scholarly journals Public Housing in the Global Cities: Hong Kong and Singapore at the Crossroads

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anutosh Das
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Housing ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Global Cities ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
The Government

Affordable Housing, the basic human necessity has now become a critical problem in global cities with direct impacts on people's well-being. While a well-functioning housing market may augment the economic efficiency and productivity of a city, it may trigger housing affordability issues leading crucial economic and political crises side by side if not handled properly. In global cities e.g. Singapore and Hong Kong where affordable housing for all has become one of the greatest concerns of the Government, this issue can be tackled capably by the provision of public housing. In Singapore, nearly 90% of the total population lives in public housing including public rental and subsidized ownership, whereas the figure tally only about 45% in Hong Kong. Hence this study is an effort to scrutinizing the key drivers of success in affordable public housing through following a qualitative case study based research methodological approach to present successful experience and insight from different socio-economic and geo-political context. As a major intervention, this research has clinched that, housing affordability should be backed up by demand-side policies aiming to help occupants and proprietors to grow financial capacity e.g. subsidized rental and subsidized ownership can be an integral part of the public housing system to improve housing affordability.

scholarly journals The Misallocation Problem of Subsidized Housing: A Lesson from Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1855
Author(s):  
Ka Shing Cheung ◽  
Siu Kei Wong ◽  
Kwong Wing Chau ◽  
Chung Yim Yiu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Housing ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
National Policy ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Shared Equity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Equity Model

Providing affordable housing has become one of China’s key national policy agenda items. The shared-equity model in Hong Kong, implemented since the late 1970s, has assisted many families in owning a home in the public housing market. However, little attention has been paid to their welfare after acquiring their subsidized units. This study aims to examine how shared-equity homeownership distorts residential mobility through in-kind subsidies. Panel data analysis reveals that the more in-kind subsidies owners receive, the longer they would hold on to their units in spite of spatial mismatches. Private owners, on the other hand, would trade their units without such distortion. Conceptually, the lower mobility of assisted owners could be interpreted as a new source of misallocation in Glaeser and Luttmer’s welfare analysis. Practically, this throws into question the sustainability of a subsidizing homeownership policy: does the government ultimately want assisted homeowners to move from public housing to private housing in the future (for which high mobility would be intended)? If so, new thinking on how to make in-kind subsidies transferable is needed.

scholarly journals WHEN NETWORKS FAIL: ISOLATION AND INDEPENDENCE AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN PUBLIC HOUSING

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S180-S180
Author(s):  
Brooke Wagen ◽  
Whitney Williams ◽  
Jan Bennett ◽  
Elizabeth A Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Public Housing ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Cultural Perceptions ◽  
Health Aging ◽  
Problematic Experiences

Abstract In the coming decades, the population of adults over 65 in the US will increase dramatically. Many older adults live at or below the poverty level, and the growing lack of affordable housing combined with fixed incomes promises to increase the number of older adults facing combined housing and health challenges. Despite their vulnerability, little is known about the lived experiences of older adults aging in place in public housing. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 27 older adults at two public housing sites in Austin, Texas to gain an understanding of their thoughts on health, aging, home, community, and problem solving. We conducted interviews in Spanish (n=10) and English (n=17) with 16 female and 11 male interviewees with a mean age of 71.7 years (range 65-85 years). We systematically coded transcribed interviews and used grounded theory to analyze the data. Participants described feeling isolated due to language barriers, cultural perceptions about neighbors, and previous problematic experiences with neighbors leading to intentional isolation for safety. Some, however, spoke of how they acted as community connectors or responded to connectors in the community in ways that reduced their isolation. Participants framed individual problem-solving and personal choices as central to health and wellness. Our findings suggest a way forward for housing authorities, communities, and health systems working together to provide services to these adults. Incorporating their points of view and even co-creating interventions to enhance their health and well-being will make these interventions more successful and welcome.

scholarly journals Housing Affordability: Factors Influencing Housing in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yakubu A. Zakaria ◽  
Kuusaana Elias Danyi
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Minimum Quality Standards ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Tamale Metropolis ◽  
Human Need ◽  
The Government

Housing is considered a basic human need. Yet deficit housing supply plagues Ghana. Studies on housing concentrate mainly on offering accommodation that neglects the problem of its affordability. As a result, this study examines factors influencing housing affordability using the Tamale Metropolis as a case study. Using stratified random sampling methodology, 271 renters and homeowners was chosen. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics. The study showed inflation, rapid urbanization, and building material costs were the dominant factors that influence housing affordability. Rent was also found to be relatively affordable for all categories of housing units. Furthermore, it emerged that the efforts of homeowners, the private sector developers, and the state in the provision of housing were insufficient in providing affordable housing. Consequently, tenants are forced to invest over longer years for constructing or buying a home. The private sector should use less-cost building materials in its projects to provide housing for rent and/or sale, and still present minimum quality standards. It will mean that construction costs will not be too high to justify a high rent once the building is completed. Rent will be on the low side when this happens so tenants can afford to. Equally, it is precarious that the government joins forces with the private estate developers to put up flats at reasonable prices using cheap local building materials.

