This session promises a range of interesting discussions around different roles in housing, including public-private partnerships, the role of the housing professional, and the shifting responsibilities of private landlords. The full abstracts are below.
Presentations from these authors and a live Q&A session are available to all HSA members. Book here
1. Sana Malik, Ruhizal Roosli & Nor'aini Yusof Institutional Stakeholder Collaborations (ISCs) as Implementation Idea: Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Collaborative approaches in Affordable Housing Provision
Affordable housing calls for collaboration, multipronged and concerted effort from all stakeholders. Due to poor coordination and isolated engagement networks among stakeholders in many developing countries, the practice of Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in housing provision does not engage other associated stakeholders like architects, planners, builders, and financial institutions in an institutional manner. The present research offers analytical debate in the context of affordable housing provision by reviewing concepts of PPP and Stakeholder Collaborations (SC), prototypes of affordable housing through SC and scrutinizing the scholarships of theoretical frameworks associated with collaborations. The paper argues that it is the call of the time to investigate the issue holistically and suggest policy frameworks to go beyond the conventional PPP agenda towards Institutional Stakeholder Collaborations (ISCs) to attain sustainable development of affordable housing. Discussions suggest that it is crucial to take all the stakeholders under one umbrella for meeting the challenge of limited affordable housing supply through ISCs by shared understanding and legitimate control of resource interdependence.
2. Ruth Lucas The Housing Crisis and Redefining the Role of the Housing Professional in England
There is a general consensus that there is a housing crisis in England. Affordability concerns, stymied access to home ownership, the financialisation of housing markets, the rise in private renting, and the increase in housing waiting list all being indicators of housing market problems. Research on the crisis to date has largely considered how the financing of housing impacts home ownership, the private rental markets and demand for social housing. Little consideration has been given to the crisis for the working practice and skills of social housing professionals. This paper focuses on strategic leaders in social housing and how the crisis has changed the context they operate in, their roles and the skills they need to undertake them. Today’s leaders are faced with managing organisations in probably the most uncertain era the sector has ever faced. Yet the housing crisis is not homogenous, but is a myriad of different crises, dependent on location, organisational structure and governance. Where delivery means working in partnership and the push for numbers has to be balanced with quality. Based on recently conducted interviews and focus groups held with a range of housing organisations this paper seeks to explore how professionals within the sector currently see its challenges, the skills they identify that the new generation of housing professionals will need, and how housing professionals’ aspirations may be changing in response to these challenges and opportunities.
3. Tom Simcock and Axel Kaehne Private landlords and welfare reforms in England and Wales: Shifting roles, risks and responsibilities
Recent Governments in the UK, Labour, Coalition and Conservative, have all introduced housing-related welfare reforms that affect the private rented sector (PRS). Including the roll-out of Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the cap and then freeze to LHA, the expansion of the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) and most recently the introduction of Universal Credit. The objectives of these reforms are varied, including reducing the cost to the state, being more transparent, but also devolving control and responsibility to claimants. Drawing on a survey of 2,229 private landlords across England and Wales, this paper examines the response to and impact of welfare reforms on private landlords. The paper further examines the reasons why landlords are unwilling to let to benefit claimants, the measures that would encourage them to continue in this area of the PRS, and the potential conflict between these measures and the policy objective of devolving control and responsibility to claimants. Finally, the paper will consider the changing role of private landlords, the blurring of responsibility of private/state provision, and the implications of the findings for policy and practice.