New book: advanced notice of publication.

Finance for Housing: An Introduction. Cath Davis. Policy Press.

This much-needed text by an experienced author with a policy background is due to be published on 17 July 2013.

Current housing finance issues (and their history) are linked with broader social policy and political themes. It covers the finance of building and refurbishment; managing and maintaining property for all the different tenures (owner occupation, council housing, housing association and private renting), and discusses whether current arrangements are sustainable. Written for housing, social policy and politics students and staff, it is also accessible to anyone concerned about housing in Britain today.

Contents:

Part One:Overview chapters;

• Political choices and housing finance:
• The global financial crisis and the UK government's role

Part Two: Tenure based chapters

• Local authority general housing services and building work;
• Owner occupation;
• The changing fortunes of council housing;
• Housing associations;
• The private rented sector;

Part Three: Issues with housing costs

• 'Marginal' owner occupation;
• A variety of rents;
• Paying for housing with help from housing benefits
• Discussion: Is our housing system sustainable?

New book: Understanding Neighbourhood Dynamics: New Insights for Neighbourhood Effects Research by Maarten van Ham, David Manley, Nick Bailey, Ludi Simpson, Duncan Maclennan.

This rare interdisciplinary combination of research into neighbourhood dynamics and effects attempts to unravel the complex relationship between disadvantaged neighbourhoods and the life outcomes of the residents who live therein. It seeks to overcome the notorious difficulties of establishing an empirical causal relationship between living in a disadvantaged area and the poorer health and well-being often found in such places. There remains a widespread belief in neighbourhood effects: that living in a poorer area can adversely affect residents' life chances. These chapters caution that neighbourhood effects cannot be fully understood without a profound understanding of the changes to, and selective mobility into and out of, these areas. Featuring fresh research findings from a number of countries and data sources, including from the UK, Australia, Sweden and the USA, this book offers fresh perspectives on neighbourhood choice and dynamics, as well as new material for social scientists, geographers and policy makers alike. It enriches neighbourhood effects research with insights from the closely related, but currently largely separate, literature on neighbourhood dynamics.
Published by Springer. For further details click here

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

Housing Disadvantaged People? Insiders and Outsiders in French Social Housing

By Jane Ball
Between historic French revolutions and the modern riots, negotiated solutions to social dilemmas emerged. Despite progress in constitutional principles, complex local negotiations still ultimately determine who is housed. Local social landlords, mayors and employee and tenant representatives use their privileges to house their insiders: existing tenants, locals and employees, with rent insufficiently subsidized. ‘Insider Outsider’ theory is used for an economic analysis of exclusion in social housing allocation: its processes, institutional context, and stigmatizing effects. This highlights the spatial effects of nimbyism, excluding disadvantaged outsiders, and concentrating them in deprived areas. Simultaneously, urban regeneration reduced affordable housing stock and ‘social mix’ became a reason to refuse a social home.
History, comparative law, economic theory and local interviews with housing actors give a detailed picture of what happens in and around French social housing allocation for an interdisciplinary housing policy audience. Constitutional principles appear in an unfamiliar guise as negotiating positions, with the "right to property" supporting landlords and the "right to housing" supporting tenants. French debates about the function of social landlords are echoed across Europe and reflected in European policies concerning rights, and the exclusion of disadvantaged minorities.
Contents
1. Social Landlords and Insider Outsider Theory 2. Exploring the Function of Social Housing 3. The Historical Context: from Revolution to Rights 4. The Right to Housing in Context 5. Complex Institutions in the Grip of Change 6. Social Landlords and their Financing Problems 7. The Social Housing Allocation Process 8. Insiderness and Local Actors 9. Stigmatization and Outsiders 10. Housing Some of the Disadvantaged
Social housing appears to offer a solution for the housing of poor and disadvantaged people. The French "right to housing" offers poor and disadvantaged citizens priority in social housing allocation, and even a legal action against the State to obtain a social home. Despite this, France is suffering a long-lasting housing crisis with disadvantaged people having particular difficulties of access, often despite the efforts of local housing actors. This situation is affected by the European Court of Human Rights and EU decisions limiting diverse national housing and rental policies.
About the Author
Jane Ball is a senior lecturer at Sheffield University where she teaches several law courses concerning the organization of people on land. After 14 years in English legal practice she spent another 14 years researching the French housing scene, using an applied mix of public and private law, economic theory and empirical study.
Publishing September 2011 / Paperback: 978-0-415-55445-9 / £34.99

A copy of Jane's book is available for review. For further details please contact martin.mcnally@chester.ac.uk

NEW BOOKS

Understanding Housing Policy, Second Edition, by Brian Lund, Policy Press. ISBN-10: 184742631X ISBN-13: 978-1847426314 http://www.policypress.co.uk Price: £22.99
The second edition of Understanding Housing Policy has been completely revised and updated and includes a new chapter on the political processes involved in the construction and delivery of housing policies.
The new edition:
reviews a number of theoretical perspectives helpful in understanding the normative dimensions of housing policy;
examines explanations of policy development and implementation processes;
explores the development of housing policy in the United Kingdom;
contains a chapter on comparative housing policy;
examines a number of contemporary housing problems:affordability; homelessness; low demand and neighbourhood deprivation; overcrowding; multi-occupation; ‘decent’ homes and‘sustainable’ housing;
devotes a chapter to the relationship between housing and social justice;
includes an assessment of the impact of New Labour’s housing policies and the policy orientation of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition.
Updates are available at the author’s website: http://housingpolicy.moonfruit.com