module specification

Homelessness and Housing Policy outlines the key issues of housing policy in the UK with a focus upon homelessness. It looks at the history of housing policy and of social housing in particular in the UK; at housing trends in the UK and the causes of the current housing crisis in London in particular and at homelessness. Combined with other modules in the faculty, such as ‘Housing Issues and Housing Solutions’, this module provides a housing pathway for students wishing to develop or further their careers in this area. The module runs for 14 weeks, and is assessed through a seminar presentation and a 2,500 word essay.

The module aims to:

1. Provide students with an understanding of housing policy developments in the UK
2. Provide students with an understanding of key contemporary housing issues in the UK and of the underlying causes of the ‘housing crisis’ in London and the UK
3. To equip students with the necessary techniques to evaluate policy with reference to contemporary issues in housing.
4. To provide students with the tools to evaluate housing issues and policy towards the homeless using a variety of analytical perspectives within social policy.

Week 1 An introduction to Housing and Homelessness Policy – Housing in the UK: the context
Week 2 The history of social housing in the UK
Week 3 Social housing in the UK from the 1980s
Week 4 Social and affordable housing in the UK in the 21st century
Week 5 The housing crisis in London
Week 6 Regenerating deprived council housing estates in London and the UK
Week 7 Case study
Week 8 Homelessness (I)
Week 9 Homelessness (II)
Week 10 Housing and poverty
Week 11 Housing and vulnerable groups
Week 12 A comparative view - social housing policy in Europe

Key issues will be introduced through lectures. Students will discuss good practice and other issues in small groups during seminars and participatory workshops. Weblearn resources will be used extensively.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Explain the impact of the different forms of intervention in the housing market in the UK over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
2. Explain the link between public housing provision, labour markets and the wider social welfare system
3. Critically evaluate contemporary housing goals and policy implementation

The essay will be situated around the link between public housing provision, labour markets and the wider social welfare system. Students will be asked to explain different government interventions within the housing market.
The seminar presentation will enable students to choose a topic related to a contemporary housing issue and its policy implementation. This will be critically discussed with reference to academic and policy literature.

Special issue on ‘Housing Policy in England Since 1975’, in Housing Studies 22(2), March 2007
Glynn, S. (ed.) (2009) Where the Other Half Lives: Lower income housing in a neoliberal world, London: Pluto Press.
Hills, J. (2006) Ends and Means: The future roles of social housing in England, London: Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion CASE report 34, London School of Economics
Jones, C. and Murie, A. (2006) The Right to Buy, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
Kemp, P. A. (2004) Private Renting in Transition, Coventry: Chartered Institute of Housing
Kemp, P. A. (ed.) (2007) Housing Allowances in Comparative Perspective, Bristol: The Policy Press
Lowe, S. (2004) Housing Policy Analysis, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Malpass, P. (2005) Housing and the Welfare State, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Malpass, P. and Rowlands, R. (eds) (2009) Housing, Markets and Policy, London: Routledge
Mullins, D. and Murie, A. (2006) Housing policy in the UK, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Pawson. H and Mullins. D (2010) After Council Housing. Britain’s New Social Landlords. Palgrave Macmillan
Ronald, R. (2008) The Ideology of Home Ownership, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Schwartz, H. and Seabrooke, L. (eds.) (2009) The Politics of Housing Booms and Busts, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan