Social Housing: Evidence Review
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This is a repository copy of Social Housing: Evidence Review. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/136236/ Monograph: Tunstall, Rebecca Katharine orcid.org/0000-0001-8095-8080 and Pleace, Nicholas orcid.org/0000-0002-2133-2667 (2018) Social Housing: Evidence Review. Research Report. University of York , York. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Social Housing Evidence Review Rebecca Tunstall Nicholas Pleace September 2018 Copyright © University of York, 2018 All rights reserved. Reproduction of this report by photocopying or electronic means for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Otherwise, no part of this report may be reproduced, adapted, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York. Published by Centre for Housing Policy University of York Telephone: 01904 321480 YO10 5DD Website: https://www.york.ac.uk/chp ISBN: 978-1-9164369-2-3 Acknowledgements Our thanks to MHCLG for the opportunity to undertake this piece of work and to Max Tollemache, Jenny Boler and Melissa Cock within MHCLG for their assistance with this work. Our thanks to our colleagues, Julie Rugg who is a contributing author to this report, and Deborah Quilgars for her comments on the draft report. Professor Rebecca Tunstall Professor Nicholas Pleace September 2018 i Disclaimer This review was carried out within a short timeframe, using a rapid evidence review methodology. The work is based solely on desk research, secondary sources and existing analysis. The assessments expressed in this review do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government or the University of York. Responsibility for any errors and omissions lies with the authors. ii Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... i Disclaimer .......................................................................................................... ii Figures and Tables ................................................................................................ ix Summary ......................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 Summary .................................................................................................................... 1 A new focus on social housing ................................................................................... 1 The aims of this review .............................................................................................. 2 The methods and sources used ................................................................................. 3 Gaps in evidence ........................................................................................................ 4 The content of the report .......................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 Social housing in England in 2018 ...................................................... 7 Summary .................................................................................................................... 7 The definition of ‘social housing’ ............................................................................... 8 The scale of social housing ......................................................................................... 9 The owners and managers of social housing in England ......................................... 11 Local authorities ................................................................................................... 12 Housing associations ............................................................................................ 13 The size of social landlords ...................................................................................... 15 The variety of social housing and social landlords .................................................. 16 Chapter 3 The growth of social housing in England ........................................... 21 Summary .................................................................................................................. 21 The era of growth..................................................................................................... 21 Unexpected challenges ............................................................................................ 23 The emergence of problems in some estates ...................................................... 23 The causes of the problems in some estates ....................................................... 24 Chapter 4 The restructuring and improvement of social housing ....................... 27 Summary .................................................................................................................. 27 Restructuring and improvement.............................................................................. 27 The Right to Buy ....................................................................................................... 28 Stock transfer ........................................................................................................... 29 New building ............................................................................................................ 29 Improvements in management ............................................................................... 30 Improvements in less popular estates ..................................................................... 31 Further restructuring of social housing ownership and management .................... 32 iii Transfers .............................................................................................................. 32 ALMOs .................................................................................................................. 32 Improvements in quality and management ........................................................ 33 Rent ...................................................................................................................... 33 Regulation ............................................................................................................ 33 Continued questioning about the need for social housing ................................. 34 Chapter 5 Current social housing policy ............................................................ 35 Summary .................................................................................................................. 35 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 35 A slow-down in transfer and reversal of ALMOs ..................................................... 35 New policies ............................................................................................................. 36 Funding ................................................................................................................ 36 Affordable rent housing ....................................................................................... 37 A reinvigorated Right to Buy ................................................................................ 37 Flexible tenancies ................................................................................................. 38 Housing benefit and Universal Credit .................................................................. 38 Rents .................................................................................................................... 38 Housing association status and social housing regulation .................................. 39 Chapter 6 Resident and public attitudes to social housing................................. 41 Summary .................................................................................................................. 41 Resident satisfaction with social housing ................................................................ 41 Socal renters’ satisfaction with their homes ....................................................... 41 Social renters’ satisfaction with their neighbourhoods ....................................... 43 Social renters’ satisfaction with social renting as a tenure ................................. 44 Public beliefs about and attitudes to social housing ............................................... 46 Public tenure preferences .................................................................................... 47 Public views on social renting .............................................................................