Local Authority Housing: New Roles and Challenges

1. Local Authority Housing: New Roles and Challenges • Introduction: Past two decades very difficult for local authority sector in Irland. • Sector has suffered from declining reputation, poor standing relative to other tenures, poor morale within housing departments, questions and doubt about its future role in the housing system. • Experience not unique to Ireland, also evident in other European countries. New Roles and Challenges

2. Social Housing Trends in Europe • Key features of European Social Housing since mid 1970’s • Onset of Residualisation • Segregation and Differentiation of Municipal and Local Authority rented stock • Impact of Management Weakness

3. Onset of Residualisation • Onset of Residualisation marked by a number of trends: • Change in social composition of tenants • Higher proportion of poorer and marginalised households • Shift from mass role to welfare role • Departure of better off tenants and households

4. Segregation and Differentiation • Segregation of local authority and municipal stock from mainstream social housing. • Increasing association with “problem estates”. • Many estates marked by racial tension, social problems, isolation and exclusion from surrounding areas.

5. Management Weakness in Municipal Sector • Management often seen as remote, bureaucratic and unresponsive to tenant needs. • Lack of response especially to peripheral high rise estates fed into disenchantment with sector as a whole. • Poor structures of tenant consultation and communication.

6. Reasons for Decline • Decline in level of political support for Social Housing in most European countries from mid 1970’s onwards. • Changes in nature of subsidy and financing of social housing, greater targetting at poor households. • New emphasis on policies of privatisation, demunicipalisation, transfer to new landlord

7. Decline in Political Support • Perception that ‘post war’ housing problems had been solved. • Wider dissilussionment with role and performance of welfare state. • Emergence of New Right and emphasis on rolling back the state, reliance on markets and private provision, cutting public spending.

8. Changes in Subsidy and Finance • Shift from producer subsidy to consumer subsidy • Introduction of Housing Allowances • Market rents spurred departure of better off tenants. • New incentives to expand home ownership. • Restructring and contraction of private rental sector.

9. Policies of Privatisation and Deregulation • Widspread deregulation of social landlords: reinvented as commercial landlords. • Sales to tenants of dwellings especially in UK • Opt out legislation reduced role of local authorities through establishment of Housing Action Trusts, LSVT. • LA landlords left with poorest stock and poorest tenants

10. The Irish Experience. • Broad similarities with European Trends • 1980’s Policies aimed at reducing absolute and relative size of sector: • Capital cutbacks, 1984 Surrender Grant Scheme, 1988 Tenant Purchase • 1990’s Focus on broadening alternatives to Local Authority provision • Critique of management and practice models

11. Alternative Sources • Plan for Social Housing, implicit criticism of Local Authority housing performance. • Proposed range of alternative housing providers from social and voluntary sector to supplement output of local authorities. • Also offered schemes to promote shared ownership, rental subsidy, capital assistance • Co-ordinating and Promotional role for L.A.

12. Management Reform • Reports of Housing Management Group (1996, 1998) offered recommendations on good housing practice: • Better co-ordination between sections involved in housing provision. • Stronger focus on estates • Better implementation of tenancy agreements, responding to anti-social behaviour

13. Reform of Housing Practice • More efficient, effective and closely monitored maintenance service • Better mangement of lettings • Debvelopment of communications and consultation with tenants • Better training and development of staff • Development of performance indicators • Introduction of I.T. for management info

14. Constraints on Good Practice • Barriers to imlementing good pracice guidelines of a structural nature outside direct control of housing depts. • Local Governenment versus Local Administration: Deskbound & Rule Driven • Dual Sysem stronger influence of technical grades “bricks and mortar” view andabsence of active management response to problems

15. Constraints on Good Practice • Industrial relations: Rigid work practices,restrictive work practices inefficiencies and resistance to change • Overemphasis on physical aspects of estates, refurbishment and rehabilitation to cure all problems, absence of community development or social dimension • Rental income below management and maintenance costs, revenue pressures on local authorities

16. Constraints on Good Practice • Relationship of LA with DoELG based on narrow auditing culture • Absence of strong strategic leadership from DoELG which could turn tradition of centralisation in positive direction. • Generation of knowledge: monitoring of housing management performance, efficiency of maintenance, defining and assessing problem estates etc.

17. Future Challenges • Critical role in alleviating housing need, largest providers of non-market housing. • Return to large scale provision ie pre 1980’s should be restored - to between 20% and 30% of new provision via mix of LA and voluntary providers. • Creative responses to meeting need should be explored eg turn key developments, acquisitions.

18. Future Challenges • Housing practice and management reform still sporadic and fragmented. Continuing reliance on initiative of individual officers rather than organisational and structural change. • Role of IPA Housing Unit as strategic resource in offering research, evaluation and training to housing departments especially

19. Future Challenges • addressing the information deficit. • Defining and applying criteria of housing performance; assessment of responsivness, and efficiency of maintenance services, correlation of national data on voids and abandoned dwellings; extent and effectiveness of tenant participation, detailed picture of tenant population.

20. Future Challenges • Preparing LA for new sources of demand eg racial and ethnic minorities. • Assessing performance of SPC’s role in developing greater co-ordination within housing sphere. • Long term aim: Broaden remit of LA housing beyond welfare housing as way of eliminating social segregation from the system.