Through an ethnographic case study of one housing estate, this study explores the impact of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ on 31 social housing tenants. The research was motivated by three central questions: what impacts is the Bedroom Tax having on individuals and households? How is the policy rationalised? And, what impact is it having at the neighbourhood level? Previous research has shown the policy to be negatively impacting; financially, physically and psychologically. This study builds upon previous studies in highlighting how the increasing precariousness of social housing is producing housing insecurity, the consequences of which are having a detrimental impact on those affected. Moving beyond the impacts at the household level it addresses a gap in the literature by examining in greater depth the impacts the policy is having on localised relationships and builds upon previous studies in contributing knowledge to how the policy affects dependent children. The findings illustrate that mobility within the social sector is more complex than assumed and the push and pull factors that determine mobility are multidimensional incorporating structural and personal constraints. At the neighbourhood level, it offers insights into how a sense of being forcibly uprooted impacts on participants’ sense of security, self and belonging. It concludes by arguing that the Bedroom Tax policy is socially divisive, creating and building upon resentments about the allocation of social housing resources at the local level. It offers insights into how the policy is working to reconfigure ideas about the role and culture of social housing tenure, and its ability to provide a home for life. The consequences of promoting greater transience within the social rented sector and what that may do to undermine communities experiencing poverty is reflected upon in light of the findings of this study.

The economic downturn and ageing population has caused a rethink of a number of services: social housing providers are, as a result of the Coalition’s housing strategy (mainly enacted by the Localism Act 2011), not only considering who should be given low cost and secure housing, but for the first time, how long people should be housed. Demand is high for social properties and providers are urged to use their scare resources wisely; however, social housing is popularly viewed as a tenancy of last resort. This thesis explores a new phenomenon: why will the introduction of a policy to fix the term (length) of a tenancy be effective when social housing is considered not only to be the least desirable tenancy, but one that causes personal, economic and social difficulty. Surely, these issues alone would be enough of a stimulus for tenants to leave without any further limitations set by the State or the housing provider, if they were able to? This thesis uses the case study method to look at, in a highly qualitative way, the lived experiences of a number of tenants who have resided in their social homes for five years on traditional social tenancies. Fixed term tenancies will typically be five years in length and we are still a number of years away from being able to study what the actual impact will be. The issue is explored by understanding what would be the outcomes if the participants were on fixed term tenancies. As a result, a hermeneutic methodology was required. The study found that, good thing or not, fixed term tenancies are not shunned by likely applicants who, at the point of allocation, are not concerned about what might happen in five years’ time. In addition, an acute shortage of housing (across all tenures) is reducing the expectations of newly-forming households. Few tenants would not be offered a further tenancy (at the same or smaller property) at the end of five years as their circumstances are likely to remain largely unchanged.

The housing shortage in South Africa is a major concern for low-income people, due to the disadvantaged communities that were developed under the Apartheid system. The system separated disadvantaged communities from the Central Business Districts, making it difficult to meet their basic needs. The housing shortage and lack of job opportunities became critical after the fall of the Apartheid regime in 1994. The ANC Government came to power in 1994, promising a better life, employment opportunities and housing for all people who were in the struggle during Apartheid. Due to social, economical and political problems in South Africa, the Government could not respond to all the demands in time. Because of the delay of the promises made by the Government, people began to strike, demanding better job opportunities and other social economic services, specifically housing. The Apartheid system had created low-income jobs for the disadvantaged communities with the majority of people working in the Central Business Districts. Their salaries were not enough to sustain their families, transport and others necessities. They travelled by bus, train or taxi and then walked long distances to reach their destinations. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / unrestricted

Esta dissertação se propõe a fazer um estudo comparado entre a forma de produção de mercado da habitação social no Brasil e no México, com o objetivo de identificar quais as semelhanças e diferenças entre a política brasileira vigente e a mexicana, que inspirou aquela. Para análise teórica e empírica, o estudo parte da observação de três categorias de agentes atuantes na produção da casa como atividade capitalista: o Estado, o capital imobiliário e o capital financeiro. É de interesse desta pesquisa a compreensão das transformações que ocorreram nessas esferas, nestes países, desde a montagem das primeiras políticas de habitação de impacto na escala nacional (década de 1960 e 1970) até aquelas mais atuais, já em um contexto de ascensão do neoliberalismo e da mundialização dos capitais (1990 aos anos 2000), relacionando as modificações nas estruturas produtivas com as mudanças ocorridas no campo político e econômico internacional. Para tanto, a pesquisa busca compreender como ocorreu, historicamente, a formação da propriedade privada da terra, o processo de urbanização dos territórios analisados, como se desenvolveu a problemática habitacional e a estruturação dos agentes privados da produção imobiliária nos dois países. As configurações mais atuais também serão analisadas, como o desenvolvimento de uma política de crédito e subsídios diretos para aquisição da moradia de interesse social produzida por agentes de mercado, a criação de um mercado secundário de hipotecas, e a abertura de capital das incorporadoras. Por fim, a pesquisa apresenta um quadro comparativo de similaridades e diferenças entre a produção e a política habitacional de interesse social nos dois países, apontando, também, para os limites da prática recente. / This dissertation aims to create a study comparison between market production of social housing in Brazil and in Mexico. The purpose is to identify the similarities and differences between the Brazilian and Mexican current social housing policy, since the Mexican one served as inspiration for the creation of the Brazilian one. To analyse theoretically and empirically, this study starts from the observation of three main agents that influence housing production as a capitalist activity: the State, the real estate capital and the financial capital. This research aims to comprehend the transformations that happened on these areas in such countries, from the creation of the first social housing policy on a national scale (on the 1960\'s and 1970\'s) to the recent ones, already in a context of neoliberalism and capital globalization (from the 1990\'s to 2000\'s), relating the changes on productivity structures with the changes that happened on the political and economic international field. To do so, the research intends to understand the origins of private property and the urbanization process in the countries analysed on this study, how the housing problems developed and how the private agents in real estate production structuration developed in both countries. The most recent configurations will also be analysed, like the development of the credits and subsides policy to direct social housing acquisition, the creation of a secondary mortgage market, and the property developer companies\' capital opening. Finally, the research presents a comparative frame of similarities and differences between social housing production and social housing policy in both countries pointing to the limits of both current practices.

