The objective of this thesis was to enhance the understanding of both the formation of core housing settlements in South Africa and the consolidation processes which take place after residents have occupied the housing. Whilst the usually unassisted, consolidation efforts of residents of informal settlements and mass built government housing have been well studied, there were relatively few studies which gave a comprehensive understanding of longer term physical consolidation in settlements which had been designed and built with a view to extension. The central research question was whether core housing should be accepted as a sufficiently supportive institutional and physical framework for allowing or enabling households to counter situations of urban poverty, achieve adequate housing, and integrate themselves into the city. Two case studies were chosen which represented the delivery of core housing at scale, one being Inanda Newtown in Durban (about 4000 houses occupied from 1981), and the other being Khayelitsha in Cape Town (about 5000 houses occupied in 1985). Some 444 respondent households were interviewed in 1996 using a mainly quantitative method, as were stakeholders involved in the initial production and ongoing support of the areas. The study was retrospective and comparative of the two settlements. Inanda Newtown represented the delivery of larger, shell houses and lower levels of service, where an NGO had supported the process for a protracted period and established a local authority also supportive of consolidation. Khayelitsha represented the delivery of smaller core houses with higher levels of service and an unsupportive institutional context. A critical realist framework was adopted to enhance the understanding of the power relations between the various urban actors involved in the production, support and consolidation of core housing, and thus the causal mechanisms which shaped the personal projects of households as they attempted to achieve their own housing consolidation projects. In the conclusion the relevance of the findings to the current South African policy context and to global development thinking was discussed.

The thesis has as its primary objective an analysis of rent legislation in the United Kingdom between 1915 and 1972. The historical formation and meaning of the Housing Finance Act (1972) is examined in some detail. The methodology of the whole is largely determined by the 'Marxist' interpretation of social development. This standpoint is best able to distinguish the various academic and professional falsifications of reality in the housing rent process- large areas within the sociology of law, neo-classical economics and the relationship between State and the fractions of capital. It is misleading to compartmentalise elements of social structures, and as such historical analysis of rent legislation immediately requires analysis of more basic elements in capitalist society. It is found that authoritative definitions of reality, particularly as embodied in the legal apparatus, have their origin in power structures. The extraction of rent and the legislation by which it is determined are therefore the result of discrepancies in power structures. The historical material in the thesis demon- strates that modifications in the rent bargain hare been brought about in response to the changing needs of capitalism. Finally, analysis is made of the relevant agents of social control in this areas rent tribunals, rent assessment committees and private 'welfare' institutions.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the attitudes and intentions of the homeless towards their outreach programme participation. Prior homeless research shows that much has been inferred about homeless persons' participation in outreach programmes but there has been comparatively little empirical research. Previous psychological research has focussed on the social behaviours of the homeless with the primary aim to determine the prevalence of mental illness and pathological behaviours. Whilst this research is informative, it does not directly address the issue of decision-making strategies homeless people employ to guide their intentions towards participation. From a review of the homeless literature two main shortcomings can be noted. First, the research has been atheoretical in nature; and second, the studies have assessed univariate dimensions. To address the shortcomings, a model extensively used in the field of social psychology was used as the theoretical model to guide the research in this thesis. The model was the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB, Ajzen, 1988; 1991) which examines the relationship between attitudes, intentions and behaviour. The TPB has been successfully applied in a variety of social situations. Within the context of this thesis, the TPB is used to derive hypotheses to predict the relationship between homeless peoples' attitudes and their intentions towards participation. Two main studies were conducted to test the theoretical framework, one in Central London (n=103) and the other in New York City (n=103). Generally, the results support the utility of the TPB as an exploratory framework in understanding homeless peoples' decision-making processes. Consistent with findings from the homeless literature, it was not unsurprising that very few homeless people actually participated in the outreach programmes. However, the components of the TPB significantly predicted homeless peoples' intention towards participation.

The purpose was to consider whether residential planning decisions for similar schemes are made in a consistent way, and to evolve a model to better predict outcomes. The project had theoretical and practice based purposes. The former included the application of Schön’s epistemology of professional practice. An important purpose was to assess the value of a methodology using ‘Repertoire’ research and better predict outcomes of applications and appeals. Currently of some twenty thousand planning appeals decided every year, the average annual success rate is about one third, with heavy costs in the private and public sectors. Three different types of residential development were investigated: Country Houses, dwellings in the Green Belt, and Parsonage Houses for the Church of England. The subjects were chosen because of the availability of information, the relevance to practice and the contrasting policy background (the last subject having no policy background). The project was investigated through case files from the practice and local authority records. For each subject area conclusions were then reviewed in the context of a larger number of decisions. Replication of the approach was reviewed and the relationship of development control decisions and planning theories examined. Little consistency was found in the decisions on Country House proposals, although key factors were isolated informing the approach to such cases. Outcomes for Parsonage Houses were more predictable. Initially it was considered that Green Belt cases would be consistent, but the application of policy varied. The conclusions for practice endorse the value of Repertoire or case study research leading to a practice model and desirable changes to the drafting of national policy reducing abortive costs. There are legal implications relating to the concept of material considerations and the contrasting paradigms inherent in the search for consistency and the determination of every case on ‘its individual merits’.

