Housing is an essential basic need. Assessing housing needs considers three issues which are its affordability, overcrowding, and amenities available. Social housing is a project in the United Kingdom that lets houses at an affordable price to the people who are in need. It is a diverse part of the housing market provided by nonprofit organizations and councils. Although they are independent, they are highly regulated and funded through the use of subsidies and favorable tax systems. The location of the homes is within the council estates, and voluntary organization bears the responsibility of managing and delivering them to the needy people. (Stuart, et al., 2015). Social housing plays three significant roles in the United Kingdom one of them being the provision of sub-market rents; then this program also allows the state to have the power to make regulations regarding the sector. Finally, it's through this sector that the government has subsidized the construction of new houses.
The goal of social housing is to create accommodation that is affordable to people with a low income. The government limits increase on rental rates. Therefore, the rents remain affordable. (Paul, 2014, p. 2). The housing benefit is essential since it provides houses people, to acquire and live in, some which they would otherwise not be able to afford. Therefore reducing the number of people who would be deprived and also allow allocation of the extra money into other uses.
The social housing industry has continued to struggle to allocate quality housing that is sufficient for the growing population that seeks affordable housing options. The demand for social housing has remained high with more than one million people being on the waiting list as the number of houses in Britain reduces. The gap in the availability of social homes is as a result of the lack of newly built houses to meet the needs of the growing population.
The literature demonstrates that the high cost of housing, poor conditions of the houses and overcrowding are related to poor outcomes of residents in the future. Research also argues affordable housing on its own is not enough to contribute to a better livelihood. (Steve & Maude, 2016, p. 3) This paper seeks to have a critical review of the social housing sector to find the link between social housing and poverty. The study will include an analysis of the role of housing in the lives of people who are experiencing hardship.
Poverty is more than lack of income; it also involves a range of nonmaterial factors such as low educational levels, higher crime rates, and poor health (Ruth, 2004). Poverty levels in the united kingdom are still relatively high compared with other wealthy nations. It is prevalent in the United Kingdom with 21% of the population living in households experiencing poverty (Tinson, et al., 2016).
The research will include the use of interviews as a tool for data collection as well as the use of questionnaires to the beneficiaries of the social housing project in the United Kingdom. There is a two-way relationship that exists between housing and poverty; housing can alleviate and worsen the experience of poverty. It can be either a charge on income through mortgage payments or a source of income. The interaction between the two can have a significant impact on the number of people living in scarcity. Substantial evidence exists that poverty affects housing conditions than the way housing circumstance affects poverty. The housing system in the United Kingdom is a cushion against poverty (Rebecca, et al., 2015, p. 6).
Aims and objectives
This study will present findings on the relationship between poverty and social housing, before giving a summary of the critical things that stakeholders should put into consideration to reduce the housing-related poverty levels. The objective of this report will also be to attempt to address fundamental questions about the study topic. Some of the issues to be considered include the evaluation of the effect of housing-related costs on poverty, to asses how affordable housing meets the needs of those living in poverty. Equally important will be to identify the existing relationship between social housing and poverty. It also highlights the chances for better use of current powers to deliver housing and planning activities that will reduce scarcity in the future.
Research methodology.
The research study will make use of qualitative and quantitative ways of data collection. Although sometimes when the focus is on a social issue, it is not always necessarily needed to quantify it. The approach should be in such a way that it looks into the intangible aspects involved as well the actual ones. Therefore for this study, the qualitative methods will include a case study that addresses the beneficiaries of the social housing programme to get a view of how it has impacted their lives. There will be literature review from similar research previously done in the United Kingdom in regards to the program, to investigate different theoretical concepts. Direct interviews with the affected people through the use of tailor-made questionnaires will be another tool.
The inclusion of interviews is because the use of the case study approach and literature review focus mainly on secondary data. These methods help generate a clear picture of issues, challenges, and solutions through a broad spectrum of evidence. Also, they are time and cost effective. Limitations of the use of primary data from interviews is that biased opinions could limit it. The importance of using the different research approaches is that there is raised validity by increasing the number of sources and information to give a more balanced approach to the findings.
Regarding data collection, the gathering of information will be through referral to online articles, surveys, and reports focusing on the link between social housing and poverty. Also through conducting interviews for primary data collection which will be analyzed to provide a more clear picture.
Timetable
Task
Sub-Task
WEEK 1
Choose a topic
l Define the purpose
l State the objectives
l Formulate the research questions.
WEEK 2
Do the research
l Formulate a plan for research
l Do the actual study from the library and reliable internet sources.
WEEK 3
Formulate questionnaires and questions for interviews
l Conduct interviews
l Let people fill in questionnaires
WEEK 4
Review and compile the report
l Compile and organize all the data in a neat document
l Review it and defend
Discussion
The association between housing and poverty is complicated. However, there is little doubt that the current policies undermine the degree to which housing policy can reduce lack, through access to low cost, good quality housing within the right location. (Richard, et al., 2016). Housing has an impact on material forms of poverty such as when the cost of housing cause the incomes to go below the threshold level. It can also affect nonmaterial forms of insufficiency where the poor houses create a negative impact on health and general well being. Additionally, the location of the social homes is a determinant on whether the residents can access jobs and transport.
The inadequate housing can affect the health which has long-term effects on income and employment. (Rebecca, et al., 2015). Evidence that housing affects need is stronger than the reverse however low cost decent and quality places of residence have a significant contribution in increasing disposable income, and this reduces deprivation and maintains work incentives.
The research will relatively cover three months; the qualitative research takes a short time because it involves much of literature review. Conducting interviews and the development of detailed questionnaires will take quite some time. There will be recruitment and training of a team that will be involved in data collection. The exercise will help in ensuring that the participants selected is a representative of the whole population to avoid bias. Collection of data will be from a total of a hundred households.
Data analysis is a step that will involve the organizing of the collected data to come up with a conclusion for the study. It helps the researcher to answer questions and derive essential information. It is the most crucial part of the research when its inconclusive results produced are inaccurate making the research findings unhelpful. It's necessary to ensure careful selection of the methods to be used so that the findings become relevant and helpful.
Analysis of the primary data collected during the interviews will be done using the critical analysis and explanation of figures of numbers and the statistics to get the real picture from the main findings. A comparison of the primary research findings to the information from the literature review is equally important. The interpretation of qualitative data is slightly different because the qualitative evidence is made up of words and observations hence its primary use in research.
Conclusion
The significance of the relationship between housing and poverty requires greater recognition both from the parties interested in social homes and also those interested in debt. In the future, it is essential for the policymakers, to come up and implement policies that directly address the main links between housing and poverty. Such measures are increasing the availability of affordable housing, better house qualities. Another step is the provision of direct employment opportunities to this group as well as regulation of the private sector housing. By researching this study, there is a chance to broaden the knowledge available on an issue that does not have much of literature. The research could also lead to better policy development by the government in the planning of better incentives for poverty alleviation.
References
Paul, R., 2014. Affordable and social housing: policy and practice. New York: Routledge.
Rebecca, T. et al., 2015. The links between housing and poverty: an evidence review. p. 6.
Richard, C., Will, E. & Aidan, W., 2016. Tackling poverty through the housing and planning policy in city regions.
Ruth, L., 2004. Poverty. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Steve, P. & Maude, M., 2016. Nonhousing outcomes of affordable housing. p. 3.
Stuart, A., Daniel, C., Andrew, H. & Robert, J., 2015. Social housing in England: a survey. Pp. 1-3.
Tinson, A. et al., 2016. Monitoring poverty and social exclusion. p. 46.
