- Report concludes that the fixed-term tenancies framework should be abandoned
- Making the connection between social housing and economic growth
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Posted 29.05.18
Welfare Conditionality: Article link
Social housing has been argued to be a key arena for various forms of conditionality aimed at regulating the conduct of low-income populations.
This paper summarises the findings from a five-year longitudinal study assessing the effectiveness and ethical legitimacy of the use of fixed-term tenancies (FTTs) and others forms of conditionality in the social housing sphere in England.
The report concludes that FTTs policy framework should be abandoned. It notes that it has no discernible positive impact on tenant behaviour, nor is it likely to generate substantial additional lettings for households in need, given that the overwhelming majority of FTTs will in all likelihood be renewed.
It argues that its only achievement is to instil varying levels of anxiety in social tenants, and to cause real distress to some.
The report further concludes that the government should not bring into force the relevant sections of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 that would compel local authorities to use FTTs in almost all new lets.
However, if this legislation is brought into force, complete exemptions for older people, those with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups should be made, and local authorities should have the ability to offer 10 year tenancies to all new social tenants.
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Posted 17.05.18
Forbes: Article link
Social housing is often viewed as a burden on the public purse. But is the opposite true, that the proper provision of social housing feeds into economic growth?
Deborah Talbot, a journalist specialising in urban and rural development, talks to author and social housing expert John Boughton.
Issues covered include how the creation of social or council housing interacted positively with economic growth - and why it's absence today isn't doing anything to create the conditions for social and economic dynamism in the UK.
John Boughton is the author of Municipal Dreams: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing and founder of the website Municipal Dreams.
