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A study of the clashes between property owners and poor tenants in Minneapolis and St. Paul aimed at improving the handling of neighbourhood development programs and organizations is presented. The citizen participation organizations, conventionally meant to protect low income neighbourhoods, are increasingly trying to entice middle class owners. These owner-dominated institutions have reduced subsidized rental housing and made it difficult for the low income people to afford houses in the inner cities.

Focus groups help in obtaining feedback on how well a housing program will be accepted by its prospective participants. Through focus groups, program administrators can gather information to be used as basis for the successful implementation of the program, with potential problems identified through the sessions already addressed even before these difficulties come up. Focus groups also helps program administrators determine if participants fully understand the provisions and limitations of the programs so that complaints can be avoided in the future. Ideally, a group should have only six to 12 participants. An experienced moderator should be hired to supervise the group. A right place and an acceptable agenda should be set. The session should be recorded, and the results should be used and shared. A case study is presented on how a focus group session helped in successfully implementing a particular housing program in Athens, GA.

During the 1980s, about 30 per cent of the council housing stock of Great Britain was sold to sitting tenants. The popular areas for purchase and the popular types of property were semi-detached and terraced houses rather than flats or maisonettes, away from the large conurbations. The types of household most likely to buy were married couples with adult children in skilled occupations. This large scale selling of council housing led to the fear of a residual poor population, living in flats in inner cities. Since nearly half of Afro Caribbean households were living in council housing and since their pattern of housing was the obverse of the types that sold in large numbers, it was thought that they would be among the residualised households. The paper reports on field survey and special GHS data which show that Afro Caribbeans are more rather than less willing to buy their council homes, once property type has been controlled for. It also argues that, in some circumstances, the right to buy may act against residualisation. However, a particularly residualised group appears to be Caribbean single mothers in high rise blocks.

Resident management of public housing may soon be cast aside as another good idea that has fallen short of expectations. The practice of residents taking charge of their lives and living environments first emerged in 1971 as a result of a long struggle between the Boston Housing Authority and the organized residents of the Bromley-Heath development. It spread to other public housing developments and was embraced by conservative policy makers and politicians. It eventually became a key component of the federal public housing policy of the Bush Administration. In the process of turning from a handful of grass roots efforts to a major national initiative, the concept of resident management had been distorted into bad policy. Instead of remaining a program to be implemented only in appropriate situations, federal legislation in 1988 and 1990 has turned it into top-down program with a formulaic approach that must be followed.

Maryland's 'Partnership Rental Housing Program' engages state and local governments and housing authorities as developers and owners of affordable quality housing in the state. The program, managed by the Community Development Administration, has helped finance nearly 700 units in 26 developments since its inception in 1989. It serves low-income household members who are employed and those who have a fixed income, but cannot afford housing offered in the open market. One of the most important aspects of the program is required tenant participation, which commonly involves both community service and project maintenance. The initiative was cited by the National Council of State Housing Agencies as the most outstanding state rental housing production program of 1993.

Selling council houses has become the most common way for the British government to privatize its assets. Council house sales in the UK were valued at 3.4 million pounds sterling in 1989 and are expected to total 800 million pounds sterling in 1993. Council housing's national value as rental housing and its replacement cost have also increased dramatically to 40 billion and 100 billion pounds sterling, respectively. The government introduced several capital and revenue controls to protect the assets from loss. A large-scale voluntary program has also been developed to ensure that the value of the housing assets are maximized.

The Dept of Housing and Urban Development has to take aggressive measures to make more public units available to a greater number of low-income households. The US currently has a shortage of 4.1 million affordable housing units. The number of low-rent units has been declining, dropping by 1.3 million units between 1970 and 1990. The number of households on waiting lists across the country has grown to over one million. Among the issues that the HUD should consider are funding reductions for the locality's contributions to new public housing programs, the development of site and neighborhood standards, a review of housing rehabilitation guidelines, and public housing compliance with state and local codes. In addition, the HUD should also review its Total Development Costs and its requirements for unit mix, building siting, configuration and type substitution.

The Evansville Housing Authority's (EHA) vacancy problem was resolved when it revamped its Management and Maintenance Depts. As of the start of 1993, EHA posted a 7% vacancy rate (82 vacant units) that translated to an annual loss of $110,759. Because of too many vacancies, the housing authority almost lost a drug elimination grant and was kept from becoming an outstanding performer under PHMAP. EHA finally decided that the situation could not continue any longer and embarked on a project to review all operations of its Management and Maintenance Depts. Several management intake procedures were found to be too bureaucratic and outdated and were immediately discarded. Efforts were also made to eliminate the Maintenance Dept's backlog of vacancies that had accumulated over the years. EHA's efforts were rewarded by the drop of the vacancy rate to 2% and the enhancement of employee morale and self-esteem.

The National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing based its recommendations on the assumption that distressed public housing should be renovated. The Commission did not consider alternatives such as replacing public housing with housing vouchers, which could be beneficial in reducing the concentration of poverty in public housing developments. Public housing that is not yet distressed should be preserved when it is cost-effective, through measures such as physical repairs, improved social services and better management. However, policies that improve the mobility of the poor should also be considered.

