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Although refugees in the UK are highly susceptible to the triad of factors – low income, poor housing and high energy bills – that produce vulnerability to energy deprivation, literature on this issue is rare. We therefore propose a framework towards understanding the role of “non-energy” policies as drivers of energy deprivation among UK refugees, using the conceptual lenses of deservingness, welfare chauvinism and domicide to demonstrate how the condition has been deliberately produced under the UK government’s Hostile Environment approach. We argue that this approach not only damages the physical materiality of housing and the emotional space of home, but also deleteriously impacts upon refugees’ ability to access adequate energy services. Energy deprivation thus emerges as a hidden consequence of policies that normalize precarious housing, a denial of rights, and inadequate incomes, in which “home” becomes a site of exclusion that achieves the Hostile Environment’s goal – making everyday life unbearable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the lead–lag relationships between the levels of housing affordability of different regions of the U.K. By utilizing government data, a number of housing affordability indicators are constructed to explore whether spatial diffusion exists between different regional submarkets of first-time homebuyers over the period of 2000 – 2021. The results reveal that during periods of economic expansion, housing unaffordability tended to diffuse from regions of slower economic growth to regions of higher economic development. It is further evident that in the aftermath of the GFC, the London housing market Granger-caused other regional markets in terms of housing (un)affordability. Lastly, the U.K'.s decision to leave the EU in 2016 seems to have led to more divergence between the submarket regions, which in a Granger causal sense, have become less causally correlated in terms of pricing. We conjecture that the causal interactions between the different regional housing submarkets exist with the lead–lag relationships governed primarily by their underlying macroeconomic fundamentals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research indicates an association between the introduction of Universal Credit in the UK and increased financial hardship among claimants. This policy change embodies key changes in welfare policy and ideology taking place across Europe and worldwide. This study investigates the association between housing insecurity and claiming Universal Credit in comparison to Housing Benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance. To examine changes in housing insecurity trajectories before and after the introduction of Universal Credit, we apply a difference-in-differences fixed effects logistic regression research design to Understanding Society data (2009–2020) on benefit claimants in England. We compare how Universal Credit claimants' likelihood of housing insecurity changes over time compared to other benefit claimants. We find that claiming Universal Credit does indeed have a significant effect on increasing housing insecurity in comparison to claiming Housing Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance. This effect varied across different scenarios, including a larger effect for people with disabilities and claimants moving from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit. These findings demonstrate that the Universal Credit system negatively impacts particular population groups more than others, placing these claimants at disproportionate risk of experiencing housing insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With Wales considered 'the blackest spot on the tuberculosis map' of Britain, the Welsh National Memorial Association (WNMA) was founded in 1910 with the aim to rid Wales of the disease within a generation. Although the Association's vision of a national health service was lauded by contemporaries as providing a model for England, as the WNMA took over the running of tuberculosis services from local authorities, it met with resistance from county and rural district councils. This essay explores this resistance. In placing the views and work of county and rural district councils at the centre of analysis this essay uses Wales and opposition to the WNMA as a case study to rethink the marginalization of county councils and rural district councils in histories of local government, public health, and housing policy in a pivotal period of central-location relations. As this essay shows, the opposition county and rural district councils expressed to the WNMA was not a straightforward rejection of centralization by authorities on the margins of 'the modern'. Rather, they put forward a competing vision of health and social welfare that championed local autonomy and a strategy of prevention focused on the material and domestic environment and housing reform. As the essay shows, opponents of the WNMA were not backwoodsmen. They were part of a wider national and progressive social reform movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gendered understandings of housing transitions amongst women and especially amongst those in substance use disorder recovery are under-researched. To address this gap, this study explores the multifaceted challenges and pathways to housing stability amongst women in substance use disorder recovery in the UK. Through qualitative analysis of life course interviews with 15 women in recovery, it becomes evident that housing insecurity, instability, and frequent transitions are common experiences. The women in the sample faced housing instability, ranging from temporary supported accommodations to homelessness. Notably, escaping negative relationships with male partners emerged as a primary cause of homelessness among these women. What this article highlights, which has not been found elsewhere to date, is that housing transitions are essentially a social process for women in recovery. This study highlights the social dimension of housing transitions. The potency of social capital and social networks in determining housing stability and security amongst women is emphasised as they exchange negative forms of social capital for positive forms of social capital. Recommendations stemming from this study include the need for drug recovery and housing policies to integrate gender-specific strategies to adequately support women in recovery. Further, they need to adopt a broader perspective, emphasizing the importance of fostering positive social connections and networks when considering housing options for individuals in recovery. For women who have spent a long time in supported residential and therapeutic environments, there is a need to develop a scaffolded support system to help women transition to independent living. The utilisation of recovery capital (and CHIME) as frameworks may provide a basis upon which to map out holistic and sustainable pathways to housing stability and security for women in recovery due to their acknowledgement of interconnected and related life domains that produce change and transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial number of dwellings in the UK have poor building fabric, leading to higher carbon emissions, fuel expenses, and the risk of cold homes. To tackle these challenges, domestic energy efficiency policies are being implemented. One effective approach is the use of energy models, which enable sensitivity analysis to provide valuable insights for policymakers. This study employed dynamic thermal simulation models for 32 housing archetypes representative of solid-walled homes in the UK to calculate the heat loss and the sensitivity coefficient per building fabric feature, after which a metric Heat Loss Sensitivity (HLS) index was established to guide the selection of retrofit features for each archetype. The building fabric features' inputs were then adjusted to establish both lower and upper bounds, simulating low and high performance levels, to predict the how space heating energy demand varies. The analysis was extended by replicating the process with various scenarios considering climates, window-to-wall ratios, and overshadowing. The findings highlight the external wall as the primary consideration in retrofitting due to its high HLS index, even at high window-to-wall ratios. It was also established that dwelling type is important in retrofit decision-making, with floor and loft retrofits having a high HLS index in bungalows. Furthermore, the analysis underlines the necessity for Standard Assessment Procedure assessors to evaluate loft U-value and air permeability rates prior to implementing retrofit measures, given the significance of these factors in the lower and upper bounds analysis. Researchers globally can replicate the HLS index approach, facilitating the implementation of housing retrofit policies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the relationship between housing wealth and residential satisfaction. Using household panel survey data from the UK, we find that individuals' asymmetric responses to changes in housing wealth distribution, that is, loss aversion experienced by the worse-off group, could offset the gain from an increase in housing wealth at the aggregate level. Consequently, housing wealth growth does not necessarily improve residential satisfaction for society as a whole if it leads to housing wealth inequality. Given the significant impact of housing wealth distribution on residential satisfaction, it is important to consider housing wealth inequality in making public policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Right to Buy', a large-scale natural experiment whereby incumbent tenants in public housing could buy properties at heavily subsidised prices, increased the United Kingdom homeownership rate by over 10 percentage points between its 1980 introduction and the 1990s. This paper studies the impact of this reform on crime by leveraging exogenous variation in eligibility for the policy. Results show that Right to Buy generated significant property crime reductions. Behavioural changes of incumbent tenants and renovation of public properties were the main drivers of this crime reduction. This is evidence of a novel means by which subsidised homeownership and housing policy can reduce criminality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to illustrate how the housing system in the United Kingdom (UK) has contributed to creating vulnerabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Drawing on the concept of ontological security we look at how living with housing insecurity whilst enduring poor housing conditions has impacted the lives of those living in households. The paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with 50 residents and 8 housing professionals. The findings outline the grinding impact of the pandemic on the ontological security of residents and the coping strategies adopted by a wider range of households who are now increasingly vulnerable. A number of people went into lockdown in vulnerable situations, experiencing deep inequalities and living in poorly maintained homes. This has weakened the ontological security experienced by many households. These represent significant failings of the housing system and housing policy impacting on the health and wellbeing of a wider cohort of people creating additional vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of the 'residualisation' of social housing, in terms of residents' income, employment status and class relative to the rest of the population, is one of the best known trends of the housing system in the UK and in many other nations over the past half century. The idea of residualisation and the presumption of its inevitability have become widely accepted, and formed a negative frame for social housing policy. However Pearce and Vine (2014) have shown that in terms of income, the residualisation of social housing in England stopped in 1991. This paper confirms and extends that work using multiple published data sources. These show consistent evidence of convergence over the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s between social tenants and the English national averages in terms of not only income but also employment status and class. Potential explanations, including the restructuring of housing markets, demographic change, and changing labour markets, are briefly explored. Most recently, there some signs that deresidualisation itself may have stopped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most significant episode in the assetisation of housing (underpinning its financialisation) is often understood to be the economic restructuring that took place during the 1980s – particularly deregulation of the banking sector and credit liberalisation. Research has reported on the housing 'investor subject' that emerged during this time, as an integral part of the transition towards financialised economies. This article provides new evidence about the housing consumer subject, and its place in this transition, by drilling into UK housing policy history and its discourses around the consumer relationship with housing. Using archive data from the Parliamentary and National Archives alongside interviews with key informers, we illustrate three cases of housing policy development in which the consumer demand for, and relationship with, housing is discursively reconditioned. We conclude that the housing investor subject was pursued in housing policy reform and its discourses well before the 1980s and the economic reforms commonly identified as the causes of financialisation. In addition, these discourses are found to have been reconditioned in order to align with broader macroeconomic policy concerns of the time. The article therefore provides a rare view of assetisation from within the state apparatus, revealing how housing policy and its discourses around consumption became functionally integrated within wider macroeconomic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues of domestic space standards and occupancy levels rarely receive much attention in debates about UK housing and planning policies. This is exemplified by examining the history of space and occupancy standards as applied