-located multi-disciplinary teams and joint design of new services.Findings WDH has demonstrated that the organisation understands the challenges facing NHS colleagues, has acknowledged the complexities of the system that their partners work in and looked for solutions alongside them. The opportunities within partnership working are boundless and, if successful, the outcomes for tenants and the wider Wakefield population could be in excess of those envisaged in planning the project. Partnerships will almost inevitably encounter challenges along the way but if all partners keep their own and shared visions in mind, further success is within reach and all parties will get there faster by not going alone.Practical implications The paper offers useful guidance and ideas for other housing organisations aiming to improve their contribution to local integrated healthcare.Originality/value This paper provides an original perspective from inside the programme, offering practical, comprehensive and deliverable initiatives to improve health outcomes for local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to explore the operationalizing of a philosophy of humanization of hostel care and the challenge to such development presented by the proposed adoption of the "housing first" approach ("Chez Soi D'Abord") in Paris. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper is a translation of the transcript of an address given by the author to a symposium of psycho-analytic therapists working with the homelessness resettlement services in their quarter of Paris. It is a narrative of service development, described in some practical detail, with philosophical and psycho-analytic depths. Findings -- A philosophy of care and social education is replacing the philosophy of surveillance that had characterized earlier development of hostels. Psycho-analytic concepts, based on the writings of Lacan, help to understand the importance of addressing the profound psycho-social dislocation of individuals subject to the implicit violence of their situation. Originality/value -- This is the first known paper in print and in English to describe the development of a psychologically informed environment in homelessness resettlement in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- Appropriate housing for the growing population of older adults is becoming an international concern. The purpose of this paper is to report on a review of UK and international literature carried out as part of a project exploring the commissioning and delivery of social care in housing with care settings. The paper also considers housing with care in the context of UK policy and practice. Design/methodology/approach -- The peer literature review process used a range of academic databases as well as government and third sector web sites, drawing on relevant material in English published from 1990 to 2012. Findings -- Findings are presented within three main themes: how care and support is provided; the role of the built environment; and the benefits for resident well-being. The review found a paucity of literature focusing specifically on care and support in housing with care settings, particularly in terms of how social care is delivered, but the evidence base suggests that housing with care is in a strong position to deliver on most if not all UK government aspirations. Practical implications -- Despite a growing literature both in the UK and internationally exploring the characteristics and benefits of housing with care for older people, substantial gaps remain in the research evidence. Originality/value -- This paper presents an up to date review of the housing with care literature in the context of current UK policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to comment on current evolving UK policy in public health and social housing; and especially to outline 'blind spots' in conventional health research approaches that have tended to obscure the evidence and potential in collaborative working.Design/methodology/approach - The paper summarises policy developments, in the light of recent relevant research. Mental health is used as an example.Findings - Public health policy in the UK is new and rapidly developing; but the evidence base remains scattered across different disciplines and their various disparate communication channels. Any new public health strategy focussed on health inequalities needs to recognise the role that social housing already plays in supporting concentrations of the more vulnerable. Better recognition of the everyday social and especially mental health problems that social housing staff deal with illustrates the central role of housing management as the defining factor in social housing, and the potential for partnerships with public health.Originality/value - This paper offers a contemporary overview and comment; but it also introduces to the readership recent research findings that shed new light upon the potential in closer alignment of public health and social housing management practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The housing sector in Egypt represents a considerable share of the gross domestic product (GDP) and accordingly the economy. Further, it is considered vital for any population around the world, because it provides the shelter needed by people. Egyptian housing market is facing many problems which need to be solved. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach This research reviews and analyzes the Egyptian public and private housing market’s key variables. As such, it highlights the importance of informed decision making through detailed analysis and study of the market, especially when planning for the future by any housing market stakeholder. The research proposes the use of system dynamics (SD) modeling to analyze the market by creating a stock and flow model using STELLA modeling and simulation software.Findings The results reveal that the expected newly established families will be nearly 800,000 families in year 2015/2016. Out of these numbers, 600,000 families require economic housing units, while the expected supply is nearly 300,000 units.Originality/value A study is made for the economic housing market, which is a very big housing market and population segment that has been suffering from negligence for years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory account of the links between devolution, homelessness and health in the UK. Specifically, it focusses on the policy context and governance structures that shape the systems of healthcare for homeless people in London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Design/methodology/approach Empirically the paper draws on semi-structured interviews with a small sample of policy and practice actors from the devolved territories. Qualitative interviews were supplemented by a comparative policy analysis of the homelessness and health agenda within the devolved regions. Theoretically, it takes inspiration from Chaney’s concept of the “issue salience of homelessness” and explores the comparative character of healthcare as pertains to homeless people across the devolved territories.Findings The paper provides clear evidence of areas of divergence and convergence in policy and practice between the devolved regions. These features are shown to be strongly mediated by the interplay of two factors: first, the scope and scale of national