iii 'Our Housing Disaster'

'Our Housing Disaster'
Image: Goodreads

Here on W2tQ many posts have referred to 'common sense' over the years. Apparently, there is no such thing - which may be another blog post).

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/too-many-goals/202005/theres-no-such-thing-common-sense

In 'Our Housing Disaster' Julian Richer is simultaneously analytic in identifying problems and potential solutions, logical and to me commonsensical. There is a need for debate and decisions at a political level. Residents, must also be involved, have a say. Chapter 10 lists shorter-term actions and longer-term. 

The history of this disaster is tackled in chapter 3. Chapter 4 links very well explaining the rise of renting. If there was ever to be another edition - which the book and issue well-deserve; it would be good to a nod to evidence-based housing policy? This is suggested, as is integrating the many threads of housing; work, transport, infrastructure, shops, water and services. I've posted here about the number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups and talk of joined-up government. Housing is anything but joined-up. You could argue all MPs and Lords should read this book. 

Overall, the book is well produced, the text very readable, large size and well laid out. The 'references' for each chapter are in the form of links. Needless to say, I have only tried a few. The book seems smaller - narrower than a standard paperback, so may have fewer words / line. For posts i & ii, I extracted text from photos, which is a challenge without stressing the book's spine (as I've written before no doubt, I'm squeamish when it comes to books).

In the UK, the Right to Buy and Help to Buy, have long been a feature of housing policy. Of Help To Buy, it has 'cost taxpayers £29 billion in cash terms by 2023' (p.45) and has additional consequences. Milton Keynes is the 'right-to-buy-to-let' capital of England (2017, p.48). Surely, it is time to move on -  and quickly. The history of how we got here is fascinating, like a slow car-crash with critical events that accelerated the inevitable. Taxpayers and citizens all: we have missed out. There is mention of preventing corruption (but yes, more effort on money-laundering and tax evasion please!). The need for buildings inspection, standards of construction and materials and responding to the climate crisis and high energy costs are also stressed.

Richer's stance is tempered, and sets an effective tone. He is not preaching, even as he points to land owned by the Church of England. I remember the NHS selling estate, and yet there is more. While the book is not long, an index would help. I like the final summarising and concluding sentences for each chapter. Physically, they are bound to be there obviously, but there's a welcome sensible thread to these imho. With an index, perhaps I could check back to look up 'productivity, reduced', a problem that has plagued the UK economy. To what extent does housing contribute to this now; since the 1960s? The King's Fund and many other organisations and commentators advocate daily for social care. While it is acknowledged, social care is not one of the government's 5 key 'missions', and now (5th Dec.) there are milestones. Richer refers to the problem of bed-blocking in the NHS, and the need for suitable future housing so older adults can continue to 'live' in their homes.

So often in health we are taught, and learn to assess, plan, intervene, and evaluate a person-centred set of needs, a patient's needs, and a carer's needs. It is welcome to see a collective - population-based focus on needs. The book delivers on the title. So there are no details of nations (or cities) that have a  much better housing system and controls. Over the years it's been interesting and encouraging to read about Vienna in the FT. Below I have mapped/associated selected concepts to the care / knowledge domains of Hodges' model:

INDIVIDUAL

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES              

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

GROUP

psychological security mental health 'my' home, my space identity peace of mind when costs met facilitate well-being memories LAND - the 'hope' value sense of continuity / permanence children being safe making friends access to 'GREEN' spaces my life course - personal history Cognitive assurance: my area - family & friends / pets /school / work - attachment	LAND - UK geography physical shelter physical health (NO damp, mould, noise...) House building targets/programmes my space/room having an address - identity displacement public/environment health eviction house building - infrastructure land - costs transport links bed-blocking in hospitals Climate Change
place to make a home raise a family belonging sense of community friends & neighbours  anti-social behaviour by tenants social care - older adults social care disabled access to work, schools resources to service a community lack of spare capacity to support people & families in need/crisis	the economy: interest/mortgage rates indebtedness - poverty housing POLICY :: COSTS national housing & land assets inspection and building standards forms of tenure: private, rented, housing assoc. LAW - housing & land legislation housing rights migration, refugees independent advocacy / NGOs compulsory purchase

Thank you Mr Richer for an excellent read and synopsis. I do hope the government listens! My daughter's partner works in estate agency, so I know where my copy is heading: a new home!