This thesis qualitatively examines the interplay between service users’ residential mobility and mental health and assesses the ways in which each is influenced or determined by the other. Twenty-five service users in England were over a period of eighteen months interviewed in depth about their experiences of both residential mobility and mental health. These interviews were conducted against the backdrop of the on-going austerity-driven reforms to the welfare state that have witnessed the rapid promulgation of policies designed to spur service user entry into the formal labour market, via the use of restrictions on continued eligibility for particular sickness, disability, and housing benefits, and reductions in their monetary value. Evidence from the interviews is used to test two of the primary models through which the residential mobility patterns of service users have been explained: displacement from unstable lodgings resulting in circulation through disparate residential settings; and entrapment in low quality accommodation in predominately deprived areas. The thesis finds evidence of both scenarios, and reports on the negative health experiences encountered therein. It demonstrates that the extent to which residential circumstances have a negative impact on mental health rests upon whether service users feel unable to exercise any control over their residential choices. The exercise of which is being further compromised by a hastily reformed system for determining on-going eligibility to welfare benefits and a wider retrenchment of the services and facilities around which users have often orientated their lives. Here, invasive and ineffectual medical assessments destabilise service users and threaten a reduction in income, enforced changes in accommodation, and the rupture of their carefully calibrated wellness strategies which, in the absence of wider service provision, are increasingly emplaced in and around users’ own homes. The findings raise considerable questions about the operation of the welfare system and its impact for service users’ health and residential stability.

Theories of communitarianism have become increasingly important in understanding UK housing policy and regeneration practice, as governments promote active citizenship and community empowerment in the management and governance of housing. Community land trusts (CLTs) have been embraced by communities and governments as a potential vehicle for the delivery and management of affordable housing in locations where there is thought to be insufficient supply. Rather than rely on provision from state or private actors, CLTs directly undertake development in order to meet the local needs of their area. This thesis studies how and why people form, or attempt to form, CLTs in England and Wales, contributing to an emerging body of academic work on CLTs at national and international levels. It draws upon theories of community (Etzioni, 1995a; Tam, 1998) and neighbourhood governance (Lowndes and Sullivan, 2008) to illustrate the underlying rationales of CLTs and describe their negotiation within and between communities, financiers, and local and national governments. The research finds that the intrinsic rationale for CLTs is the alteration of power relations that privilege the autonomy of a defined, constructed or imagined community in the governance of local housing, influencing its tenure type, use and occupation in line with the needs of a CLT's instigators and beneficiaries. However, the creation of a CLT, as a form of communitarian governance, is a relational and political process that involves positioning for resources and legitimacy within wider social, cultural and political contexts. This gives rise to a variety of organisational forms and outcomes that reshape our understandings of a CLT. It should be understood as an approach with diverse rationales and characteristics rather than a uniform model. The potential effectiveness and composition of CLTs is likely to depend on the linkages made with broader structural forces, indicating that agendasof communitarianism and localism may be as dependent on the role and influence of external forces as they are on the active citizenship of local people.

The international community recognises that increasing the provision of affordable housing is one of the major development challenges of the twenty-first century. This challenge is even more severe in developing economies with high population such as Nigeria, where the government has tried a variety of housing initiatives to help address the challenge but to relatively very little effect. One of the recent initiatives involves the use of Public Private Partnership (PPP). Unfortunately, the strategy used to date does not accurately reflect what is needed to stimulate and broaden housing provision (NHP, 2012). This thesis sought to understand this major policy issue by examining how an effective PPP approach could assist in increasing affordable housing delivery. The dearth of affordable housing is a national concern, with the federal government of Nigeria estimating that there is a deficit of 23 million houses in Nigeria (FGN, 2013). The aim of this study is to develop a PPP framework for the implementation of affordable housing delivery in Nigeria. To do this, the research develops a framework based on five components: capacity development, operating environment, project development, project financing and government commitment. The research also uses the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework to analyse and initiate housing policy reform for PPP arrangement. The IAD Framework helps to understand key variables and the process to evaluate the effectiveness of using PPP as a mechanism for affordable housing delivery in Nigeria. The research was based upon in-depth literature review and primary data collection using semi-structured interviews with various practitioners in the public and private sectors using PPP for housing delivery in Nigeria. The research provides further evidence on constraints that are hindering the effectiveness of PPP on affordable housing delivery in Nigeria, including lack of regulation guarantee, poor financial projections, poor feasibility assessments, poor communication, inadequate financial resources, project cancellation and contract renegotiation etc. PPP needs to develop a clear statement of objectives for affordable housing delivery, well-communicated strategy, a clear institutional framework, independent oversight, sustainable financing mechanisms and allow flexibility for implementation in order to mitigate these constraints. In addition to providing the basis for more effective housing policy, the research develops a PPP model for affordable housing delivery. These findings could assist in developing effective tools to enhance the process, build appropriate institutions and legal system for a fairer and more transparent environment to facilitate the private sector involvement in affordable housing delivery in Nigeria.

