module specification

Housing Strategy (code SSP131N) introduces students to the role of local authorities in developing partnerships to ensure that residents have decent, affordable housing and sustainable communities. It addresses the need for a strategic approach to housing, evaluates sources of evidence and critically assesses how strategies are developed and implemented. Housing and planning is placed in the wider economic, social and environmental context. The module critically explores how addressing housing problems and building new housing contributes to regeneration and improvements in social cohesion, health and education. Students will have the chance to develop transferable skills that can be used for further study or employment. It is taught in semester A, and there are no prerequisites, co-requisites or barred combinations. The assessment is a 2500 word report, and a 15 minute presentation.

None

This module aims to:
1. introduce students to the strategic housing role of local authorities and partner organisations;
2. critically assess key sources of information relevant to the development of a strategic housing approach;
3. analyse the roles different bodies involved in providing housing, regenerating neighbourhoods and improving housing stock, and how they work together;
4. evaluate how improved housing can contribute to health, sustainability, social care and other agendas;
5. contextualise housing and its link to wider economic processes and social issues such as social exclusion in local areas; and
6. provide students with learning and employability skills

The main themes of this module are:
1. the policy context for housing and current developments in policy;
2. policy development and analysis;
3. the strategic role of the local authority and its partners in providing decent affordable housing;
4. information sources on, for example, local communities, tenure and stock condition;
5. the role of planning in providing housing and improved environments;
6. the diversity of local communities, and challenges in identifying need and delivering good quality housing to these communities
7. the contribution of housing to health, employment and other social goals; and
8. skills development.

The main concepts will be introduced in lectures. Students will be encouraged to carry out directed work in groups, and to bring their own knowledge and skills to discussions. Practical tasks will be set, using a range of sources to inform decision making. The module includes sessions on skills development, and there will be formative assessment of presentations during the course.

Students will have opportunities for personal support from staff through individual tuition and pastoral support. The module is part of a course which blends academic content with employability skills which can be transferred to the workplace or used to gain employment in relevant areas. These include: presentation and report writing skills; engagement with guest speakers; visits to housing and regeneration organisations; ; opportunities to gain membership of the Chartered Institute of Housing; and both formal and informal advice from the staff team on employability issues.

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

1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of housing’s role in the wider social, economic and environmental context;
2. Critically assess the role of the local authority and its partners in improving existing housing and developing new housing;
3. Evaluate extensively the sources of information used to identify housing need among diverse communities;
4. Assess the complex relationships of how housing and planning services, health providers, developers and other agencies work together to deliver decent, affordable housing;
5. Explore and critically analyse the links between housing and issues such as poverty and social exclusion; and
6. Complete a report and a presentation to a professional standard.

Policy and other supporting documents and links will be provided through weblearn

Pawson D and Mullins D. 2010. After council housing: Britain’s new social landlords. Palgrave MacMillan
Audit Commission. 2009. Better lives: getting the most from strategic housing. Audit Commission.
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Reviewing the strategic and enabling roles. HMSO
Cullingworth, J and Nadin, V. 2006. Town and country planning in Britain. (14th edition). London: Routledge.
Hall ,P. Peter. (1988)  Cities of Tomorrow, Oxford: Blackwell
Massey, D. (2007)    World City, London: Polity 
Mayor of London (2008) London Plan (consolidated)
Mayor of London, London Housing Strategy, GLA, (July 2010)
Bramley, G. Munro, M. & Pawson,H. (2004) Key issues in Housing: policies and markets in 21st-century Britain, Macmillan,  
Malpass, P. Housing and the Welfare State: The development of Housing Policy in Britain, ( 2005), Macmillan
Communities and Local Government (CLG), Homes for the Future: More affordable, more sustainable, (2007)
NHPAU, Affordability: More than just a housing problem, (May 2009)