Wednesday 7 December 2011

Housing Law and Policy - By David Cowan

Abstract: This new book by David Cowan integrates understanding of law and policy so that reader can see how the subject fits together - both the letter of the law and the way it is used. Readers are guided through the complexities of housing law by a leading academic who has researched the subject for more than twenty years.
It acknowledges the many official and unofficial linkages between law and policy to give a fuller picture of decision-making and regulation in housing.
David Cowan is Professor of Law and Policy at the University of Bristol, and a barrister at Arden Chambers. He has published widely in the area of housing and related research, and acted as a consultant to the England and Wales Law Commision.
Further details are available from

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6472204/?site_locale=en_GB

HSA members who are interested in reviewing this book should contact martin.mcnally@chester.ac.uk
News from CCHPR (Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research)

Evaluation of FirstStop advice service for older people
The Government announced in 'Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England' that they will be investing a further £1.5 million in the FirstStop information and advice service. FirstStop is a free, independent service for older people, their families and carers and aims to help older people make informed decisions about their housing, care and support options and to help them maintain independent living in later life. The Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Service at the University of Cambridge has been working with FirstStop since 2009 to conduct an independent evaluation of the initiative with an action research approach and are delighted that the service has secured further funding.

Evaluation of Enhanced Housing Options Trailblazers report published

This project evaluated the implementation, operation and success of the Enhanced Housing Options Trailblazers programmes. This work was by CCHPR, with involvement from Birmingham University (Centre for Urban and Regional Analysis) and Shared Intelligence. The Enhanced Housing Options Trailblazers were run by DCLG with support from the DWP. The full evaluation report can be downloaded from CCHPR’s website.

New Affordable Homes: what, where and for whom have RPs been building between 1989 and 2009?

The New affordable homes report provides detailed retrospective analysis of the new homes built by Registered Providers in England over the period 1989 to 2009.
The research, funded jointly by the Tenant Services Authority and the HCA in February 2010, was carried out by a team drawn from the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge and the London School of Economics. The research used a wide range of data to investigate in detail what new homes were built by England’s Registered Providers, where these were located and who rented or bought them. In particular, the research:
  • Looked in detail at the types and sizes of new homes that were constructed and how these changed over time
  • Mapped where all these homes were built at the postcode level across the whole of England and linked this to new analyses of social deprivation and tenure mix
  • Used anonymous data on tenants analysed who were being allocated these new homes or who bought new low cost homes, including the social, economic and demographic characteristics of the households that moved into them
New publication: Residualisation of the social rented sector: some new evidence
Anna Clarke and Sarah Monk have published a new paper on residualisation of the social rented sector in the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis.


Please visit the CCHPR website to either download or obtain further details of these publications:http://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/

New book: "Neighbourhood Effects Research: New Perspectives"

By van Ham, M.; Manley, D.; Bailey, N.; Simpson, L.; Maclennan, D.
Spinger Verlag ISBN

Abstract: Over the last 25 years a vast body of literature has been published on neighbourhood effects: the idea that living in more deprived neighbourhoods has a negative effect on residents’ life chances over and above the effect of their individual characteristics. The volume of work not only reflects academic and policy interest in this topic, but also the fact that we are still no closer to answering the question of how important neighbourhood effects actually are. There is little doubt that these effects exist, but we do not know enough about the causal mechanisms which produce them, their relative importance in shaping individual’s life chances, the circumstances or conditions under which they are most important, or the most effective policy responses. Collectively, the chapters in this book offer new perspectives on these questions, and refocus the academic debate on neighbourhood effects. The book enriches the neighbourhood effects literature with insights from a wide range of disciplines and countries.

978-94-007-2308-5 http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/population+studies/book/978-94-007-2308-5?changeHeader
Localism: an opportunity for home building and community cohesion?
Papers are invited from early career researchers in town and regional planning and related disciplines for ‘Localism: an opportunity for home building and community cohesion?’, the second conference organised by the Department of Town and Regional Planning Research School at the University of Sheffield, taking place on the 25th May 2012, at the university’s Interdisciplinary Centre of the Social Sciences.

The Localism Bill brings to the fore the tension between development and local empowerment. The rhetoric surrounding the bill promotes an increase in housing supply in a manner that places the local community in direct contact with the planning process. Improving community cohesion at all levels of society is part of the Big Society objective and will be impacted upon by local development. This conference is designed to explore some of the tensions between economic growth, home building and local community cohesion.


Keynote speakers, including Professor Ian Cole, Sheffield Hallam University and Professor Nick Johnson, Urban Splash and the University of Sheffield, will provide a variety of theoretical and grounded perspectives on the conference themes. Additionally workshops will be used to explore a range of issues surrounding the conference theme from four perspectives: housing economics and home building; community cohesion and justice; planning for ‘Localism’ and housing lessons from non UK situations. The conference provides the opportunity for early career researchers, whether PhD students or researchers from outside academia, to present their research in a friendly and constructive environment. Each of the workshops will be supported by an academic member of staff from the University of Sheffield and will provide supportive and robust feedback.

Offers of papers (a title and 200 word abstract) should be emailed to r.j.dunning@sheffield.ac.uk (Richard Dunning) and c.maidment@sheffield.ac.uk (Chris Maidment) by 25th March 2012. We welcome papers covering the conference themes and also dealing with any other aspect of research corresponding to the four workshops. The conference fee is £15, covering attendance, lunch and an evening drinks reception. Places are limited and will be offered on a first come, first served basis, please email either Richard or Chris if you are interesting in attending. Thanks to the support of the Housing Studies Association five bursaries are also available, covering the full cost of the conference fee and up to £25 towards travel arrangements.
Two vacancies for fully funded 4-year Phd-Projects in Sociology at the University of Amsterdam (FMG, Department of Sociology and Anthropology)

Both PhD-projects will be carried out at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), Program Group Institutions, Inequalities and Internationalisation, and form part of the research project HOWCOME: The Interplay Between the Upward Trend in Home-Ownership and Income Inequality in Advanced Welfare Democracies: Interacting Causes and Consequences of Social Inequality in Different Institutional Settings. The project is financed by the European Research Council (ERC) in the framework of an ERC Starting Grant.
Further details are available from:
http://www.english.uva.nl/vacancies/vacancies.cfm
News for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive

The latest edition of the Housing Research Bulletin (Issue 12, autumn 2011) marks the Housing Executive’s 40th Anniversary, and summarises recently-published reports on:
  • House prices and affordability;
  • Community involvement opportunities offered by the Housing Community Network in Northern Ireland;
  • Attitudes to sustainable homes; and
  • The Forthspring Inter Community Survey, which looked at the attitudes of residents in an ‘interface’ area in Belfast on sharing space.
Earlier this year, the Housing Executive published reports on:
  • The future need and demand for appropriate models of accommodation and associated services for older people in Northern Ireland.
  • The Barn Halt supported living scheme for frail older people, Carrickfergus (summary also available).
  • Research assessing the potential for Equity Release for older owner-occupiers in Northern Ireland.
All publications are available from the NIHE website http://www.nihe.gov.uk/index.htm
ISA Research Committee 43 (Housing) at the ISA World Forum of Sociology: Social Justice and Democratization (Buenos Aries, Argentina, August 1-4 2012)

HSA members are invited to consider submitting an abstract (either an individual or a collaborative effort) for the ISA Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, taking place on 1 - 4 August 2012. Please follow the web link below for direct access to the conference website. Research Committee 43 (housing and the built environment) is preparing a parallel series of sessions on housing and will lalso run a joint session (with RC21 - urban neighbourhoods) on 'Housing and the right to the City'. Deadline for astract submission: December 15, 2011 Kenneth Gibb, President of RC43, is a co-organiser of this joint session, and if you would like to submit a paper for consideration at the joint session, please contact him directly ken.gibb@glasgow.ac.uk
If you wish
to submit an abstract for the conference, please follow the guidelines shown here. Please note that the deadline for submission is December 15, 2011. If you have any further questions about the conference, please contact Kenneth Gibb, or the local organisers of the conference (details on the conference website).
Conference website: http://www.isa-sociology.org/buenos-aires-2012/
TRP hosts Launch of New Book on Sustainable Cities

On Wednesday 16 December, there will be a launch at the University of Sheffield of The Future of Sustainable Cities: Critical Reflections, published by the Policy Press. The event is being supported by the Housing Studies Association, the Policy Press and the University of Sheffield. The book is co-edited by John Flint of the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield and Mike Raco of the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London.
The book has brought together leading scholars to explore the vital issues currently confronting cities and to develop new ways of thinking about urban sustainability in a period of economic crisis and austerity. The audience at the launch will hear presentations from John Flint and Mike Raco, followed by a presentation from Professor Ian Cole of CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University, who will highlight how the ideas within the book could contribute to key debates about sustainable cities. The attendees will then take part in a round table discussion, which covers a wide range of topics including the challenges facing policy makers and academics, the economic, social and political consequences of the recession, and ideas for how urban sustainability may be pursued in the years ahead.
For further details about The Future of Sustainable Cities, see the Policy Press website at:
http://www.policypress.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781847426666&