OHD i

OHD ii

'Our Housing Disaster' ii

'Our Housing Disaster'
Image: Goodreads

Late to reading about economics, apart from the 'quality press' and an 'O' level in social history (which has actually been really useful in my nursing career), this book can ground and crystallize 'housing' as heard and viewed in the news.

I've a love for hi-fi that I share with Julian Richer, but my wealth lies elsewhere and is decidedly non-monetary. Reading his column in The Sunday Times, I'm impressed with Mr Richer's insight and the extent of his philanthropy. The book notes several initiatives and collaborations, e.g. TaxWatch -https://www.taxwatchuk.org/

On the news you hear of 'intervention' in the market - usually equity or bonds. You - the government - can intervene, or let the market, a market by implication, look after itself. Markets find their own equilibrium, shift to stability ultimately; and this despite economic crises, billion-busting scandals and political parties totally screwing-up.

So, it appears governments have allowed the housing market, to make its own moves.

It's back to the future, the 18th century of laissez-faire: the market has spoken, and its a utter mess.

The book's contents are well structured and delivered in full.

Introduction
1 Disaster? What Housing Disaster?
2 A Housing Crisis That Harms
3 Where Did Housing Go Wrong?
4 The Rise of Renting
5 The Shrinking of Social Housing
6 Underregulated and Oversubscribed
7 Land and Planning: The Price of Permission
8 Making Better Use of Buildings and Land
9 Building a Solution
10 Time for Action - My Housing Manifesto
Conclusion

OHD covers the population as a whole, but 'health' is very well represented in terms of personnel and the impacts of lack of housing and poor quality, unregulated housing: 

'Inability to afford housing is one of the grievances feeding into strikes by public sector workers - even better-paid ones. A survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) in December 2022 found that nearly half (45.3%) of junior doctors had struggled to afford their rent or mortgage in the past year. To earn more, some were taking on extra shifts and the BMA said this added to its concerns around junior doctor exhaustion and burnout. 

The consequences reach out to the public at large, as housing problems hit staff recruitment in health services, education and so on. The NHS visibly cant cope: basic structures are crumbling.' p.25.

We can imagine the anxiety and depression this might provoke. Even for people you might think (assume) would be ordinarily resilient. These are clearly extraordinary times. An email - RCN Magazine - today supports the same conclusion:

The relationship between health and housing is not limited to chapter 2. In chapter 2 though damp and mould (yes a specific case), unsanitary conditions the loss of environment health officers and skilled personnel, reminded me of decades ago an article in HSJ, or in that 'quality press' about the community health councils - CHCs having their teeth extracted. Public (MENTAL) health has taken a stunning fall and desperately needs to be put back together.

More to follow...

'Our Housing Disaster'

Our Housing Disaster

I must finish the spring and summer's reading as pictured, with another two books in the wings. While the smallest text Our Housing Disaster is cheap to buy, an important read and insightful.

Politically, in the UK and many other nations, housing and its opposite -  homelessness, and the supply and cost of housing are ongoing issues.

Julian Richer's book is low cost £4.99 post free with a promo-code; even as I obtained a free copy, learning of the book in Business section of The Sunday Times. 

Our Housing Disaster gets off to a flying start:

'Falling or stagnant house prices are seen as national 'ill' that we must recover from but, in fact, fast-rising house prices and interest rates have proved to be the real ill, destroying the dream of a property-owning democracy that was supposed to benefit all.

Britain's housing policy, such as it is, has failed on its own terms.' p.9.

I remember when Grand Designs appeared on our TVs. Especially the episode with the wood-frame eco-house by Ben Law. This seemed sustainable and time-limited too. Julian Richer really nails the housing problem without delay. Unfortunately, the audience appeal of TV programmes like Grand Designs, Location, ... seem to me symptomatic of the issue Richer raises above. I used to think that the 'middle class' were shooting themselves in the foot; as house prices rose and rose. There was a collapse at one point with the trap of negative equity that my family almost got caught in (had we bought a new home). Richer corrects this view, with a national perspective across ten chapters and 180 pages.

 If the link between health and housing needs to amplified Richer ably achieves this, and quickly:

'Poor housing is harming the nation's health. The housing ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, whose office deals with complaints from social housing tenants about disrepair and mould and damp in their homes, problems recognised now to be a threat to health, has found the situation to be so bad that he has called for a Royal Commission to look at the links between housing, health, and welfare. Too often, the various agencies in housing, health and social care tend not to link up, or even know what the others are doing. which can end up making people's housing situation worse. Someone who has been homeless or who has mental health needs, for example, can require a lot of support once they are housed so that they can pay the rent and maintain the tenancy. If they just get housed and then left to cope on their own, they can struggle, lose the tenancy, become homeless and whole cycle starts again, with all that waste of money and damage to lives.' p.16.

