You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Latest housing research: is it making an impact on policy?
A wealth of housing research is out there, but is it seen by policymakers? This is the question concerning Peter Williams, departmental fellow in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, and Thinkhouse Editorial Panel member
Like the proverbial buses, research reports come along in a steady stream, and this is well reflected in the monthly log that Thinkhouse generates and on which we comment. But given all the effort, time and money that go into producing these reports, we need to ask the question: what impact do they have?
While home-working, the internet and clear-desk policies may have removed the possibility of seeing mountains of material building up on the desks of, for example, ministers and officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, there is still the question: are these reports read and are the recommendations followed up?
Crucial intelligence
Gathering intelligence is what the various analysts, statisticians and economists inside government departments do, and then this is fed through to policy colleagues. All will have instincts about what is possible in relation to the current administration. With policies still in the process of being framed, that intelligence is crucial – so now is a good time to land it.
READ MORE
In that context, the November ‘postbag’ includes four big-picture reports. First up is Beyond the Permacrisis: Delivering 1000 homes a day from the Radix Big Tent Housing Commission. Radix is a thinktank for what it calls the “radical centre”, chaired by economist Vicky Pryce. At the heart of the report are recommendations to establish a housing delivery unit, build a cross-party consensus on housing, revise the role of Homes England and work on releasing public land. All of these are likely to have resonance with readers of this magazine, and certainly for me as a former member and briefly chair of the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit created by the previous Labour government and then closed down by Grant Shapps.
Also in this frame is the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence’s (CaCHE) report called Sustainable Housing Policy in Scotland: Rebooting the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. This is a very worthwhile read for all, not just those in Scotland. The Scottish government put in place its Housing to 2040 strategy in March 2021, which was then derailed by COVID-19, global inflation and budgetary constraints. The report provides a carefully structured set of proposals to get it back on track in the short, medium and long term. As such, it revisits a number of agendas, not least around land release and taxation – UK-wide agendas for sure and not least in Wales, where a new Affordable Housing Taskforce has been set up.
A third report looks at a crucial area of affordable housing: the long-term capacity of local authority Housing Revenue Accounts (HRAs). Undertaken by Savills, this report for the Local Government Association, the Association of Retained Council Housing and the National Federation of ALMOs highlights the growing HRA deficits and the underlying weaknesses of the typical Consumer Price Index plus 1% rent settlement over the long term. There is yet another big bill to be settled here.
Focused signposts
Finally, in terms of the bigger picture is a report by Anna Clarke, policy director at the Housing Forum, called The Cost of Building a House. This is a helpful walk through the cost components of a new home (the report covers houses and flats despite the title) and likely future costs coming down the road from new policy and regulation, all of which have to be taken into account, even in spite of the profits reported by house builders.
There are then three more focused reports. Community Led Housing for All was produced to highlight the need to strengthen Black and minority-led housing organisations in terms of more partnerships, better representation in all manner of fora and more resources – both funding and data. The latter reminds us that quality information is a key component. If it is collected without adequate coverage of different communities, it makes it even harder to make those cases.
Another CaCHE report, this time on the Govan district of Glasgow, called Transforming Govan: A Local Housing Systems Analysis, provides a useful systematic analysis that could be applied to any local area.
Finally, an American contribution, Healthier Lives Across Generations: A Blueprint for Intergenerational Living makes the case for such arrangements in affordable housing. It clearly has a place in the UK.
So back to the question of impact, there is real food for thought among all these contributions, not least for policymakers. Britain is in a real housing crisis and there are signposts here on how to finds ways out of it – so yes, it is time to read and reflect.
To assist report writers, I would highlight the helpful, but in some cases dated, Areas of research interest website, which lists what the government is interested in. Bearing this in mind, talking to the lead analyst in the relevant department and landing letters in the minister’s private office are all ways of generating impact, alongside good media coverage. Good luck!
Peter Williams, departmental fellow, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge; and member, Thinkhouse Editorial Panel