in England, demonstrating that standards have been under-specified, partial in coverage, and applied inconsistently. The outcomes are seen in the production of relatively small homes, overcrowding and (perversely) extensive under-occupation, residential dissatisfaction and mobility. Evidence for the health and wellbeing impacts of space shortages highlights the consequences for infectious diseases, particularly respiratory illness, mental health and stress, and educational attainment. Moreover, the mediating and moderating roles of domestic space upon the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic show the crucial importance of space and occupancy standards for health, wellbeing and learning in a future where more time is spent at home. Areas of future research are identified which together could help address a probable underestimate of the current health sector costs of inadequate domestic space, this being an important lever for policy action. Such evidence, including crucially more from the UK itself, has an important role to play if stronger, more effective policies are to be developed and implemented in this area in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article advances the notion of 'the substitutive state' to explore the changing character of state institutions and state action in the context of neoliberalization. This understanding is contrasted with alternative accounts of state neoliberalization such as 'the regulatory state' and 'the competition state'. It focuses upon the UK, and three domains of economic statecraft in particular: industrial policy (primarily the May government's 2017 industrial strategy), housing policy (primarily extensive support for mortgage lending and borrowing since the 2008 financial crisis) and private pensions policy (primarily the establishment of state-owned pension scheme providers in the context of 'automatic enrolment' regulations). The article argues that state action in the UK increasingly encompasses new mechanisms for intervention in the private economy. However, associated policy practices are rarely strategic or purposeful. Interventionist mechanisms are often populated by the private economic actors implicated in the problem intervention is designed to solve, or are used to relieve the private sector from serving unprofitable market segments. Substitutive statism is aligned with a wider accumulation regime which state actors perceive as immutable; they are therefore willing to intervene to sustain this regime, irrespective of market signals. In short, state institutions have a more expansive interventionist footprint, but are doing less with more. In contrast to accounts of 'the neoliberal state', we should not assume that these institutions add up to ' the state', albeit a state with neoliberal characteristics. State action has always been a central, organizing element of neoliberalism, although its form has evolved as neoliberal ideas confront capitalist accumulation in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on mental health geographies and housing has focused on pattern and distribution, rather than social and cultural constructions of home. Here we attempt to understand meanings and roles of home for individuals with mental illness in the UK within the context of a deep-seated housing crisis. The discussion is sharpened by the notion of the ambiguous home, ranging from a place for retreat, separation or even isolation from the world, with experiences of recovery, stability or wellness, to home as something more negative, in which distress or illness flourished, and in which people became entrapped or from which they sought relief. Three themes crosscut this range of experiences: home as material object; home as relational; and home as rhythm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty, poor housing and poor health are complexly interconnected in a cycle that has proven resistant to intervention by housing providers or policy makers. Research often focuses on the impacts of the physical housing defects, particularly upon rates of (physical) illness and disease. There has been comparatively little research into the ways in which housing services can underpin the generation of positive health and, especially, wellbeing. Drawing on qualitative data from 75 tenants in the social and private rented sectors, this paper describes the findings of a research project that tracked tenants' experiences across their first year in a new tenancy in Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The project collected data on tenants' perceptions of housing and housing service quality, financial coping and health and wellbeing, which was analysed using the principles of Realist Evaluation to elucidate impacts and causal pathways. Being able to establish a sense of home was key to tenants' wellbeing. The home provided many tenants with a recuperative space in which to shelter from daily stressors and was a source of autonomy and social status. A sense of home was underpinned by aspects of the housing service, property quality and affordability which are potentially amenable to intervention by housing providers. These findings raise questions about the extent to which social housing providers and the private rental market in the UK are able to meet the needs of vulnerable tenants. They suggest that approaches to housing provision that go beyond providing a basic dwelling are needed to successfully intervene in the cycle of poverty, poor housing and poor health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines trends in the operation and financial performance of major UK housebuilders shortly before, during and after the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008. It outlines two contrasting explanations of what has happened in the sector over this period. The first is described as an 'institutional recovery' perspective, in which a period of initial retrenchment after the crash was followed by steady reinvestment, and then a cautious move back to growth by the major housebuilding companies. This is set against what we describe as a 'financialised recovery' perspective. This explanation stems from our own analysis of the annual accounts of major UK housebuilders since 2005. It reveals the impact of the intensive financialisation of a sector initially weakened by the GFC, but where the strategic primacy of maximising shareholder value has been asserted more strongly than before. Our analysis of dividend payments post-GFC reveals this in the starkest of terms. We suggest that the sector has been in more robust financial health than implied by the 'institutional recovery' narrative, but that significant value is being extracted out of these companies, and indeed the sector overall, by institutional investors. The analysis provides unique insights into the financialisation of housing production, an issue which to date has received only limited attention. We reflect on the implications of identified trends for housing supply in the UK. We also sketch future research possibilities to examine the ongoing impact of intensive financialisation and the capital flows into, and out of, major housebuilders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing number of students in higher education, the student housing market has been becoming increasingly competitive and diversified. This intensification has led housing providers to supply all‐inclusive energy packages (i.e., the inclusion of electricity, gas, and water in the rent cost) to their tenants as a selling point. By connecting the geographies of students and energy, this paper aims to assess the magnitude of all‐inclusive energy packages and its effects on students' residential choices. Based on an online survey distributed to students at Loughborough University (UK), the paper shows that 80% of housing occupied by students is energy‐inclusive. These rental commodities are strongly considered by students, particularly new university entrants, in their housing choices, 70% of whom considered all‐inclusive rent to be an important factor in their residential choice. