1. Social Mixing, Social Segregation and Social Housing Supply.
Professor Michelle Norris
School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice
University College Dublin
Presented to the Focus Ireland Conference City Hall Cork, 12/09/2018

2. Over the past 20 to 30 years… housing provision has moved from a model where a significant share of overall annual housing delivery was accounted for by direct provision of mainly local authority housing… to a model where housing provision has been predominantly provided by the private market, with social housing delivered thereafter through various rental sector schemes.
.... One of the benefits of this transition...has been to deliver a better mix between private and social housing, rather than the reliance on large mono-tenure public housing projects which characterised housing investment in the 1960s and 1970s, many of which have since had to be regenerated in more recent years.
The size of the individual construction projects in the new social housing building programme reflects... clearer thinking on achieving good tenure mix. Building a mix of smaller scale and infill developments is essential, if we are to deliver on our commitment to create long-term sustainable communities and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

3. These statements neatly summarise the direction of social housing policy since the 1980s and the thinking which underpins it. But this presentation:
Highlights their negative impact
For social housing delivery
For resolving the homeless crisis
For social housing management
For the housing market.
Proposes better alternatives
Mixed income social housing
Cost rental.
Questions their accuracy
Was the social housing model of the past a mistake?
Where is the evidence that social housing has caused segregation in Ireland?
Where is the evidence that other housing supports don’t?

4. Which causes socio-economic problems eg
Rationale for building small and mixed tenure social housing estates is:
Large social housing estates cause social segregation by generating large clusters of low-income households.
Which causes socio-economic problems eg
Undermines commercial services (banks, shops).
Pressures social services, schools and health services
Stigmatisation.
What academics call ‘neighbourhood effects’

5. Not a major issue in rural areas. Limited significance in cities.
But: the level of segregation caused by social housing in ireland is low.
Not a major issue in rural areas.
Limited significance in cities.
Very little segregation in rural areas reflects the low population density. Even when it does occur the impact of segregation is lower becuase everyone shops in the same shop uses the same school etc.

6. Appropriate level of social housing provision should depend on the neighbourhood’s socio-economic characteristics - hard and fast 30% or 10% rule is not appropriate.
Politics and Ideology
Social democratic ideology and political parties:
Urbanisation
Industrialisation.
Christian Democracy
Political systems
Western European electoral systems often result in coalitions.
So social democratic parties usually had some influence.
O’Devaney Gardens Stoneybatter
Ballymun

7. Council and Private Houses Built and Council Houses Sold to Tenants, 1920s-2016
But: historic problems of social housing are overstated and benefits underestimated
Local authorities built 22.2% of the total Irish housing stock
Due to sales to tenants only 8.7% of the housing stock remains in local authority ownership
Vast majority of these neighbourhoods are settled and successful.
Even in ‘troubled’ estates there is significant internal diversity.
Main driver of the need for social housing regeneration is chronic underspending on maintenance - not large estates

8. But: subsidies for private rented tenants (eg
But: subsidies for private rented tenants (eg. Rent Supplement, RAS and HAP) are also associated with spatial segregation - and lower quality accommodation than social housing.
Politics and Ideology
Social democratic ideology and political parties:
Urbanisation
Industrialisation.
Christian Democracy
Political systems
Western European electoral systems often result in coalitions.
So social democratic parties usually had some influence.

9. Small and mixed tenure social housing estates are more challenging to develop and manage:
Planning for social housing is challenging
Spending approval by Department of Housing is slow.
Same planning and approval overhead for large and small estates
Means that building ten estates of 10 houses is more challenging than building one estate of 100 houses.
High density mixed tenure housing (eg. apartments) are very challenging to manage.
‘Management fee’ generally exceeds total revenue from social housing rent.

10. In conclusion:
Need for social mixing of social housing is oven over estimated
Role of subsidies for private housing in driving segregation is underestimated.
Social mixing is required in some cases but the obsession with social mixing in all cases is an impediment to adequate social housing delivery
Alternatives should be explored such as:
Not allocating social housing solely on the basis of need - but also take account of social sustainability.
Allocation on the basis of ‘time on the list’ generally produced a better social mix of tenants.
Cost rental + social housing or cost rental + rent subsidies for low earners.