Demographic pressures have led to a remarkable expansion and physical growth of most cities of developing countries, and Libya is one of them. The tension created by the need to meet pressing housing demand whilst also accommodating wider functional, social and spiritual needs is one which current Libyan planning and building legislation has yet to resolve. The motivation behind this research emerges from observing the consequence of modern Libyan public housing and its failure to embrace and transform the cultural values and people's needs in their specific context. The study aims to build a body of knowledge which will lead to the reform of Libyan housing legislation. New legislation is needed to deal with the everyday needs of people in a social and climatic sense as well as natural for the future development and transformation of the society. The study focus is on planning and building legislation and its impact on the housing production from the neighbourhood layouts to the design of the house itself, in addition to examining the location of the housing projects from the point of view of their integration and segregation with the whole of Tripoli city. This research therefore adopted a broad methodology to achieve the aims and goals of producing legislation. The nature of the topic is such that the methodology that was suggested to deal with the problems comes from different approaches and has been selected to gain as much feedback from the different theories as is possible. The research method adopted started from familiarising the reader with the context of Libya and estates of housing and legislation followed by two parts: the deductive part which consists of two sections: A - general theories which come from housing, legislation and B - specific theories, which look at space syntax, sustainability and human needs. The second approach of the research method is the inductive (the empirical) gaining knowledge and experience and insight about legislation from knowing practically all the problems that come from the case studies, the questionnaire and the interviews and then followed by the findings and application. In the research findings, the results of Part One and the deductive part are merged with the inductive part to produce a framework that can help the legislators in terms of how to formulate comprehensive housing legislation. This is followed by application of the framework in the case studies, to illustrate the practical application of some research findings to public housing. In the conclusion, the problem is established and further research areas are suggested supporting the framework within the Libyan context. The outcome of the research is expected to help designers, planners, and authorities to be more aware of the needs and the criteria for a suitable housing legislation.

This thesis examines the interaction between housing policy and the social security benefits that support housing costs. Analysis concerns the extent and type of State intervention in housing, thus explaining the dynamic between State and individual responsibility in housing policy. This thesis involves an exploration of the different treatment of the owner-occupied and the rented housing sectors, with reference to the social security benefits which fund ongoing housing costs. This thesis seeks to trace how the State financing of the home can be linked to the popularly researched notion of the ‘home’ in English housing law. The research questions whether the use of the home as an investment is an appropriate starting point for analysis, particularly when public funds are involved. Central to this thesis is the identification of the individualisation of responsibility of housing provision, primarily through the promotion of homeownership and the contraction of social housing. The development is seem as a consistent objective since at least the mid-20th Century through diminishing State expenditure to support ongoing housing costs in both tenures through social security payments, primarily in the form of Housing Benefit and Support for Mortgage Interest to support. The conclusion however questions the effectiveness of this strategy. It is argued in this thesis that there is a mismatch between the macro housing policy which encourages homeownership and the social security benefits that support ongoing housing costs.

Recent decades have seen an expansion in the role and size of the UK social housing sector. This sector is challenged to use its new housing development, regeneration and improvement programmes to deliver social benefit within an environment affected by government policies on funding and in the organisational context of particular geographical and commercial pressures. Such challenges draw focus to the under- researched field of asset management. Traditionally, this field has been dominated by the: financial measures of success rather than the wider benefits to the community. However, this study proposes a new approach that is grounded in, the theory of sustainability, within which investments are appraised not only on their financial merits but also on their interplay with the human environment within which they are located through the assessment of social and local economic benefits. Initially implementing a qualitative methodology, the research explores the existing attempts to integrate the appraisal of sustainable benefits within the decision making process. The results suggest that, to date, no apparent tool exists to facilitate this process. A further quantitative survey of UK social housing professionals was undertaken to confirm the initial observations. The results show that, despite the fact that social housing practitioners understand the importance of considering sustainability, they are not yet in a position routinely to appraise the benefits associated with potential schemes, confirming the need for the development of a sustainable benefit evaluation framework. Adopting a case study approach, this study identifies the essential features of sustainability which will ensure that such undertakings generate community benefits. These features are subsequently used to develop and validate a framework for sustainable benefit evaluation within the social housing sector, linking financial appraisal with the evaluation of sustainability. This framework provides a decision aid or tool for practitioners to employ during the early stages of appraising potential social housing investment schemes.