'In addition to the 8m, there must be millions more who are not in crisis, but who have a blight on their future: typically, young, working people, perhaps with children, who are living in private rented accommodation, with a roof over their heads but always worrying they might be evicted. The insecurity and uncertainty that they experience is not good for them or their children. Just as job insecurity makes it hard for people to build a career, housing insecurity makes it hard for people to establish a life.' p.19.

The statistics flow thick and fast but as readable as they are focussed they weave an effective narrative referring to the history of just how we got to this point. The text make stark the dire crisis and need for action and an urgent government response. 

More to follow.

Ekistics - Special Issue: Indonesia and the New Habitat: Urban and Environmental Challenges

Ekistics, one of the world's oldest scholarly journals for human habitat research and practice, was developed by C.A Doxiadis with the goal of creating liveable cities and thriving urban environments. The journal has provided an interdisciplinary forum for the scientific study of human settlements since the 1950s. It has recently been revived into an online version as Ekistics and the New Habitat. The journal is planning a series of special issues for various regions of human habitation around the world. In this call, we seek papers on the topic of Indonesia and the New Habitat: Urban and Environmental Challenges.

Cities in developing countries have become more urbanized and create complex urban problems and challenges. UN-Habitat introduces sustainable urbanization as concentration for future human settlements which is in line with the changes of the world scale. As a developing country as well as most populous nations in the world, Indonesia also experienced human settlements challenges particularly in the area of urban planning, basic infrastructure, housing and slums as well as the urban policies. However, the government of the Republic of Indonesia has shown its commitment to be part of the Habitat Agenda by actively involved and implementing the six themes of the Agenda.

This Special Issue seeks papers from academics, researchers, practitioners as well as observers which posit and analyses the problems of the cities and the new habitats in Indonesia in relation to planning and implementation of the six topics of UN-Habitat:

1. Urban Demographics
2. Land and Urban planning
3. Environment and Urbanization
4. Governance and Institutional
5. Urban Economics
6. Housing and Basic Services

Particular attention will be given to perspective that explores future agendas regarding sustainable urbanization and environmental challenges.

In this regard, the following topics are recommended to take into consideration:

• Any aspect of the United Nations New Urban Agenda, in Habitat III, including reference to the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Critiques on the local, regional and global policy of habitat development, design and planning, and urban transformation
• Issues of architecture, urban design, spatial planning, housing, conservation, sustainability, livability, environmental planning and regeneration through a cross-disciplinary and/or global perspective.

We invite proposals engaged in the mentioned framework of topics above in the form of firstly, a short 250-word proposal/abstract by 1st Oct 2019. On-topic proposals integrating the above themes will receive an invitation to submit a full de-identified paper in Word.doc(x) file format for double-blind peer review.

Scholarly articles/reviews (full papers, double-blind review): typically, with title, authors, institutional affiliations, abstract, keywords, body text (5000-7000 words), and APA 6th References at the end of the article. Body text typically includes:

• an introduction to a problem or topic outlining the need for the research,
• relevant prior papers from Ekistics and other sources
• the methodological or conceptual framework and methods
• the summary of key results, findings, or reflective insights
• a critical concluding discussion.

Scholarly extended Abstracts/Essays (1000-1500 words), Critical reflections of Practice (500-1000 words or so) and Book reviews (300-500 words) are also welcome: review priority will be given to full research papers with the criteria mentioned above. Please submit via the orange [SUBMIT PAPER HERE] button in this email.

Please note: there is a further concurrent call:

Saudi Vision 2030 - Habitats for Sustainable Development

Contact: Assist. Prof. Dr Yenny Rahmayati
Email: yrahmayati AT psu.edu.sa

individual - self

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group- population

EKISTICS Past issues on Health & Mental Health [ Smart	Urban Demographics Land and Urban planning Environment and Urbanization  Cities]
Housing and Basic Services history ... Ekistics 1957	Governance and Institutional Urban Economics

'City'? Reflect on the city and cities as a structure and as content.


c/o Associate Prof. Kurt Seeman, Editor in Chief & Assist. Prof. Dr Yenny Rahmayati
(and my source)

See also:

Habitat 3

Ekistic Journal: Health and Mental Health

'ekistics' defined. 

[ an addition ]