and local homelessness prevention strategies; and second, intra-national variation in public health responses to homelessness.Originality/value The paper offers considerable insight from a comparative policy perspective into the nature of healthcare provision for homeless people in the devolved regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state of provision for homeless people in Prague. Design/methodology/approach – This is primarily a narrative account, though supported by and referenced with contemporary Czech social policy scholarship. It first traces the roots of the current situation through the history of the Czech legal framework for citizenship; the effects of communist-era ideology, when homelessness was simply hidden; and the post-communist (new-era) economic and political climate. The range of existing services is then described and analysed with respect to the difficulties in the demands posed for people in this situation. Findings – The paper outlines the current approach with outreach (“terrain”), engagement (“threshold”) and “accommodation” (support and rehab) services; and the challenges in transition from one to the next. Many systemic barriers remain for the re-integration of homeless people, stemming from attitudes within the community and amongst professionals, as much as a sheer lack of resources, or the psychological and emotional difficulties of the homeless themselves. Originality/value – There are few papers published internationally on homelessness in the new EU states. The similarity in the structure of services to what are sometimes called “staircase models” may therefore be instructive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the dynamics of inclusive approaches to housing development programs directed at supporting low-income communities.Design/methodology/approach This study uses a mixed-methods approach by employing a combination of case study and survey methods, whereby the development process is studied through qualitative approaches and specific determinant comparisons of quantitative Z-tests. This study provides data from key informants: end-users (ten occupants), leaders of community-based organizations (2), and supporting non-governmental organizations (2).Findings These results indicate that an inclusive approach is more likely be able to provide low-income households with access to a variety of key resources that are identified as housing development priorities, particularly when compared with the supply-side approaches currently being promoted.Practical implications This study helps to encourage policymakers to think about more targeted and facilitative processes to meet the needs of public housing in Indonesia, a challenge that has resulted in ironic effects, and has not met the important challenges in providing access that is adequate for the people of Indonesia.Originality/value The current study provides data that provide evidence of positive value of inclusive approach to response the equitable issues in housing provision, particularly in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consolidate policy, research, evidence and good practice around strategies tackling fuel poverty and affordable warmth for older people aged over 60 to support the development of more effective services for this life course stage and to tackle physical and mental health inequalities. Design/methodology/approach – The authors consolidate current policy, research, evidence and examples of good practice in exploring effective interprofessional approaches that contribute to affordable warmth for older people through “desktop analysis”. The authors support this with qualitative data from Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs), health inequalities and environmental health from research comprising four longitudinal case studies in the Midlands and North of England over 18 months and semi-structured interviews with members and support officers. A total of 50 interviews were undertaken and 55 hours of HWB meetings observed. Findings – There are numerous older people living in fuel poverty. The depth of fuel poverty increases with age particularly the over 75s and physical and mental ill health are affected. There are an increasing number of tools to help estimate health care costs around the cost effectiveness of interventions and there is a real need for more local evidence about what is working well, how and why. However, there is no mandatory requirement for fuel poverty strategies and more creative local strategies are required taking organisational and interprofessional relationships into account. The emphasis in integrated care provides new impetus and scope to encourage preventative services but these new partnerships need to be effective in what is a complex policy environment. There is still a long way to go in places. The challenges of ageing are numerous, complex and not fully understood and sit across multiple policy areas. Originality/value – Fuel poverty strategies tend to be delivered on a geographical or income bases rather than by life course approach and a focus on older people. We need to focus more specifically on older people, a rapidly growing population and to better understand thermal properties of our ageing housing stock and how best to intervene to protect and improve health and safety. Emerging approaches need to overcome artificial statutory and non statutory divides and move towards sustainable, evidence based affordable warmth strategies for older people to protect and improve health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of study is to explore how structural problems within housing supply and the marketisation of housing for the poorest and most vulnerable households affect households and can lead to negative outcomes for some households. The research highlights the experiences of out of area (OOA) households that can be below the radar in debates regarding housing crisis. Design/methodology/approach: The research features a case study approach focusing on the experiences of a single household, which is supplemented with an interview with the household's local authority housing manager. Additionally, freedom of information data is used to analyse the local authority placing the household OOA. The case study is transferable and the additional evidence validates the household's experiences. Findings: The research finds that OOA housing can be disruptive for households and negatively affect well-being as well as facilitate social cleansing. The case study, while examining the lived experience of OOA housing, also recognises structural causes of the housing crisis within neoliberal housing policy. Furthermore, the case study recognises the positions of local authorities placing households OOA and receiving these households. Originality/value: The research is original in using a case study to explore OOA housing. OOA housing is an under-researched area where households are not homeless but are housed in a manner detrimental to their well-being. The case study brings together interviews and freedom of information data to highlight findings currently missing in housing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to explore current interest in the concept of well-being, and to trace, with examples, the growing use of design ideas in healthcare settings to reduce stress and maximise efficiency. Finally, it seeks to look at the relevance