This paper provides a critical intervention into recent geographical debates on racial capitalism, interrogating the role that Housing Associations (HAs), the main form of UK social housing, play in ...its (re)production. Housing Associations are institutional, third‐sector spaces within which novel forms of financialisation and bordering take place. Race is central to these processes, but insufficient critical attention has been afforded to the intersections of class, race, and migratory status in extant research on UK HAs. Moreover, existing research into housing and racial capitalism is provincial in its North American focus, typically examining home ownership and private renting. We argue this is a significant lacuna given that new and multiple forms of racialised exclusion, inequality, and extraction cohere in social housing. There is accordingly a pressing need for a robust interrogation of racial capitalisms through UK HAs, and of the role of HAs via the conceptual lens of racial capitalism. In concluding, the paper argues for a new focus on ‘actually existing’ racial capitalisms, and the need for detailed analyses of the logics and practices of racial capitalisms across a variety of sites and scales, helping debates move beyond their conceptual heartland in North America.
The Financialization of A Social Housing Provider Aalbers, Manuel B.; Loon, Jannes Van; Fernandez, Rodrigo
International journal of urban and regional research,
July 2017, 2017-07-00, 20170701, Letnik:
41, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Why does a social housing provider bet on interest rate fluctuations? This article presents a case study of the financialization of both housing and the state. Social housing in the Netherlands is ...provided by non‐profit housing associations that have since 1989 been set apart from the state. Many associations started developing housing for profit, borrowing on global capital markets or buying derivatives. Whereas other semi‐public institutions moved into the world of finance due to financial constraints, housing associations did so to capitalize on the possibilities offered by their asset‐rich portfolios. Vestia, the largest of them all, is an extreme––but not exceptional––case of what can happen when public goals are left to be realized by inadequately supervised and poorly managed private organizations. As a result of gambling on derivatives, Vestia had to be bailed out to the tune of over 2 billion euros. To recoup the losses, housing was sold off and rents were raised. Almost half of Dutch housing associations used derivatives, although most refrained from using them purely speculatively. The changes in the housing sector that led to its financialization cannot be separated from the wider financialization of the state.
Contemporary approaches to counter homelessness push for a housing-led model that is seen as more progressive and less punitive than traditional approaches. Few studies have however investigated its ...translation on the ground. In this paper we aim to do so by studying the implementation of a housing-led approach in the Netherlands; in a context of housing shortages and health care austerity. By building on qualitative interviews with people (previously) experiencing homelessness and professional stakeholders, we argue that while a regular home is a much-needed improvement to emergency shelters and institutions, housing contracts are often conditional and used as disciplinary instruments restricting what people are allowed to do in their own home. Care and screening services are increasingly executed by housing associations and the local police, further entwining housing, care and punishment. Intersecting with local housing shortages and insufficient health care this becomes a barrier to a more effective and humane approach to homelessness. These findings contribute to theories on urban governance by showing how the management of the poor is extended to the private domain.
The aim of this research is to explore how social housing associations can introduce circular strategies and integrate social elements, next to ecological elements, within these strategies. In order ...to investigate this aim, this paper first explores the circular strategy options that can be adopted by housing associations. Thereafter, the paper explores how social elements can be integrated within these strategies via the establishment of relationships with communities in the network of housing associations. By performing an in-depth case study, we identified potential circular strategies for housing associations and indicate how community relationships could be established within these strategies. The findings highlight that community relationships in the vision formulation and activities involved in the execution of circular strategies may assist in creating synergies between the ecological aims of circular strategies and the perspectives and needs of communities. On the other hand, the results indicate that not establishing relationships with communities or only establishing relationships in the strategy outcomes may be detrimental to both community needs and the ecological aims of circular strategies.
•Circular strategies need to integrate both social and ecological elements.•The identified circular strategy options only limitedly included social elements.•Social elements could be integrated through relationships with communities.•The type of community relationships effected the integration of social elements.•The main challenge was to find synergies between social and ecological elements.
Since 2010 the English planning system, like others across Europe, has undergone a series of market- oriented reforms. There has been a concerted attempt to make state organisations, and those in ...receipt of public funds, more entrepreneurial and financially proactive and independent. This paper focuses on one manifestation of these wider trends - the regulation of English Housing Associations HAs as examples of organisations that are under pressure to take on more financial risks and deliver a wider range of affordable housing for communities in need. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research, the paper assesses some of the regulatory and governmental challenges that emerge in using market-led forms of coordination. It examines the role of new regulators and the ways which they seek to 'co- produce' regulations with HAs in more liquid and negotiated ways. We show that in reality decisions are taken in response to a polycentric mix of simultaneous regulatory pressures that act as gravitational pulls on the activities and decisions made by HAs, rather than enforcing a consistent and linear form of regulatory control. We conclude with wider reflections for planning theory and practice.
