The impact of cost rental housing: security (Part III)
The Week in Housing 27/09/24
This is the third part of a series presenting the findings from my recently published report on the Impact of Cost Rental Housing (see Part I and Part II). This week the focus is on security and home, and ‘place’. As ever you can find much more detailed data and analysis in the report itself. On another, unrelated note, some of you may recall I wrote about the protests in Newtownmountkennedy against the IPAS centre there. Last Sunday, a local group set up to support the asylum seekers attempted to organize a film screening to raise awareness of the plight of refugees. Each venue they booked (three in total), however, ended up pulling out due to threats and intimidation. Eventually they had to go to Wicklow Town, around 20km away, to hold the event. At the risk of hyperbole, essentially we now have a situation in which only community events which are deemed acceptable by extreme right thugs can take place in the area around Newtown. It is extremely troubling how normalised political violence has become in such a short space of time. I just felt the need to share this somewhere and I know a lot of readers are concerned about these developments too.
Probably the most striking finding from our research, at least from my perspective, was the importance and impact of security for residents of cost rental, and the extent to which this allows them to feel that cost rental can be viable form of long term housing, and what many residents described as a ‘forever home’.
As can be seen, a large majority of residents feel ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ secure and never or rarely worry about eviction.
This was particularly striking in the qualitative data, where residents described in detail the importance of security and the impact it has. You can read a detailed discussion of this in the report, but here are some indicative comments:
“I think [cost rental housing] changed my life. It pulled me forward, it put me that step forward to do things and to create a family. I think that's a huge change.” (Marcin, Cost Rental Tenant)
“So you can feel like you can really put roots down in where you are, invest in your local area, and think of your children's future around you.” (Joseph, Cost Rental Tenant)
“It does genuinely feel like you’re moving into your own home. It’s the relief number one… to know that it won’t be sold…The security is just the weight off my shoulders, it’s just incredible” (Susan, Cost Rental Tenant)
“And I remember my whole family were there when I got the keys to move in. Even the Granny came. It was very overwhelming. I couldn’t believe that was our place” (Laura, Cost Rental Tenant)
“…it’s run by an association that goes under government... It’s fairly laid down and it’s not like someone can do whatever they want. So I think that’s a huge aspect for me to feel secure” (Dimitri, Cost Rental Tenant)
Residents emphasized 3 pillars for their feelings of security and ‘home’:
1. Tenancy arrangements: Security of tenure, long-term tenancies, and control and autonomy (ability to make changes to dwelling)
2. High quality ‘new’ and unfurnished housing - tenants loved the ability to put their own stamp on the house
3. Professionalism of AHBs and positive landlord/tenant relations: tenants feel very confident in terms of ability to contact landlord and that their AHB landlords are responsive
Nevertheless, there are some challenges around security and ‘home’. The main one relates back to affordability. In particular, some residents worried about being able to afford their rent in retirement.
The other issue is that many households continue to aspire to homeownership. Although more than 43% of households plan to stay in their cost rental home for the rest of their life, when asked about their hopes for the future two thirds aspire to homeownership.
Some reasons given for this include:
“The desire for home ownership. Paying rent into old age is a negative.”
“I would like to step up the ladder and be a homeowner at some stage of my life”.
“I’ve always wanted to own my own home so if it’s something I can do I would buy a house and make my apartment available for someone that needs it”.
“Everyone dreams to have a forever house”.
“Our overall dream would be to own our own home”.
In terms of ‘place’, cost rental appears to be supporting the development of vibrant and diverse communities. Generally residents have settled and integrated well, and their AHB landlords often have community activities from time to time. Many developments are mixed tenure, with social and/or private rental housing, and these appear to be well integrated.
Residents overall feel positive about the place where they live, but there are some issues around planning and infrastructure. Overall, residents commuting times on average lengthened as a result of moving into cost rental. This is not too surprising as at the moment there are very few cost rental units out there so residents have limited choice in terms of where they live. Moreover, some residents felt car dependent as a result of inadequate public transport options.
As regular readers will know, my view has long been that there are three key dimensions to the housing crisis: supply, affordability and security. Unfortunately, the last of these does not get anywhere near the same kind of attention as the first two. The overwhelming finding from our research is that cost rental is hugely successful on the security front, that rental housing, when done right, can provide a long term home for middle income households, and that the impacts of greater security are very significant. I will finish on a particularly impactful quote from one tenant:
“So with the kids, probably because they’ve moved so many times over such a short period, it took them a long time to settle [in current home], and to realize, okay, my eldest daughter, didn’t even take clothes out of her bags for months. So to try and get them [to understand] this is it now... this is your home now as you want, you can do up your room as you like. It’s only kind of in the last two months she put shelves up on her walls and started to organise her room kind of the way she wants it. And then my son would kind of say innocent little things like, ‘I really hope you don’t have to leave this house because I really like it here’... I was a ball of stress all the time [in private rented sector]. Straight up, the kids would tell you that I was... and it wasn’t to do with them. I was just stressed out. That’s gone!” (Susan, Cost Rental Tenant)
Events & news
The Housing Studies Association autumn seminar has been announced.
What I’m reading
Myself and Michelle Norris have a chapter on stigma and housing in this new edited volume on Housing, Home and Society. A new paper from Social Justice Ireland looks at links between poverty, inequality and social cohesion. I got to chat to Ken Gibb at the Housing Agency’s great research event earlier in the week, and he mentioned he’s just published this Handbook of Housing Economics - looking forward to getting my hands on it. And finally, a new book from US radical tenant activists argues we should abolish rent. A new Central Bank paper on economic policy issues and Irish housing.