A Poverty Focused Review of Housing Organisations’ Strategic and Business Plans: Early Findings

1. A Poverty Focused Review of Housing Organisations’ Strategic and Business Plans: Early Findings Sam Morris, Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research (CCHPR) April 2014

2. A Poverty Focused Review of Housing Organisations’ Strategic and Business Plans • Ongoing research • Aim: To assess how far the strategic and business plans of landlords and their practice take into account the needs of households and individuals experiencing poverty • Part of wider Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) Housing and Poverty research programme: “How can housing reduce the impact of poverty in the UK?” • Led by team at CCHPR – Anna Clarke, Sam Morris,Sanna Markkanen, Peter Williams, Chihiro Udagawa • Input from Savills • July 2013 – December 2014, publication expected early 2015

3. Project Structure • Stage 1: Groundwork • Literature Review • Housing Market Analysis • Scoping Interview and initial Framework Development • Stage 2: Documentary Analysis • Database Design • Document Gathering • Document Analysis • Data Analysis: Documents and Secondary Data (CORE, SDR) • Stage 3: Interviews and Reporting • Interviews – Linking Policy and Practice • Final Report

4. Stage 1: Literature Review • Conscious efforts to alleviate poverty • Some studies of effectiveness and suggested approaches (e.g. New Policy Institute, 2001 and 2006) • Recent change in relationship between housing and poverty • “Good quality, low-cost housing has, at least partly, broken the link between poor housing conditions and poverty in the UK” (Tunstall et al., 2013). • Welfare reform, increasing use of private rented sector • Resulting paucity of literature on indirect impacts on poverty • Provision of housing at sub-market rents significantly reduces the effect of income poverty in the UK (Stephens & van Steen, 2011). • For landlords with a social purpose, potential for tensions between social goals and commercial goals (Lupton & Lomax, 2013).

5. Stage 1: Housing Market Analysis: Framework • For both sampling and analysis purposes • Six clusters identified using a range of sources and variables: • 2011 Census data • Valuation Office Agency rent data • DCLG Homelessness and Housing Stock data • Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) Stock Condition data • Home Office crime rate data • Enabled a broadly representative sample of local authorities in England to be made for Stage 2

6. Stage 1: Housing Market Analysis: Results

7. Stage 1: Sampling: Case Study Local Authorities • Using the Housing Market Cluster Analysis as a starting point • Taking into account also: • Regional spread • Spread of urban and rural areas • Spread of political viewpoints (amongst Local Authorities) • Size of local authorities • Local Authority housing status (owned, ALMO, stock transfer) • 15 local authorities selected (plus three linked ALMOs) • All registered providers operating within each area identified (Housing Associations, Co-operatives, Almshouse Charities)

8. Stage 1: Developing a Framework: basic approach • To create a systematic method of analysing the documents, allowing both a qualitative and quantitative analysis of policies • Reducing coding as much as possible to identifiable practical ‘activities’ carried out by organisations, recorded with sufficient detail to differentiate between different approaches taken • Identified links to poverty, positive or negative

9. Stage 1: Developing a Framework: classifying activities • Types of Motivation • Activities carried out in the course of providing housing • Activities carried out specifically to alleviate poverty • Types of Impact • Immediate impact on financial situation of households in poverty • Broader impact on the earning ability of households in poverty • Impact on level of income required to maintain a reasonable standard of living • Key themes • Rent Setting • Core Housing Management • Advice and Support Activities • Development and Portfolio Management • Allocations and Lettings • Strategic Goals • Value for Money • Wider Community Work

10. Stage 1 / 2: Developing a Framework: practical approach • First draft based on nine initial interviews, as well as pilot document gathering • Scoping general availability of documents • Types of document available • Identify the relevant and useful documents, and the different names they may go by • Developed flexibly as analysis of documents continued • Recoding after revisions of the framework

