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University of Reading research led to the development of one of the key tools for housing policy analysis used within the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and related bodies between 2005 and 2013. In particular, the project, which produced 14 publications and reports, has had a major impact on the analysis of policy and subsequent policy decisions concerning housing supply and land-use planning, housing tenure, international migration and the effects of the credit crunch.
The new research reported on in this case study on the determinants of household indebtedness and dynamics of household finances has informed government policy decisions, aided monetary policymakers and benefited the third sector. Work on measurement and analysis of over- indebtedness was used by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to create new criteria for `over-indebtedness', monitor its development over time and model the Financial Services Authority (FSA) funding levy for free-to-client money advice services. Insights on how house prices affect consumption influenced the Bank of England in revising its understanding of the `collateral channel' of house price movements in its Quarterly Model. Through serving as an expert witness to a House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry into `Debt Management' the researchers challenged existing policy measures prompting policy response. The authors also disseminated research findings through a series of non-technical reports and applied projects which have been used to inform indebtedness policy by a broad constituency of free-to-client money advice providers.
Alliance research has been used by the UK and Scottish governments to direct more of the £10bn p.a. public investment in affordable and social housing towards higher demand growth regions. It has produced a range of affordability-based housing needs models which have been commended as exemplars of good practice guidance for local authorities and adopted by industry consultancies. One tool, used to assess policy options in the context of HM Treasury's 2010 Spending Review, has been described by the Department for Communities and Local Government as "invaluable" and stimulated the development of an equivalent model for New Zealand, influencing investment by the state housing agency, Housing New Zealand, in assets worth $15bn. The research has also led to the cost-effective targeting of low cost and shared home ownership programmes and stronger use of planning powers to deliver affordable housing across the UK and Ireland.
University of Glasgow research advanced a new conceptual and practical approach to housing systems analysis used by local authorities across the breadth of the UK. The research was instrumental in the drafting of new legislation which required all local authorities to produce evidence-based housing strategies founded upon the approach developed through the Glasgow research. As well as forming the basis of Good Practice Guides used by housing professionals and practitioners, the research underpinned extensive training programmes for housing planners and policy-makers in all 4 countries of the UK.
Professor David Leece's research on household decision making, risk and mortgage design had a significant influence on a fundamental review of the United Kingdom's mortgage market carried out in 2003-4, and consequently has had a major continuing impact on: (i) understanding the role of mortgage market economics in the financial crisis of 2007-8; and (ii) the ability of a global investment bank (and the banking sector more widely) to understand, value and hedge risk in securitised mortgage debt.
In 1996 Byatt-Smith, Lacey and Parker (all Maxwell Institute, MI) and co-workers developed a mathematical model of housing allocation to examine the impact of housing policies on homelessness in England and Wales. The model was subsequently adapted to the Scottish context by Lacey and Waugh (MI). Since 2008, it has been used by the Scottish Government to help inform its housing policy, enabling it to target development funding for new build to areas of greatest homelessness need and meet its 2012 homelessness commitment. The model has provided quantitative underpinning for major policy changes enacted in Scotland during the period from 2008: the right to buy public-sector housing has been limited, and regions where private rented sector housing has the potential to provide housing for homeless households have been identified. This has resulted in a marked increase of public-sector house builds between 2005/06 (6 starts) and 2009/10 (538 starts). The research informed the allocation of £644M in 2009/10 contributing to a 14% reduction in homelessness in Scotland between 2008/09 and 2012/13.