Social Housing Essay

Communities and Local Government. 2007. An International Review of Homelessness and Social Housing Policy. London

Much of these change have been focussed on achieving wider access to welfare benefits and having a tenancy to live in supported homes. The aim of supported living practice like mencap to achieve choice, control and community inclusion has been much less of a focus. The result has been a focus on the housing ‘mechanics’ and as a consequence housing rights are often denied in, institutional practices continue in supported living and community inclusion and networks are not achieved by

The last quarter of a century has seen a significant change in Dundee’s housing tenure. In 1981, less than 40% of dwelling stock was owner occupied. By 2010, this had risen to 61%. Although there has been a similar pattern of change across much of Europe, the change has been particularly dramatic in Dundee, and indeed Scotland. Mirroring changes in cultural attitudes toward home ownership, two structural factors have contributed to this shift. The introduction of the right to buy for public authority tenants in 1979 coupled with the decline of local authority new build, and the increased contribution of private sector house building.

This policy brief is prepared to give some insights of the housing affordability problem in Australia. In addition, the paper also suggests some approaches in which the Government should consider in tackling the issue in the Australian context. Housing affordability always

The report of “the Housing Authority’s Well-off Tenants Policies” was published by the Transport and Housing Bureau in 2013. In this report, it stated that

Housing affordability is a perennial problem in Australia and has worsened significantly over the past three decades.

Compare and contrast sociological and economic descriptions of homes and housing. The approach towards descriptions of homes and housing taken from either sociological or economical point of view can be very closely related. One aspect that links it all together are the different layers of inequality exposed as one aims to look at the similarities and differences explored in the Investigating the Social World 1 (Murji, K. 2015). Looking at the consequences for individuals and societies, the impact it may oppose on future and how the problems are analysed in first place we may begin to understand that social divisions also plays an important role.

Although there have been laws penalising unlawful eviction and harassment since 1924, the legislation to protect residential occupiers against unlawful eviction and harassment was not introduced until mid-1960s after ‘Rachmanism’ entered the English language. Hence as a result of policy moves in last two decades, most tenants in residential accommodation actually have a lot of legal protection against rogue landlords under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977(PEA), Protection from Harassment Act 1997(PHA), Housing Act 1988(HA) and Criminal Law Act 1977(CLA). Yet, according to figures from Shelter , despite Local Authorities (LA) had the powers they needed to deal with such unscrupulous landlords, just 487 out of an estimated 1.2 million landlords in England were prosecuted in year 2011/12. This remarkably low figure has picture out the ineffectiveness the power of LA in dealing with illegal eviction and harassment issues. However these figures might tell us a little if anything as we have to take into account that, especially in the regulatory sphere, prosecution might not be the most holistic approach and there might be many other approaches to deal with these matters. These approaches and reasons will be discuss later as it is crucial to first analyse the effectiveness of the LA’s power.

A research by Institute of public policy on social housing in 2008 (cited by Diaz 2008) found that 60% of migrants who arrived in UK lived in private rented housing. Local government Association in 2007 reported that many migrant workers renting privately or living in accommodation provided by their employers were living in overcrowded housing that is in poor state of repair and very often the property is at risk of fire. This was further reinforced by Spencer et al (2007) that poor housing conditions and overcrowding were commonly experienced by migrants while in some cases landlords were responsible for the overcrowding, in others migrants chose to sublet in order to reduce housing cost.

A place to call home, a concept that much of society aspires to. A home is a sanctuary, a place to raise a family; home after all, is where the heart belongs. However, does the notion that a house is make a house any less of a home than a house that is owner occupied? Housing policy during the latter part of the 20th century began to shift towards owner occupation. One policy in particular completely changed the face of housing, it brought about the biggest shake up in housing history. The Conservative Government’s ‘Right to Buy’ scheme or ‘Council House Privatisation’ as written in (Baldock, Mitton, Manning & Vickerstaff, 2012), formed part of the Housing Act 1980, the then secretary of state for the environment, Michael Heseltine, stated "This bill lays the foundations for one of the most important social revolutions of this century” (Jones, 2011). Therefore, this essay will answer the question can the “Right to Buy” policy as introduced

Social divisions are one of, if not, the main political concerns within out society today. Policies have been implemented to try and overcome these social issues but as will be discussed and argued in this essay, it is clear that either current government legislation isn’t working, or not enough work is being done locally and in government to tackle the problem. This essay will discuss the social class divide as a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (2010) describes how people living in poverty and who are looked at as members of the lower social class are targets of prejudice and injustice in Scotland. I will focus on the inequalities that exist within these socially constructed groups, such as wealth, health, and

A private sector rent is high and means it can be hard for residents to secure suitable accommodation. Lower income households may be at greater risk of debt, arrears and potentially homelessness and also more likely to end up in insecure, overcrowded or sub-standard accommodation. There is a correlation between housing tenure and health, with those in social housing experiencing poorer health, as well as faring less well with other determinants of health and wellbeing, such as income and employment.

The lack of housing access was a serious problem, hence the government undertakes mulitple measures to tackle the massive housing shortage inherited from the colonial government to ensure that all of its citizens had access to affordable housing.[1]

We all experience issues regarding an encumbrance on our property once in our lifetime. It might be when we want to purchase a house, rent it to live in for uncertain time period, sell our property, or rent out to some other party. In all such cases, many issues arise for which many factors can be held responsible, including market value; behavior of buyers, sellers, renters, tenants, landlords; policies of housing associations, environmental hazards, locality, and government legislations (Peppercorn & Taffin, 2013). Renting and buying is one of the biggest issues in real estate that not only the associations have failed to overcome but the government also seems helpless in this regard. Rhetorically, it involves finances, location, legality, etc. However, these social and legal factors then cause serious problems for the two parties involved in such agreements and contracts.

“Affordability is not simply a matter of housing costs and income levels; it is about people’s ability to obtain housing and to stay in it” (Housing New Zealand Corporation, 2005). Affordability is concerned with different standard at a