The boundaries of reporting sustainable development in social housing

The Registered Social Landlord (an independent housing association in the UK) examined here was widely recognized as providing an example of good governance. The organization was using extensive internal reporting, both corporate and quasi-governmental in language, to try to accurately capture different aspects of performance. This article reveals that reporting sustainable development has boundaries to be overcome, particularly in measuring performance of environmental and community activities. © 2008 The Authors.

Evaluation of public housing strategies in Mexico City : an exploratory goal programming approach

This thesis describes the development and use of a goal programming methodology for the evaluation of public housjng strategies in Mexico City, The methodology responds to the need to incorporate the location, size and densities of housing projects on the one hand, and "external" constraints such as the ability of low income families to pay for housing, and the amounts of capital and land available, on the other. The provision of low cost housing by public housing agencies in Mexico City is becoming increasingly difficult because there are so many constraints to be met and overcome, the most important of which is the ability of families to pay for housing. Other important limiting factors are the availability of capital and of land plots of the right size in desired locations. The location of public housing projects is significant because it determines the cost and pattern of work trips, which in a metropolitan area such as Mexico City are of considerable importance to both planners and potential. house owners. In addition, since the price of land is closely related to its location, the last factor is also significant in determining the price of the total housing package. Consequently there is a major trade-off between a housing strategy based on the provision of housing at locations close to employment, and the opposite one based on the provjsion of housjng at locations where employment accessibility is poorer but housing can be provided at a lower price. The goal programming evaluation methodology presented in this thesis was developed to aid housing planners to evaluate housing strategies which incorporate the issues raised above,

UK social housing and housing market in England:a statistical review and trends

Around 80% of the 63 million people in the UK live in urban areas where demand for affordable housing is highest. Supply of new dwellings is a long way short of demand and with an average annual replacement rate of 0.5% more than 80% of the existing residential housing stock will still be in use by 2050. A high proportion of owner-occupiers, a weak private rental sector and lack of sustainable financing models render England’s housing market one of the least responsive in the developed world. As an exploratory research the purpose of this paper is to examine the provision of social housing in the United Kingdom with a particular focus on England, and to set out implications for housing associations delivering sustainable community development. The paper is based on an analysis of historical data series (Census data), current macro-economic data and population projections to 2033. The paper identifies a chronic undersupply of affordable housing in England which is likely to be exacerbated by demographic development, changes in household composition and reduced availability of finance to develop new homes. Based on the housing market trends analysed in this paper opportunities are identified for policy makers to remove barriers to the delivery of new affordable homes and for social housing providers to evolve their business models by taking a wider role in sustainable community development.