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that all‐inclusive energy packages are extensively provided throughout the student housing market: from the low‐energy efficient houses in multiple occupancy to the newly developed purpose‐built student accommodation. Finally, the paper underpins how providing energy‐inclusive rent tends to produce energy inequities by shielding some students from being in fuel poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing is a paradigmatic example of a social determinant of health, as it influences and is influenced by structural determinants, such as social, macroeconomic, and public policies, politics, education, income, and ethnicity/race, all intersecting to shaping the health and well-being of populations. It can therefore be argued that housing policy is critically linked to health policy. However, the extent to which this linkage is understood and addressed in public policies is limited and highly diverse across and within countries. This analysis seeks to describe the linkages between housing policies and health and well-being using examples from three countries at different levels of the wealth spectrum: Singapore, the UK, and Kenya. We conducted a comparative policy analysis across three country contexts (Singapore, the UK, and Kenya) to document the extent to which housing policies address health and well-being, highlighting commonalities and differences among them. To guide our analysis, we used the United Nations (UN) definition of adequate housing as it offers a broad framework to analyze the impact of housing on health and well-being. The anatomy of housing policies has a strong correlation to the provision of adequate housing across Singapore, the UK, and Kenya, especially for vulnerable groups. The paper demonstrates that contextual factors including population composition (i.e., aging versus youthful), political ideologies, legal frameworks (i.e., welfare versus market-based provision of housing), and presence (or absence) of adequate, quality, timely, reliable, robust data systems for decision-making, which are taken up by stakeholders/state, have strong implications of the type of housing policies developed and implemented, in turn directly and indirectly impacting the overall health and well-being of populations. This analysis demonstrates the value of viewing housing policies as public health policies that could significantly impact the health and well-being of populations, especially vulnerable groups. Moreover, the findings highlight the importance of the Health in All Policies approach to facilitate integrated policy responses to address social determinants of health such as housing. This is more critical than ever, given the context of the global pandemic that has led to worsening overall health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its heyday in the 1970s, Britain's council housing sector provided homes to 40 per cent of the British population before falling victim to privatization, which changed homes for Britain's workers into commodities subject to property speculation. The fraction of the original council housing stock that has been preserved serves the needs of the society's most vulnerable. However, the concept of council housing as social housing is a later one; originally, council estates were designed for aspirational workers and were intended as mixed communities, with working and middle-class residents living side by side. Taking a historical perspective, the article maps the development of the concept of council housing in Britain from the original idea, inspired by garden cities such as Letchworth or Welwyn Garden City, to the gradual changes to both the design of council estates and their intended purpose that transformed the once socially desirable housing type into a symbol of social failure and deprivation. The recent tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire is used as a case in point to illustrate this process of change. In addition to historical research, the paper draws on recent sociological reports and newspaper articles dealing with the issue of Britain's council housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contributes to the debate about the centrality of home ownership in conceptualising and understanding the contemporary political economy through the introduction of a social harm framework. It demonstrates how the focus on social harm offers a more holistic view of the harmful consequences of the privileging of home ownership within the context of political economy. It does so, firstly, by demonstrating the negative medium- and long-term social harms of current housing policies in the UK, namely financial/economic harm, cultural safety and physical, emotional and psychological harms. Secondly, it is possible to draw attention to these harms for individuals or groups that seemingly believe, or are commonly seen to have, benefited from the current structure of home ownership in the UK. And thirdly, it highlights the transformative potential of the social harm approach in terms of developing an alternative to the current variety of residential capitalism in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late 20th century, homeownership became entrenched in a wider societal project that sought to transform the economy and increase social inclusion. This project focused on mortgaged owner-occupation as a means not only to acquire a stable home, but also to realise greater economic security via asset accumulation. The underlying ideology featured an implicit promise that homeownership would be widespread, equalising and secure. Despite transformations in market conditions, such narratives have continued to underscore policy approaches and housing marketisation. This article directly confronts this promise. It first unpacks its key tenets before investigating their currency across three classic 'homeowner societies': the US, the UK and Australia. Our empirical findings reveal declining access to homeownership, increasing inequalities in concentrations of housing wealth and intensifying house-price volatility undermining asset security. The article contends that the imperative of homeownership that has sustained housing policy since the 1970s may be increasingly considered a 'false promise'. Our analyses expose contemporary housing market dynamics that instead appear to enhance inequality and insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite widespread recognition that housing is a serious social concern, policy responses have tended to be inadequate. After a brief review of the magnitude of the problem, this paper focuses on recent experience in the UK where, during a period of political volatility, housing has been the subject of significant government interventions, which in turn have provoked noteworthy reactions. However, the paper argues that all current mainstream housing policy proposals are limited by their adherence to the failed market model. Instead, a more radical agenda is proposed which draws on the UK's successful record of public housing. The paper summarises some of the key Conservative government housing policies since 2016 - including the influence of the Grenfell fire - and discusses the Labour Party's response. It particularly critiques the policies of London Mayor Sadiq Khan which relegate traditional council housing in favour of more income-targeted provision. A high-profile report by the housing charity Shelter is also considered because of its apparent reluctance to include explicit reference to council housing within its recommendations, at a time when, it is argued, there is renewed interest in non-market housing alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a year's research across the width and breadth of the United Kingdom, a report was issued by the author to the Secretary of State for Housing to identify the ongoing problem for homelessness in the cities of the UK. On the back of this research across all four countries, a solution was developed to be implemented into the Mayoral cities so that local authorities had the opportunity to improve the lives of thousands of individuals currently in temporary accommodation or living rough. The presentation looks at the areas and methods of research and the interactions with the various bodies of stakeholders, both affected and affecting the current state of affairs and how the solution was developed by looking at the people that can and do make a difference for a better future for so many worse off than others. Mark will take you on the whole journey, from initiating the idea, through to the roll out of the plan, its acceptance into government and then the extended impact it had as the report reached all points of the globe as further requests for support and assistance came in. The delegates will be engaged from the first minute to the last on how the change process was applied to stimulate the change, how the various bodies chose their own forms of communication and how they shared the news internally and externally with their own community stakeholders to ensure they made a real difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper applies a novel analytical co-evolutionary framework for the first time empirically. • The analysis focuses on the zero carbon homes policy mix in the UK. • The paper produces novel insights about the effects of policy mix credibility on socio-technical change. • The paper proposes conceptual refinements to the co-evolutionary framework about the interaction of exogenous conditions. Understanding how policy and policy-making processes can influence the speed and direction of socio-technical change is an important, yet underexplored research agenda in the field of sustainability transitions. This paper is the first application of a novel analytical framework which conceptualises the co-evolutionary dynamics of policy mixes and socio-technical systems, by complementing the sustainability transitions and policy mix literatures with insights from policy feedback theory. Our paper is an in-depth empirical case study of the zero carbon homes policy mix in the UK which sought to promote radical change in the UK house building system. Our paper makes three contributions. First, it makes an empirical contribution by analysing an example of an ambitious policy strategy in the housing sector where various policy effects and feedback mechanisms led to a loss of political support for the target, eventually leading to its abandonment, and only limited change within the socio-technical system. Second, our paper produces novel insights about the effects of policy mix credibility on socio-technical change, and the underlying feedback mechanisms which influence its formation and loss. Finally, based on our empirical analysis we propose conceptual refinements to the co-evolutionary framework and suggest avenues for future research explaining the dynamics of feedbacks between policy mixes and socio-technical systems. From the empirical analysis a key finding is that policy mixes need to be effectively designed in order to produce positive feedback from the outset, through the creation of resources, provision of clear information and the creation of credibility, and reforming conflicting institutional supports. In the case, ineffective initial design led to uncertainty and inertia, which did not generate sufficient positive feedback to withstand adverse economic and political conditions later on, which ultimately contributed to the abandonment of the policy mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions, being hazardous, are triggering social concerns which have led to the creation of international treaties to address climate change. Similarly, the United Kingdom under the Climate Change Act (2008) has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emission by at least 80% over 1990 levels by 2050. However, being the oldest member of the EU states (before Brexit), the UK has the oldest housing stock, which contributes to 45% of its carbon emissions due to the older dwellings. To address this issue low carbon retrofitting is needed. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the barriers and enablers to energy efficiency retrofitting in social housing in London, UK based on the perception of experts employed in National and construction companies with an experience that ranges between 6 to 16 years. Initial literature suggested that the problem of energy efficiency retrofitting in the general building stock has been addressed, however little has been reported on its application to social housing. This paper, therefore, groups the barriers and enablers into seven categories that include: financial matters, Technical, IT, Government policy and regulation, social factors (including awareness of the energy efficiency agenda), quality of workmanship and disruption to residents, using literature review, interviews and surveys with key stakeholders within the housing sector, and draws recommendations to enable effective and efficient retrofitting for social housing projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multiple and contested subjectivities underpin different visions for the commons. • Visions for the commons are diverse and may be minimalist or maximalist. • Older and long-term members were more maximalist than younger members. • Over 40 years, a housing cooperative shifted towards a