Esta dissertação se propõe a fazer um estudo comparado entre a forma de produção de mercado da habitação social no Brasil e no México, com o objetivo de identificar quais as semelhanças e diferenças entre a política brasileira vigente e a mexicana, que inspirou aquela. Para análise teórica e empírica, o estudo parte da observação de três categorias de agentes atuantes na produção da casa como atividade capitalista: o Estado, o capital imobiliário e o capital financeiro. É de interesse desta pesquisa a compreensão das transformações que ocorreram nessas esferas, nestes países, desde a montagem das primeiras políticas de habitação de impacto na escala nacional (década de 1960 e 1970) até aquelas mais atuais, já em um contexto de ascensão do neoliberalismo e da mundialização dos capitais (1990 aos anos 2000), relacionando as modificações nas estruturas produtivas com as mudanças ocorridas no campo político e econômico internacional. Para tanto, a pesquisa busca compreender como ocorreu, historicamente, a formação da propriedade privada da terra, o processo de urbanização dos territórios analisados, como se desenvolveu a problemática habitacional e a estruturação dos agentes privados da produção imobiliária nos dois países. As configurações mais atuais também serão analisadas, como o desenvolvimento de uma política de crédito e subsídios diretos para aquisição da moradia de interesse social produzida por agentes de mercado, a criação de um mercado secundário de hipotecas, e a abertura de capital das incorporadoras. Por fim, a pesquisa apresenta um quadro comparativo de similaridades e diferenças entre a produção e a política habitacional de interesse social nos dois países, apontando, também, para os limites da prática recente. / This dissertation aims to create a study comparison between market production of social housing in Brazil and in Mexico. The purpose is to identify the similarities and differences between the Brazilian and Mexican current social housing policy, since the Mexican one served as inspiration for the creation of the Brazilian one. To analyse theoretically and empirically, this study starts from the observation of three main agents that influence housing production as a capitalist activity: the State, the real estate capital and the financial capital. This research aims to comprehend the transformations that happened on these areas in such countries, from the creation of the first social housing policy on a national scale (on the 1960\'s and 1970\'s) to the recent ones, already in a context of neoliberalism and capital globalization (from the 1990\'s to 2000\'s), relating the changes on productivity structures with the changes that happened on the political and economic international field. To do so, the research intends to understand the origins of private property and the urbanization process in the countries analysed on this study, how the housing problems developed and how the private agents in real estate production structuration developed in both countries. The most recent configurations will also be analysed, like the development of the credits and subsides policy to direct social housing acquisition, the creation of a secondary mortgage market, and the property developer companies\' capital opening. Finally, the research presents a comparative frame of similarities and differences between social housing production and social housing policy in both countries pointing to the limits of both current practices.