The activities and services of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp's NeigborWorks network organizations are described. The NeigborWorks network has 181 organizations in 350 neighborhoods in 151 cities. It has successfully reconstructed over 110,000 housing units and has become the largest neighborhood improvement organization in the US. NeigborWorks together with private and public organizations and volunteers, assists many public housing tenants become homeowners by raising funds to grant loans to individuals who have difficulty obtaining these from banks and help public housing tenants find low-interest rehabilitation loans and mortgages. In addition, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp has mutual housing associations which enable tenants to live in their homes indefinitely with the option of transferring this privilage to family members.

Public housing remains buried in a mire of problems. Although public funds may be used to eradicate drugs, gangs and violence in public housing projects, it takes more than money to alleviate these obstacles. These troubles were actually perpetrated by real estate officials and conservative politicians who insisted that only poor people be accepted as tenants in the housing projects. As such, public housing became politically out of favor which eventually led to poor design, poor maintenance, racial separation, stigmatization and further isolation of the poor. On the other hand, liberals should also take part of the blame for allowing the incapable and paternalistic management of public housing that promoted tenant dependency and lack of community. To remedy the condition, tenant management and ownership should be advocated such that they gain control and power to improve the physical and social conditions in their housing buildings.

Summary. This paper presents the results of a survey of tenants' associations in six local authority areas in Britain. The aim is to dispel the prevalent notion that there is a common reason for the formation of tenants' associations and that they travel a similar evolutionary path. Rather the paper aims to show that tenants' groups are formed for a variety of reasons and can follow a number of paths. It draws particular attention to the actions and attitudes of housing managers and councillors which can have a vital influence on whether tenants' groups can achieve their goals.

The voluntary transfer of council housing was introduced by the UK government in 1990 as an extension of the Right To Buy introduced in 1980. It allows local authorities to sell their property to private landlords or housing associations at a discount. The scheme is expected to become increasingly important. The study examines the sensitivity of valuations as regards certain to factors, such as inflation and rent levels. It concludes that the government should implement a safety net for housing association finance and publish information on key variables affecting valuations.

The Corpus Christi, Texas, Housing Authority has launched 'Target Independence,' an innovative demonstration program that aims to test the use of incentives to reward public housing families that improve their lives through employment and education. The program permits public housing families that have diligently attempted to break the cycle of poverty to transfer to an upscale apartment complex run by the housing authority at approximately the same rent as their previous housing development. The criteria used for selection are centered around the idea that families that have displayed outstanding community role model characteristics should be rewarded.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) admits that a problem with the continued instances of segregation and discrimination in housing has been due, in part, to lax efforts on the part of HUD to enforce fair housing and anti-discrimination strategies. The incidence of segregation and discrimination have been allowed to exist due to problems in HUD enforcement of compliance with Title VI and VII by public housing authorities (PHAs). A new program, The Public Housing Affirmative Compliance Action (PHACA) program, is a new initiative by HUD to give PHAs the ability to conduct their own Title VI Compliance reviews and take action to promote desegregation.

The history of legislative efforts to promote fair housing and end discrimination date back to the passage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed the rights of people to buy, rent, and sell real property regardless of their race. President John K. Kennedy started the most recent legislative efforts to promote fair housing in 1962 when he issued an executive order promoting equal opportunity in housing. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Section VI forbade discrimination in housing receiving federal assistance, and the Supreme Court in 1968 disallowed discrimination in all housing, public and private. Other major legislation that promoted fair housing includes the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

The sale of council dwellings under the right to buy has been a prominent feature of the privatisation policies of the Thatcher governments. The impact of such changes in the ownership and control of dwellings remains a subject of considerable debate. Whilst there is now substantial evidence on the short term effects of council house sales, the longer term impacts on dwellings and households have largely been a matter for speculation. This paper explores some of the central policy and theoretical issues through new research evidence on dwellings sold by local authorities in the late sixties and early seventies. In particular it focuses on what has happened to households and dwellings since privatisation, the political orientation of those households and on attitudes towards and experiences of state provision. In general it presents a picture of continuity and stability rather than dramatic change and transformation following privatisation.

Data from the authors' qualitative study of decision-making in low income households casts new light on council house sales in a least-favoured housing estate. Under pressure from rising rents and rumours of privatisation, poor tenants are deciding to buy their houses as a way of securing their future in the area and controlling their personal environment, rather than as an escape from a residual 'ghetto' of welfare housing. This raises a number of issues in relation to current theories about housing tenure, especially those which distinguish sharply between the material and ideological bases of owner occupation and local authority tenancy. The authors argue that their respondents' reasons for wanting to buy do not constitute a rejection of collectivism as much as an attempt to preserve the endangered advantages of their situation on the estate.

Public housing authorities (PHAs) are charged with providing affordable rental housing to low income people, but also have the duty of fostering responsibility in the tenants of PHAs. Typically, resident responsibility is associated with resident management and ownership, but to foster responsibility amongst PHA residents, individuals must want change to happen and the individual must have the power to control change and take steps to affect change. The goal of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make one million PHA residents into home owners within two years is flawed in that the timetable is too optimistic. PHA residents must be educated in responsibility by moving them along a continuum of resident responsibility to prepare them for independence and self-sufficiency.

'A housing saving scheme, designed according to the needs and ability of the lower income households, would induce them to save ante factum for housing' but 'legal ownership of the land ... remains an issue to be resolved' -- a case study in the municipal area of the capital of Bangladesh.

The New Orleans flood disaster is unique in modern times, with the scale of devastation unprecedented for a natural disaster in the US. The reconstruction experiences following other urban disasters, which can provide lessons for the reconstruction of New Orleans, are discussed.