minimalist vision. • Neoliberalisation was seen as a reason for changing visions and subjectivities. How can a long-standing cooperative respond to changes in society over time, and how do these changes affect the management of the cooperative? We looked at the visions, daily life and policies in a housing cooperative in the UK established in the 1970s and found a messy process that required constant negotiation and involved diverse subjectivities. We identified different visions of the commons: a minimalist vision focusing on housing alone, and a maximalist one, diffusing boundaries between the personal and the collective and involving many aspects of members' lives. These visions have always existed in the cooperative, but the general trend was towards minimalism. Behind the changes are members' changing subjectivities, reflecting changing processes of subject formation in relation to state and market. We found that difference in subjectivities was often displayed along generational lines, and affected commoners' visions of the commons. Although the cooperative changed some of its practices to fit the more minimalist vision, it still endured as a form of commons that is resilient to challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, private renting has undergone a major revival in the UK, more than doubling its share within the housing system. Young adults increasingly remain in the sector into their 30s, giving rise to the term 'Generation Rent'. Using data from the UK's Family Resources Survey, this article shows how reliance on the sector varies by poverty status, particularly for young adults and children. In 2017/18, 42 per cent of adults under 40 in low-income poverty lived in private renting, compared with just 26 per cent of non-poor. This is almost double the proportion of 20 years earlier. Private renting is now home to more poor adults under 40 than owner occupation and social renting combined. In addition, one in three children in poverty (36 per cent) now lives in private renting, three times the level of 20 years ago. For both adults and children, rates are even higher in London and the South. Although rates of increase have slowed in recent years, this dramatic shift in the housing circumstances of those in poverty has a number of implications for housing and social policy which have not yet been sufficiently recognised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how dominant narratives of the housing crisis, since the 2008 banking crisis in England, have been created and what actions taken in its name. The paper deconstructs the term "crisis", highlighting that its meaning has evolved from a critical moment to a protracted narrative which must be understood historically. Through discourse analysis into housing and party political policy, media and think tank reports, we argue that the employment of housing crisis by the government and others perceives it as an outcome of housing supply constraints and over‐regulation—narratives that have justified subsequent policy actions aimed at propping up the housing and financial systems, opening new avenues for housing commodification, deregulation and financialisation and reproducing crisis anew. However, we note that these narratives can also break down and space can be created for the articulation of new narratives which refocus housing crises as emerging from inequality and class divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undocumented migrants often experience how their spatial vulnerability continues across their life trajectories through different forms of displacements in the form of forced migration, being at risk of deportation and being victims of gentrification or policies that make it difficult to find a stable housing situation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Sweden and the UK, the paper shows how weak the position of undocumented migrants is on the housing market through recently established policies in the UK which criminalizes the letting of housing to undocumented migrants and the practice of sharing address information between the social services and the border police in Sweden. This intervention argues that these policies that construct spatial vulnerabilities locally are connected to national and transnational policies of displacement globally and suggest that "displaceability", the potential of being displaced, is a strategy for governing vulnerable groups at every scale where governing takes place. Consequently, this intervention suggests that displaceability can help us capture the universal, interconnected experience of spatial vulnerability shared by many differently positioned groups in the world who are susceptible to forced mobility or removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the failure of the zero carbon homes agenda in the UK and argue that it represents a case of policy dismantling, where a range of policies and programmes have been introduced, revised and then removed by government. We bring together the sustainability transitions literature with the literature on policy dismantling, regime resistance and regime detractors, and suggest that the zero carbon housing agenda in the UK offers useful insights into the politics of sustainability transitions. We identify three phases of policy change, from policy expansion, symbolic dismantling and eventual active policy dismantling. In the conclusions we offer some suggestions on processes of policy dismantling and what this might mean for future sustainability transitions given the significant contributions of buildings to greenhouse gas emissions and the urgent need for rapid low carbon transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Housing is a major influence on health. Housing tenure is associated with housing conditions, affordability, and security and is an important dimension of housing. In the UK there have been profound changes in both housing conditions and the distribution of households by tenure over the past century, that is during the lifetimes of the current population., Methods: We firstly reviewed and summarise changes in housing conditions, housing policy and tenure distribution as they provide a context to possible explanations for health variations by housing tenure, including health related selection into different tenure types. We then use 2015-2021 data from a large nationally representative UK survey to analyse associations between housing tenure and self-reported disability among those aged 40-69 controlling for other socio-demographic factors also associated with health. We additionally examine changes in the association between housing tenure and self-reported disability in the population aged 25 and over in the first two decades of the 21st century and project trends forward to 2030., Results: Results show that associations between housing tenure and disability by tenure were stronger than for any other indicator of socio-economic position considered with owner-occupiers having the best, and social renters the worst, health. Differences were particularly marked in reported mental health conditions and in economic activity, with 28% of social renters being economically inactive due to health problems, compared with 4% of owner-occupiers. Rates of disability have increased over time, and become increasingly polarised by tenure. By 2020 the age standardised disability rate among tenants of social housing was over twice as high as that for owner occupiers, with projections indicating further increases in both levels, and differentials in, disability by 2030., Discussion: These results have substantial implications for housing providers, local authorities and for public health., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Murphy and Grundy.)