Public Housing and Well-Being: Evaluation Frameworks to Influence Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 825-835
Author(s):  
Lara Rangiwhetu ◽  
Nevil Pierse ◽  
Elinor Chisholm ◽  
Philippa Howden-Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Public Housing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Change Models ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Background A robust evidence base is needed to develop sustainable cross-party solutions for public housing to promote well-being. The provision of public housing is politically contentious in New Zealand, as in many liberal democracies. Depending on the government, policies oscillate between encouraging sales of public housing stock and reducing investment and maintenance, and large-scale investment, provision, and regeneration of public housing. Aim We aimed to develop frameworks to evaluate the impact of public housing regeneration on tenant well-being at the apartment, complex, and community levels, and to inform future policies. Method Based on a systems approach and theory of change models, we developed a mixed methods quasi-experimental before-and-after outcomes evaluation frameworks, with control groups, for three public housing sites. This evaluation design had flexibility to accommodate real-world complexities, inherent in evaluating large-scale public health interventions, while maintaining scientific rigor to realize the full effects of interventions. Results Three evaluation frameworks for housing were developed. The evaluation at the apartment level confirmed proof of concept and viability of the framework and approach. This also showed that minor draught-stopping measures had a relatively big impact on indoor temperature and thermal comfort, which subsequently informed healthy housing standards. The complex and community-level evaluations are ongoing due to longer regeneration timeframes. Conclusion Public housing is one of central government’s larger social sector interventions, with Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities the largest Crown entity. Evaluating public housing policies is important to develop an evidence base to inform best practice, rational, decision-making policy for the public as well as the private sector.

scholarly journals International Real Estate Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-625
Author(s):  
Sau Kim Lum ◽  
◽  
Xuefeng Zhou ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Housing ◽  
Housing Price ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Income Ratio ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So ◽  
Resale Market

Housing affordability for many Singaporean households has been declining since the 1990s. While eligible households are directly allocated new-built public housing at subsidized rates, these rates reflect price behavior in the laissez faire resale market and would be higher during periods of excess demand. We examine two policy initiatives since 2011 to improve housing affordability for targeted population segments. First, the government has stabilized the prices at which it sells new- built units by increasing supply-side producer discounts to moderate the extent to which new unit prices track the resale market. Second, demand subsidies are provided to low- and middle-income households to buy new subsidized housing. Price stabilization has prevented the transmission of demand shocks from the resale market to the new-built public housing sector but not improved affordability. However, successive calibrations of capital grants boosted the price to income ratio and debt servicing ratio indicators for households with incomes below the national median. These improvements are progressive, with the less well-off benefitting the most. Furthermore, the grants do not appear to induce housing overconsumption the way that demand subsidies are prone to do so and provide some assurance that the policies adopted in Singapore have not generated allocative inefficiencies.

scholarly journals Editorial

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-45
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
National University ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Government

No doubt the mid-year will see academic staff scurrying to complete Semester 1 teaching and marking, and those of you working in the field will be well into the swing of the year and facing a variety of funding issues as the new financial year emerges. The last few years have been difficult in terms of funding for health and community service programmes and, while the focus has been on enquiries into child abuse, mental health assessment of young children, the acute lack of affordable housing and pressures on single parents raising children, the Australian atmosphere, in general, is one of restraint and pulling back from funding of welfare services. This comes at a time when Australia has enjoyed much better financial well-being than many other countries in the world and, ironically, there appears to have been a drop in what the Government refers to as welfare dependency. However, as the population is continuing to increase and we are continuing to experience the economic losses associated with severe weather events and climate change, it seems we are also, as a nation, less inclined to be generous to those who experience ongoing disadvantage. The gap, according to Nicholas Biddle and Maxine Montaigne (2012) of the Australian National University, is not as great as that in the USA ‒ hardly something we would want to emulate‒ but is still increasing. While on average Australians have experienced an increase in income since the 2006 Census, this is not evenly distributed between states, regions and suburbs. We know that loss of a stable and sufficient income, as in the event of loss of employment, has major impacts on the well-being of family members and this was the message reiterated at the ‘Securing the Future’ Conference held last November. Clearly, we have a long way to go before our services will be able to truly address structural disadvantage.

Strategic Approaches and Delivery of Affordable Housing in Nairobi City County, Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35
Author(s):  
Sammy Kanjah Kimani ◽  
Janesther Karugu
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Market Price ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
The Government

