Mark Kleinman

Include Me Out? The New Politics of Place and Poverty

The regeneration of London raises key questions about the goals of urban policy and about both the definition of, and the solutions to, social exclusion. The concepts of an ‘urban underclass’ as an analytic tool for understanding poverty and unemployment, and of ‘social cohesion’ as a solution to it, are shown to be inaccurate and unhelpful. Successful policy will need to attack continuing poverty and inequality, strengthen employability and the transition to work, and prioritize families and children. Politicians should eschew the search for a ‘big idea’ in favour of piecemeal, incremental reform.

Large‐scale transfers of council housing to new landlords: Is British social housing becoming more ‘European'?

Abstract Social housing in Britain has traditionally been provided in a very different way to most other European countries, with municipal authorities having a dominant role. Recently, a number of local authorities have transferred the whole of their housing stocks to new landlords, ceasing to be housing providers. This process of ‘Voluntary Transfer’ is described and analysed, with particular attention paid to the interests of the government, tenants and taxpayers. Voluntary Transfer is an important aspect of the current policy approach in Britain which aims to reduce the role of local authorities as managers and providers of social housing, and to increase the relative importance of housing associations and other organisations. An assessment is made as to whether Voluntary Transfer should be seen as part of a general move towards convergence with the way in which social housing is provided elsewhere in Europe. On balance, it is found that differences between the British and continental approaches conti...

Meeting housing needs through the market: An assessment of housing policies and the supply/demand balance in France and Great Britain

Abstract In both Britain and France, for the last 15 years or so, housing policy has become more market‐orientated. This paper examines what this has meant for the balance between supply and demand and for progress in meeting housing needs. Current projections for how housing needs and the demand/supply balance will develop in the 1990s are also analysed. For each country, the determinants of housing demand, both demographic and economic, and the supply position in both the private and public sectors, are examined. Several common issues are identified: the existence of unmet housing needs, problems of indebtedness, the limits to the expansion of owner occupation, problems of social housing finance, and concerns about the decline of the private rented sector. There are also important differences between the two countries: housing output remains at a higher level in France than in Britain; deregulation of housing finance has gone further in Britain than in France; and in France there remains a greater recog...

Maastricht treaty: Consequences for national housing policies

Abstract European integration will have several effects on national housing policies. The major responsibility for policy formulation and policy implementation in housing will remain with national and local governments. Nevertheless, the Maastricht Treaty will have important implications for housing through several channels: factor mobility, competition policy and liberalisation of markets, economic growth, lower inflation, cuts in government spending, tax harmonisation and issues of citizenship and social justice. In this exploratory contribution we sketch within a closely specified framework the possible impacts of European integration for national housing policies.

What Determines Local Authorities' Capital Expenditure on Housing? An Evaluation of Various Models

There is a wide variety of theoretical models for explaining expenditure variations across local authorities. These include the demographic approach, agency models, party effect models and incrementalism. In this paper we examine inter-authority variations in housing capital expenditure, testing each of the four models against data for English local authorities for the period 1981/82 and 1986/87. We develop a comprehensive behavioural model, incorporating elements from all the models tested. Finally, we draw conclusions and briefly discuss their implications in the light of proposed changes to British local authority housing finance.

A Behavioural Model of the Supply of Re-Lets of Council Housing in England

The supply of council housing over recent years has become increasingly dependent on re-lets of the existing stock, due to sharp reductions in new building by local authorities. This paper sets out a hypothesis for the determinants of re-let supply in terms of the characteristics of council tenants and local market factors. This hypothesis is tested for English local authorities between 1980 and 1987 using correlation and regression analyses. The behavioural model thus developed can explain 60 per cent of the variation in re-let rates between districts outside London. The most important factors are shown to be the household structure of existing council tenants and the level of house prices in the local private housing market.