Cohesion and integration agendas in Britain can be characterised by localisation of 'race relations' responsibilities and the importance of local institutions in shaping neighbourhoods has been acknowledged. However, little is understood about the roles of housing providers in integration initiatives. Indeed, research on housing and race has experienced a lull in the 2000s. Thus, this paper aims to examine how social housing providers negotiate their positions and are complicit in constructing a certain vision of community. It draws on interviews from the ESRC Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE)'s work in the ethnically diverse neighbourhoods of Cheetham Hill (Manchester), Newham (London), Butetown (Cardiff) and Pollokshields and Govanhill (Glasgow). The paper makes three arguments: first, that race and ethnicity as facets of 'integration' have been subsumed into broader agendas, yet remain implicit in community building; second, that housing organisation practices are often detached from local meanings of community and prioritise exclusionary activities focusing on behaviour change and, third, that the roles of housing organisations in constructing 'integrated' communities are highly variable and localised, influenced by the history and contemporary dynamics of place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squatting movements erupted in Britain, Canada and Australia during 1946. Frustrated by government inaction in the face of severe housing shortages, homeless families in the three countries defied the civil and military authorities and occupied empty service camps as places to live. This article identifies similarities and differences in the actions of the participants, many of whom were ex-servicemen; what they achieved; the role of public opinion in the events; how the three governments reacted; and how far the squatters influenced housing policies. These squatting movements were important campaigns for the respective communist parties just before the onset of the Cold War. The article explores the relationships between squatters, ex-service organizations and Communists, examines the extent to which activists in the three countries may have influenced each other, and discusses the failed attempts by the CPs to extend the occupations to private property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive Summary: Discussion of the UK's housing crisis is of long date, and tends to focus on a simple story about a mismatch in housing supply and demand and the consequent need to build more homes. Yet the reality is more complex with multiple sub-plots including social housing, stress in the private rented sector, benefits, subsidies and ultimately taxation of home ownership. At the bottom of the market, the crisis is real and acute, as manifested in a sharp increase in homelessness and rough sleeping. The inescapable answer is to increase the depleted stock of social housing and widen eligibility criteria. An increase of 100,000 social units a year in England would help address this problem, as well as alleviate the financial squeeze on tenants of the private rented sector, whose number has grown sharply in the past 15 years in tandem with a steep rise in the housing benefit bill. Recent efforts to curb housing benefit have further increased distress, so it will be necessary to consider increasing benefits again alongside regulatory interventions with private landlords. In the home ownership market, recent government intervention has taken the form of the much-criticised Help-to-Buy Equity Loan scheme. This market policy to support new-build homes should be wound down and replaced by a scheme to endow all young people with a capital sum that they could use for second-hand homes as well. More generally, a more sophisticated approach to planning home-building is needed, both for assessing overall numbers and their regional distribution and in financing the supporting infrastructure. But none of these measures is a panacea for a housing crisis that is in large part a symptom of problems in the wider economy, such as low relative wages for young people, a lack of clarity about environmental issues, and failing places. A successful policy package to address the distorted structure of the housing market must also grasp the most difficult nettle of all – namely the way the tax benefits of owner-occupation incentivise overconsumption of housing and a widening wealth gap between renters and home owners, and between owners in different parts of the country. If we spend more to help those who struggle to afford decent housing, then it is only just to raise more taxation from those who benefit from restrictions on housing supply – whether through reform to council tax, a wider wealth tax or a limited form of Capital Gains Tax on principal residences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a hypothetical case study based around the benchmark land value assessments within the landmark Parkhurst Road, London, case decided in the High Court in April 2018. It attempts to illustrate how developers were gaming the system and how the 2014 Planning Practice Guidance aided them to do that. The discussion centres on the extent to which new 2018 National Planning Guidance has addressed the identified flaws and what additional changes might be needed to that guidance to solve any outstanding problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this article is the development of neighborhood planning in England, in particular its guiding principle of local people as rational actors. The article looks at neighborhood planning in its own terms; that is, it looks at the rationality of engagement in a new system that seeks to tip the balance of rationality in favor of communities following the UK government's aims of overcoming local resistance to the development of new housing. While there is evidence that neighborhood planning is enjoying some success, this is a delicate settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Internal migration is one of the main drivers of local population change and therefore an important factor to consider in the provision of services across key domains such as housing, health and education. In recent years, the population of England and Wales has become increasingly ethnically diverse, with groups varying in age structure and time spent in the UK (whether at the group or individual level). However, relatively little is known about the internal migration patterns of these diverse groups, with research into internal migration propensity not accounting for the