Affordable housing system is a word used in Kenya to refer to that part of society whose revenue is below the average revenue of the family. Affordable housing becomes a main problem particularly in developing countries where it is not possible for a majority of the population to purchase homes at market price. Most individuals around the world live in towns and 1 billion live in slums, which will double by 2030. Urban populations are increasing at a pace that is much quicker than they can be consumed and managed, resulting in requirements on services and infrastructure that exceed supply. This leaves most inhabitants in many emerging market towns with few choices but living in slums. Increasing access to affordable housing of high quality has a deep effect on the person as well as on society as a whole. However, housing is a difficult and capital-intensive industry characterized by delays and regulatory problems, resulting in it rarely gaining the spotlight on impact investors and social entrepreneurs. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the influence the strategic approaches adopted by the government in delivering affordable housing in Kenya with specific focus on Nairobi County. The specific objectives of this study were to determine the influence of modern construction technologies, innovative housing financing, collaborative approach and legal and regulatory reforms in delivering affordable housing in Kenya with specific focus on Nairobi County. The research was anchored on the theory of monopoly rivalry, regulatory theory and the model of cooperative strategy. The research also demonstrated a conceptual framework for the connection between the factors. Descriptive research design was used in the study. For this research, the target population was officers in the county government concerned with a total of 106 homes. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling methods were utilized in selecting a sample size of 64, which represented 60 percent of the entire research population. Research used primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire administered to officers by drop-down and later by selecting technique. Using SPSS (version 21), data gathered was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the use of modern construction technologies greatly influenced the delivery of affordable housing. The study also revealed that the innovative housing financing influenced the delivery of affordable housing to great extent. The study further found that the collaborative approaches had influenced the delivery of affordable housing by the government to a great extent. Based on the findings the study recommended that the government sensitize the developers to fully adopt modern technologies in construction of the houses, so as to reduce the costs of the houses. Additionally, the study recommended that the government come up with innovative financing such as allowing the access of pension benefits by individuals to help in financing the ownership of houses. The study also recommended that the government seek more collaborative opportunities such as through public private partnerships to help in realizing the goal of delivering affordable housing especially to the low income earners. 

PROBLEMS OF LARGE-SCALE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION IN RUSSIA

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktor P. GENERALOV ◽  
Elena M. GENERALOVA
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Housing ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Housing Construction ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Regulatory Documents ◽  
Stage Development

In this article stage-by-stage development of large-scale housing in the territory of Russia before 1990 and stagnation in the last ten years caused by absence of general strategy of living environment amenities is viewed. Problems of elaboration of affordable housing new standards are explored, existing regulatory documents are analyzed. In that context Hong Kong experience in large-scale public housing is given as an example.

Priorities for Supportive Housing Services: Perspectives of People With Mental Illness in Northeastern Ontario

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 264-273
Author(s):  
Phyllis Montgomery ◽  
Sharolyn Mossey ◽  
Karen McCauley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Q Methodology ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Housing Tenure ◽  
Supportive Housing ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Housing Services

Background Accessible, appropriate, and affordable housing is recognized as essential for the well-being of all Canadians. Securing and maintaining housing tenure for individuals living with chronic health and social challenges can be compromised without appropriate services. There has been limited research into the priorities to enhance supportive housing services from the perspective of individuals living with mental illness in smaller urban and rural communities. Purpose The purpose was to describe the priorities for supportive housing from the viewpoints of tenants recovering from mental illness in northeastern Ontario. Methods This descriptive study used Q methodology to engage 52 adults regarding their impressions about enhancing supportive housing services. Participants ranked 39 housing and support priority statements on a nine-point Likert-type scale. Results Four discrete viewpoints about priorities for supportive housing were building a home, letting others in, moving outside the walls, and accessing personalized services. Common across these viewpoints was the need to increase financial assistance offered through existing programs. Conclusions Fostering individual pathways to recovery involves mitigating health and social disparities, relative to supportive housing, one size does not fit all. Service providers and decision makers are compelled to situate each individual within an evidence-informed supportive housing system for citizenship.

An assessment of land use sources of barriers and the community-based housing model in the UK

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oladotun Ayoade ◽  
Vian Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Rate ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The aim of this study is to define land use policy sources of barriers to community-based housing options in practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper accentuated the need to tackle land use sources of barrier to Community Land Trust (CLT) performance, through text analysis of semi-structured interview responses from key stakeholders. Findings – This study found out that there is a need to ameliorate stakeholder approach to community-based housing (CBH), which is hampered by restrictive land use sources of barriers that occur in an urban and rural context. These barriers were found to include both planning inadequacies and a systemic inefficient network of knowledge transfer practices between stakeholders. Recommendations include the need for drastic policy intervention through the political willingness to address Section 106 shortcomings in the choice of affordable housing supply models, and the inaccessibility of land below market rate in an endogenous prescriptive planning system. Practical implications – This paper highlights the subjective limitations of the CLT model in regards to grey areas between setting boundaries to what is an acceptable level of concessions to CBH and the socio-economic impact or benefits of a completely deregulated social housing system. These boundaries do vary from system to system, hence the need for UK housing institutions to address identified inherent barrier sources and their reconciliation with international best practices. Therefore, greater roles can be accorded to the CLT model in the UK affordable housing dynamics based on its confirmed strengths and merits. Originality/value – This paper adds to literature through the practical identification and interpretation of various key stakeholder perspectives on sources of CLT barriers and an idealised strategy to tackling them accordingly. This contributes to the housing affordability debate on the viability of CBH options, and how it could be invariably hampered by direct and indirect effects of planning and restrictive land use policies in practice.

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