Housing Difference and Diversity - assignments 1 & 2 2015 Spring

Subject: Housing Difference and Diversity

 Assignment One:

A research project and ‘show and tell’ on Housing Register Exclusions

 Local authorities and registered housing providers routinely block access to social housing for people who are in housing need. People can be excluded from social housing registers because of some ‘offense’ or because they have failed to meet criteria adopted by the housing provider.

 Under the Localism Act 2011 local authorities were given the power to determine what classes of persons are or are not qualified to be allocated housing. Although certain categories of people must be given reasonable preference for housing, other groups may be excluded altogether. Registered providers are also able to exclude or temporarily suspend applicants. The most common reasons for exclusion are on the grounds of previous rent arrears or anti-social behaviour. Research published in 2001 showed that 16 per cent of ‘active’ applicants were temporarily excluded on these grounds (Pawson & Kintrea 2002).

Other grounds for exclusion might be lack of local connection, failure to provide comprehensive information on application or declaring complex needs that the housing provider feels unable to meet. These exclusions are in addition to the provisions on eligibility on persons from abroad which are set by central government.  They may be a cause for concern especially as registered providers begin to develop affordable housing without public grant and seek to reduce the financial risk of housing people who may result in additional costs to the landlord. Writing in the Guardian, Hannah Fearn (2014) asked:

Could housing associations soon start cherry-picking the tenants they accept with their bottom line in mind: those already in work, and with an exemplary work history; those who need less social support; those with a strong history of paying rent on time?

For this assignment you will research the policy on exclusions of your housing provider or your local authority. In a class ‘Show & Tell’ on 5 November 2014 you should explain in a 10 minute presentation what exclusions operate and critically reflect on their impact and the ethical justification for those exclusions.

 Assignment Two

 In an essay of 3000 words, and selecting one topic from the themes below, critically examine the extent to which women continue to be treated unequally in their access to, and consumption of housing.

Your essay should focus on one of the following themes:

• Women and social housing:  this theme allows you to think about the concentration of women in social housing due to inequalities in income & wealth, and the way images of femininity, motherhood, and parenting have become associated with policy on social housing.

• Women and domestic violence: this theme allows you to examine how domestic violence was identified as a housing problem, and to assess the role of the women’s movement in establishing refuges, and evaluate the success of housing policies & current practices for dealing with this serious crime

• Women and access to the housing market: this theme enables you to study issues of affordability and inequality in pay, issues around family responsibilities and gender roles, and could include issues of housing design or allocations and lettings

In planning this essay you should read the chapters relating to gender and housing available on MyBeckett, use the reading list in this module guide and conduct your own literature search using library and journal databases.

No matter which theme you choose, you will be expected to examine how women have been, and might continue to be, discriminated against.  You might seek to evidence the success of particular housing policies and practices in overcoming this discrimination; and you should feel free to use a case study drawn from a particular housing organisation, or a women’s organisation.