11. Stage 2: Sourcing documents: general approach • Scan of websites – majority of documents • All organisations contacted by email • Two reminders sent where no response gained • Selected organisations phoned • No email address • Large number of documents outstanding • Variable level of success • Some documents for 71 of 77 Registered Providers (more than 5 for 51) • Reasonably complete set of documents for all 15 Local Authorities • Much weaker response from private sector housing organisations • Planned private sector related work in Stage 3 increased as a result

12. Stage 2: Sourcing documents: private landlords • No database of private rented properties available • Few private landlords are directly contactable • Letting Agents • 210 Letting Agents contacted • One sent their own documents, several confirmed they had no documents • None willing to ask Landlords for documents • 100 websites analysed; some documents gathered from these • Landlord Associations • All relevant associations contacted • Clear that Private Landlords would not have any documents for analysis • Will be used in Stage 3 • Local Authority Landlord Forums • Good for focus group type discussions • Will be used in Stage 3

13. Stage 2: Analysis of Documents – Technical Challenges • Collating and analysing 664+ documents (plus websites) totalling 1.3GB in size • Very large volume of documents, with no consistent structure • In a variety of formats (Word, PDF, websites, others) • Documents may be endorsed by more than one organisation, or may apply to just one subsidiary of a corporate group • Documents may contain activities which happened in the past, which are ongoing or which are planned for the future • Documents may contain policies which apply to the organisation or to others • Activities may be identified in multiple documents • Some organisations provide a high level of detail, others little or none • Need to analyse document availability as well as document content • Need for multi-dimensional analysis: by organisation, by case study area, by cluster, by organisation type

14. Stage 2: Analysis of Documents – Technical Approach • Bespoke Microsoft Access database • Enables multi-dimensional analysis • Linked to large store of documents • Not restricted to certain type of action for certain types of document Regions Document Types Clusters Areas of operation Documents Activities Organisations Activity Types (Framework) Organisation Types • Output to SPSS file for statistical analysis

15. Stage 3: Analysis of Documents – Additional data • Combine the data from the documentary analysis with other sources to produce an SPSS file for quantitative analysis • SDR (stock data) • CORE (lettings data) • Data from the cluster analysis • Initial analysis of CORE data shows substantial variation between affordable housing providers • Turnover varies from over 10% per annum to less than 1% • 90%+ LA nominations down to 20% • 90%+ affordable rent on new lets down to 0% • New tenants 80% benefit dependent to just 40% - and no obvious correlation with geography

16. Stage 3: Initial directions: documentary analysis (1) Provision of advice services Geographical Clusters ? Organisation Type Policy on development / tenancy type priorities CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES Organisation Size Approach to arrears and tenancy support Data on incomes of tenants Development and Tenancy statistics Fuel efficiency measures CORE/SDR DATA

17. Stage 3: Initial directions: documentary analysis (2) • Balance between commercial goals and social objectives • Links between social objectives to combat poverty, and practical initiatives • Advice and support services – extent of provision • Prioritising need • Helping a few people a lot, or many people a little • Focusing on helping the poorest, vs. focusing on a wider range of people • Helping existing tenants vs. helping the wider community

18. Stage 3: Key Questions for Analysis: interviews • To raise questions which are not covered by policy documents • Affordability of measures to combat poverty; benefits to the landlord? • What is best delivered by landlords; what is better delivered by others? • Assess the extent to which policies are, or can be, followed through in practice • And to what extent those organisations without policies do these things anyway • Focus Groups with private landlords • Discussing impact of poverty on their business • Impact of their business on poverty; how this may change • Role of written policy and strategy

19. Next steps and Conclusions • Completion of quantitative analysis • To show links between types of organisation and stated policies(e.g. How do policies vary between housing market types) • To show links from one policy statement to another(e.g. Does a strategic aim to tackle poverty influence other areas of policy) • Should also reveal links between stated policy and action shown in CORE • Interviews • To assess extent to which policies influence practice • Final Report • Expected publication January 2015

20. Project contact details Sam Morris or Anna Clarke CCHPR, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge T: 01223 768064 E: sm2048@cam.ac.uk