possible interplay between ethnicity, country of birth and age. Using micro‐data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales, this paper addresses this gap in knowledge, exploring whether widely reported determinants of internal migration operate differently for different ethnic groups, stratified by age and country of birth. This paper also explores whether for ethnic minority groups born overseas, time spent in the UK matters for migration propensity. When stratifying ethnic groups by age and country of birth, differences in migration propensity do not appear to be explained by socio‐economic differences, as previous research in the field suggests. However, for those born overseas, some of the differences are explained by time spent in the UK. From a policy perspective, it is evident that a more nuanced understanding of the way in which propensity to migrate may vary between ethnic groups differing in age and country of birth is needed to ensure sustained provision and equitable access across key service domains. Further research must examine the extent to which differences in migration propensity shapes the nature of migration events, whether in terms of distance or frequency of move. This paper examines differences in the propensity to move short (less than 10 km) and long (10 km or more) distance between ethnic groups differentiated by age and country of birth. It reports on whether determinants of migration vary between those groups, and whether time spent in the UK matters for foreign‐born ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Set against a background of failing housing markets and years of austerity, with spending cuts to many of the public services traditionally involved in housing, the UK Government's ambition to deliver 300,000 new homes a year was always going to be a challenge. At the same time however, a programme of devolution to city regional bodies across England has provided the opportunity to test new approaches to support housing growth, with the potential for innovation and more tailored interventions designed around the needs of a specific place. This paper uses experience in the Sheffield City Region to illustrate the challenges and opportunities for housing growth in one part of the country as well as the interventions being developed to address these. The paper sets out some of the geographic and economic factors shaping the housing sector in the city region, and the role that housing growth has come to play in the wider economic ambitions for the area. It then describes some of the plans and programmes being developed to encourage the development of new homes and the success of a pilot Housing Fund could have in overcoming problems where national programmes have failed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an exploration into the financial conditions of the housing market in Great Britain throughout the first half of the 20th century. The parallels between the housing crisis being addressed in the 1950s and that of the post-World War I era are outlined, with additional data examining the interim period between the wars. An overview of statistical data is provided for housing materials and labor costs through the various time frames. Additional mention is given to the market forces which led to recovery, including private enterprise growth, local authority housing contracts, and other government subsidies.

Drawing on and developing Kingdon's multiple streams analysis, this article examines the development of one aspect of the UK's low cost home ownership programme: shared ownership. We demonstrate how key human and non-human policy entrepreneurs were able to set the agenda from 1973-1983 in favour of shared ownership; they neutralized the alternatives, while retaining some of their instruments; and solved a number of early problems by bringing key players into the programme. Our data-sets include a range of archival material and elite interviews. The policy entrepreneurs included John Stanley (who was the housing minister in the First Thatcher government), the National Federation of Housing Associations, and the Building Societies Association. Our development of the multiple streams analysis is to argue that documents, including the lease, act as policy entrepreneurs in their own right. The lease was central to the development of shared ownership and its transformation into a model lease enrolled other organizations, most critically the building societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates the influence of building fabric, services and occupant related factors on actual energy use of six case study dwellings, located in three new low energy social housing developments in UK, covering a variety of built forms and construction systems (timber frame, hempcrete, steel-frame). Physical monitoring of indoor environment and window-opening is cross-related with building fabric and systems’ performance, and qualitative data gathered through occupant surveys, review of control interfaces and handover guidance, to understand the causes of the gap between modelled and measured energy use. Actual energy use is found to exceed design expectations by a factor of three, questioning the need for whole-house mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) systems at measured air permeability rates of 6 m³/(h.m²) against the design target of 3 m³/(h.m²). Lack of proper commissioning of MVHR and heating systems, combined with inadequate user comprehension about their operation and control leads to occupant ‘misuse’ wherein systems are de-activated, thereby negatively affecting indoor air quality. This is confounded by occupant factors related to higher demand temperatures, unexpected opening of windows during winters due to under-performance of MVHR combined with habitual behaviours, and over-use of heating systems to compensate for higher than expected air permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Immigration Act 2016 has heralded an era of amplified Government intervention into day‐to‐day life, placing increased responsibility for border protection on UK citizens. Using interviews with representatives from the field of housing in Scotland, this paper examines one specific aspect of the Immigration Act 2016, the Right to Rent scheme. We investigate how the Right to Rent creates a precarious environment for all those who may appear to be non‐UK citizens. We argue that it may endorse senses of fantasy citizenship to inculcate people into acting on behalf of the state and is a driver for further division in society. Scotland provides a particularly interesting case study, as housing is a devolved power, but immigration is not. This creates an additional layer of tension in our interview data, as housing organisations are faced with a set of conditions imposed from Westminster, infringing on a field that Scotland has self‐determined for some time. Our interviews illustrate the level of confusion around the scheme, the fact that it is increasing criminalisation in the housing sector, and stresses that the scheme is offloading state responsibility for border protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]