Through the years, the concept of Value has been widely discussed covering diverse fields of knowledge, such as marketing, business management, strategy, engineering, design, and the like. Within the construction industry field, highly praised management approaches have been used to deliver Value such as Value Engineering, Value Management and Lean Thinking. As a result of the complex nature of this concept, different definitions, equations and models have been proposed to mainly deliver Value from a customer focused perspective. Therefore, the potential of the construction industry has been usually limited by the fulfilment of individual requirements. Thus, environmental and social issues have been generally managed from a bill payer perspective. During the course of this research, Chilean experience in Social Housing Projects was investigated. Initial author observation, analysis of governmental policies and data collected from three case studies allowed to evidence an emergent phenomenon in developing countries such as Chile and in the construction sector experience in general. This phenomenon considers Value as an oscillating concept, which means Value delivered by a particular construction project continuously impacts society in a wide sense, and provides a legacy for future generations. In the same way, Value delivered for particular projects affects in turn those judgments concerning future projects and contribute with the permanent improvement of the construction sector s performance (learning from experience). Consequently, the construction industry contributes to the development of society through the alleviation of environmental & society issues such as drug consumption, social risk, public safety and so forth. Along the time, the decisions and activities of the construction industry have influenced more than a reduced set of customers. Therefore, there is no reasoning against the fact that the human species depends on many sorts of building and infrastructure projects to perform their activities and that the more developed a society or country is, the more such structures are needed. This is an absolute matter of fact. Consequently, building projects as the outcome of build environment could be considered as the physical reflection of our current decisions. They represent major investments in the future delivery, where several human, natural, monetary and technological resources are devoted. Those projects provide a legacy to future generations based on what we have valued today, and how much we care about tomorrow and the stability of our ecosystem. Therefore, the concept of Value in the construction management field should be visualised from a wider perspective towards the consideration of universal environmental & social issues. The consideration of this phenomenon is even more important in developing countries, where opportunities still exist to create a well-balanced built environment that supports society. In an attempt to conceptualise a wider view of Value in the construction industry, different approached to manage Value were investigated. As a result, Lean Thinking arose as a potential philosophy to expand common customer focused Value perspectives. Additionally, different features and multidimensional attributes of the concept of Value were identified. To aid the visualisation of Value in the construction industry, a conceptual model was developed and named the First and Last Value Model F&LVM. According to this model, the delivery of Value spans across two different contexts: First context, which refers to Value delivery to the society (First Value: Environmental & Social issues), and Last context, which deals with Value delivery at project level (Last Value: Production process). This model also considers the interaction between three Value domains: Production & Delivery capacity; Stakeholders perspective; and Social perspective. From this interaction, four central perspectives are included towards a wider visualisation of Value: Technological, economic, environmental and political. Moreover, this model considers Value as an objective, subjective, dynamic, context dependent, relative, and oscillating concept. Finally, the F&LVM was evaluated under the criteria of both researchers and practitioners from Lean Construction, whose potential contributes to a sustainable development. Evaluator s feedback demonstrated that this model contributes to a wider conceptualisation of Value in the construction industry.

Student Number : 8605435T - MSc research report - School of Construction Economics and Management - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / The purpose of this qualitative research project is to establish whether or not there is currently a property management system or systems available that meet the unique requirements of the overall ICT strategy for the Social Housing sector in South Africa. This included a detailed evaluation of candidate systems wherever possible. A generic functional specification was outlined in the report and these, together with other factors including conformance with the proposed strategic architecture, technology imperatives and vendor characteristics formed the basis of the evaluation and recommendation that followed. The state of Information Technology within a sample group of Housing Instititions was determined, together with an evaluation of available skills. The JD Edwards Financial Real Estate system owned by PeopleSoft and supported by Delloites, stood out as the leading commercial software package to satisfy the requirements of the overall ICT strategy for the sector. The IFCA Property Plus system ranked a close second.

Between the late 1940s and the 1970s, the New Brutalism attempted to establish an ethical architecture befitting post-World War II Britain. For this reason, it became a popular style for public buildings, including social housing. Brutalist social housing estates were conceived by progressive post-war architects to house Britain’s neediest. Through an analysis of the utopian roots of Brutalism and the decline of the style and its ethic in scholarship and popular culture, I analyze the current redevelopment of three seminal Brutalist housing estates and the rediscovery of the Brutalist aesthetic by contemporary scholars and consumers alike. In this thesis, I argue that due to multiple factors, including a housing shortage across Britain, rising real-estate values and a general consumer interest in mid-century design, these estates are undergoing such regenerations. My thesis enhances our understanding of how social and political influences have shaped post-war British social housing up to the present.

Este trabalho coloca em discussão a problemática da inserção do mobiliário na habitação popular urbana. Analisa a atual produção do móvel popular e diferentes experiências e projetos que enfocam uma melhor adequação do móvel nos pequenos espaços das habitações urbanas. Com esta pesquisa, cria-se um quadro de base para o desenvolvimento de diretrizes de projetos que visem a melhoria da habitabilidade destas moradias, viabilizada através de uma relação mais coerente entre o mobiliário e a casa. / This work puts in discussion the problem of placing the furniture in social urban housing. It analyses the actual production of furniture for the low-income people and different experiences and designs, which treats a better adequacy of furniture in small space of urban housing. This research creates a basic scene for the development of design orientations with the goal of getting better the habitability of such homes, allowed through a more consistent relation between the furniture and the house.

Este trabalho coloca em discussão a problemática da inserção do mobiliário na habitação popular urbana. Analisa a atual produção do móvel popular e diferentes experiências e projetos que enfocam uma melhor adequação do móvel nos pequenos espaços das habitações urbanas. Com esta pesquisa, cria-se um quadro de base para o desenvolvimento de diretrizes de projetos que visem a melhoria da habitabilidade destas moradias, viabilizada através de uma relação mais coerente entre o mobiliário e a casa. / This work puts in discussion the problem of placing the furniture in social urban housing. It analyses the actual production of furniture for the low-income people and different experiences and designs, which treats a better adequacy of furniture in small space of urban housing. This research creates a basic scene for the development of design orientations with the goal of getting better the habitability of such homes, allowed through a more consistent relation between the furniture and the house.