Pat Niner

Modelling Tenants' Choices in the Public Rented Sector: A Stated Preference Approach

This paper uses a stated preference (SP) approach to examine the potential housing choices of tenants in the UK public housing sector. The paper begins by explaining the policy significance of the choices that such tenants might make if alternative dwellings were offered to them. It then discusses the SP approach in general before explaining the way in which it is used in this study. The results of the SP modelling exercise are presented. These suggest that tenants are unlikely to move to housing estates that they see as being worse than their current estate solely in response to lower rents. This is because a number of factors other than rent are of more significance in their potential housing decisions.

Accommodating nomadism? An examination of accommodation options for gypsies and travellers in England

The policy approach towards Gypsy and Traveller accommodation in England is currently being reviewed. In this context, the paper explores issues around accommodating nomadism. Drawing primarily on the findings of research carried out by the author on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, it establishes that a number of Gypsies/Travellers actively pursue a traditional travelling lifestyle. Culturally‐specific accommodation, mainly in the form of residential Gypsy sites, is inadequate to accommodate the desired amount of movement without unauthorised encampments. Unauthorised encampments fail to provide adequate standards for Gypsies/Travellers, tend to perpetuate their social exclusion and lead to friction with the settled community. A network of transit sites and stopping places is needed to accommodate travelling. The main barrier to provision is the planning system and, more fundamentally, resistance from the settled population to the idea of new sites for Gypsies and Travellers. The nature of nomadism itself also makes its accommodation difficult, especially in a society where settled ‘sedentarist’ interests are paramount and other lifestyles may be viewed as deviant. Several proposals are made which might assist policy making.

Welfare or Work? Low-Income Working Households' Housing Consumption in the Private Rented Sector in England

This paper is concerned with issues of equity and efficiency in the Housing Benefit (HB) system in the private rented sector (PRS) in England. Using information from a survey of low- income working households (LIWH) and in-depth interviews with LIWH families, it addresses two policy-relevant questions. First, there are mixed findings on whether the current HB system enables HB recipients to consume more housing than is available to otherwise similar non-HB-recipient households in the PRS. HB rules on eligible property size appear not to unduly favour HB claimants compared with LIWH. LIWH, however, tend to pay a rent which is less than the maximum amount an HB recipient could receive. This is particularly true for LIWH families with children who are most likely to be living in properties smaller than allowed by HB regulations. Second, there is no evidence that the HB system incentivises LIWH to give up work or otherwise seek to become eligible for HB.