Abstract
A sustainable refurbishment is an important approach toward reaching the EU’s climate goals. Some challenges of transforming housing areas are few high-quality standards, lack of funding, ...and low residential interest. This paper aims to present the process of establishing the Sustainable Accounting Standard (SAS) project, led by the Housing Federation of Norway (NBBL), representing 41 cooperative housing associations with 1,186,000 members. Therefore, a need to develop a standardized process for evaluating the possibilities of sustainable refurbishment is in focus. A triangulating combination of literature review, survey, and interview is chosen. The literature review forms a theoretical basis within the field. The design and experiences of SAS are reflected through interviews with project participants from cooperative housing associations and a survey of residential board members from selected pilot projects. The project presents the findings from developing the SAS tool and various stakeholders. The SAS tool forms an improved process for sustainable development in housing co-operatives, addressing all aspects of sustainability, the early involvement of stakeholders, and the importance of residents’ participation. The SAS contributes to a smoother refurbishment process by properly prioritizing improved measures.
Abstract
A sustainable refurbishment is a fundamental approach toward reaching the EU’s climate goals. Some challenges to rehabilitating existing housing areas are few high-quality standards, lack of ...funding, and low residential interest. This paper aims to present the findings from the development of a SAS – Sustainable Accounting Standard tool from different stakeholders’ perspectives and information from the testing period. A triangulating combination of literature review, survey, and interview are chosen. The literature review forms a theoretical basis within the field. Experiences with the SAS tool are retrieved through semi-structured in-depth interviews with project participants from co-operative housing associations and a survey for residential board members from selected pilot projects. The SAS tool forms an improved process for sustainable development in housing co-operatives, addressing all aspects of sustainability, early involvement of stakeholders, and the importance of residents’ participation. The project shows that the equal involvement of stakeholders is essential to reaching the goal and that commitment, trust, communication, and knowledge sharing are the basis. The established KPIs are good indicators for condition analysis and ambition plans. The SAS tool can contribute to a smoother refurbishment process with proper prioritization of improved measures.
Low-income housing associations provide a unique opportunity for renewable energy installations, through potential scale of implementation sites, and in reducing social and financial costs to ...tenants. As an emerging field, a systematic review format was chosen as a method of providing a ‘state-of-the-art’ analysis for practitioners and researchers in the field of renewable energy and social housing applications. While literature reviews are common in analysis of energy applications across many fields, systematic reviews are much rarer. Because research/policy interest in the application of renewable energy technologies and social Šhousing appears to be growing, this review aims to bring together the disparate literature already available. This review set out to determine what are the common 1. Success Factors, 2. Barriers and 3. Motivations, evident in previous research surrounding the application of renewable energy technologies in social housing contexts? Common findings from 67 research cases were synthesised under 3 a priori themes of Motivations, Barriers and Success Factors. Many articles revolved around the user interface and potential barriers to integration of technology, particularly where user engagement is not carried out sufficiently. It is suggested that this emphasis reflects a broader trend in applying socio-technical approaches in the field of energy research.
•Systematic review of 67 articles ranging from 2000 to 2016.•Success factors/ barriers of renewable energy application to social housing.•Research is historically case-based and largely focused on technological barriers.•Recent studies explore the importance of tenant awareness and attitudes.•Recommendations for social housing providers and practitioners are made.
This article explores the governance of risk in financialization through the entry of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and other investment funds into specialized supported housing in England. ...Supported housing is a form of care accommodation intended to enable vulnerable groups such as people with learning disabilities to live more independently. Since 2014, investors have targeted the sector, developing a leaseback model that has encountered controversy due to unsustainable rents and the near bankruptcy of at least one housing association. The article unpacks these dynamics by asking how financialization has generated risk through the imposition of a ‘care fix’ in the sector, drawing on qualitative data including interviews, financial and media reports, and court and regulatory documents. In answering this question, it argues that the contradiction between housing's role as a private commodity and as a collective means of social reproduction generates tensions that suggest potential limits to financialization.
•Social housing associations are frontrunners in achieving the energy and comfort goals for tenants.•Older people can benefit from energy measures in terms of purchase power.•Apart from architectural ...measures, behavioral change is important to save energy.
With the ageing of population in Europe, the housing stock needs to meet the demands of older occupants, including an increasing demand for energy efficiency. As collective entities, Dutch social housing associations are among the frontrunners in achieving the energy and comfort goals of the European Union and the national government. This paper presents a number of case studies from the domain of social housing for older people from The Netherlands. The cases presented focus on the baseline conditions, the interventions conducted, the financial aspects and the involvement of stakeholders. Implications and recommendations for the design and retrofitting of housing, as well as the process of improving energy efficiency and comfort in practice, are discussed on a supranational level.
PDF