or transferability of such design principles and approaches to opportunities to enhance well-being through design in community settings. Design/methodology/approach - The potential in this approach is illustrated with some examples of design approaches applied in healthcare, teasing out the wider implications with ways to explore and arrange the patient journey, for example, or the "care pathway" for a vulnerable adult into a care or support service for maximum benefit. Findings - Thinking on enhancing well-being by design has been further advanced in applications in the health service, but a number of design concepts and approaches seem to promise similar benefits in community settings where issues in managing the health and well-being of vulnerable individuals are equally relevant. Originality/value - Design principles may be especially useful in current efforts towards creating dementia-friendly homes and communities, or "psychologically informed environments" in services for marginalized and excluded individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergent Housing First model, focused on new means of rapid rehousing of the homeless, is popular in North America among policy makers and the mass media. Yet little has been written on the Housing First model's transferability to Canadian municipalities. This report documents, analyses and interprets Toronto's Streets to Homes (S2H) programme, using primary and secondary research including semi-structured key informant interviews. The report concludes with a brief consideration of the article's implications for leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Slum upgrading has received intense attention in the Global South, particularly among stakeholders. This study aims to examine government policy priorities towards slum management with the view of establishing its level of commitment in terms of measures undertaken and identify specific policies to structure the sector. Design/methodology/approach: The study systematically reviewed national policies, guided by the frequency statistics method in identifying key issues relating to slums management. Content analysis was used to identify findings into themes and discussed in line with the study's objectives. Findings: The results revealed the government's determination to upgrade the existing slums, with the establishment of a Ministry for Inner City and Zongo Development to facilitate collaboration between stakeholders in the value chain of slum management. Furthermore, the study established government's resolve to strengthen the Local Government Act, 1993, and the National Development Planning Act, 1994 within context to pave way for slums upgrading. Research limitations/implications: The study used a national policy framework to inform the conclusion reached. Further studies are needed in similar contexts to understand the inputs of government and stakeholders and their contributions towards slum management. This would further expand the frontiers of knowledge in the domain. Practical implications: The findings revealed policy-driven that can be used by policymakers, practitioners, housing managers and other relevant stakeholders to create workable policies for slum management. Originality/value: This study provides first insight into government commitment to slums management using national policy documents in context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the experiences of urban poor relocatees in their resettlement communities, specifically those who were relocated from the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela and Quezon City areas to the province of Bulacan, Philippines. This study hopes to convey the importance of revisiting the law on socialized housing in the Philippines. Design/methodology/approach: This study gathered qualitative data through 2 focus group discussions among 28 participants who came from 3 resettlement sites in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan Province, Philippines. The resettlement areas are owned and managed by the National Housing Authority of the Philippine Government. Findings: Results show that resettlement experiences are stories of survival under impoverished conditions. Lack of housing facilities or poorly built units characterize their relocation experience aside from having no immediate access to basic utilities such as electricity and water, despite a law that supposedly secures these rights to relocatees. The expensive cost of transportation and the lack of livelihood also heavily strain the lives of the relocated population. Originality/value: This study illustrates that involuntary displacement predicts poor living conditions upon resettlement. This study is an inquiry not only of existing conditions of socialized housing in resettlement areas but also past realities of these housing communities at the onset of the displacees' relocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this qualitative systematic review is to examine how the nature and quality of housing affect adults receiving support for mental health problems, focusing on the less considered structural aspects of housing. Design/methodology/approach -- A systematic search identified relevant research. Data consisting exclusively of service-user testimony was taken from seven studies based in varied types of accommodation in England. A synthesis was carried out using thematic analysis, and a conceptual model developed based on the themes identified from the data. A literature review examines the context, with relevant material drawn from a variety of disciplines and professions. Findings -- There were three main determinants of whether housing was a setting that enabled users to benefit from support and enjoy a good quality of life -- "autonomy", "domain", and "facilitation". Secondary themes influenced these primary themes, or described respondents' condition or feelings in relation to their housing situation. The "Tripod Model" illustrates the relationships between these themes. Research limitations/implications -- Applying systematic review methods to qualitative material proved contentious and challenging. The model produced is a hypothesis based on limited data and requiring further investigation. Practical implications -- The findings suggest that a balance is required to increase the chances of successful and sustainable housing outcomes for service-users. Originality/value -- The model enables a holistic understanding of issues affecting service-users, and the interdependent nature of these. It offers a new typology based on a synthesis of data drawn from a spectrum of accommodation, which gives it a breadth a single piece of research could not encompass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four routes or pathways have now been identified by which individuals may come within the scope of PSA 16 National Indicator 149, which is concerned with monitoring efforts to achieve settled accommodation for individuals with significant mental health problems. This article focuses on their needs and the identification of those with mental health needs as seen through these four principal routes. An understanding of these four possible pathways can help to identify areas for priority action, local delivery chains and partnerships, and also highlight some of the challenges and risks in and for delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]