Social housing organisations in England and the Netherlands: Between State, Market and Community. Housing & Communities Group seminar series

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1 Social housing organisations in England and the Netherlands: Between State, Market and Community Dr Darinka CZISCHKE 12/22/14 Housing & Communities Group seminar series University of Birmingham, 17 November 2014 Delft University of Technology Challenge the future

2 Structure 1. Background 2. PhD research questions 3. Research design 4. Contextual drivers Conceptual framework 6. Strategic decision-making 7. Cases 8. Conclusions 9. Theoretical propositions: strategic decision-making 10. Implications for policy and practice 11. Discussion questions 2

3 1. Background CECODHAS Study on management strategies of social housing organisations in EU countries: 43 organisations, 13 countries, 6 company-case studies Found common thread linking these organisations together: core missions and values Tensions between different strategic orientations (State, market, community) vis-à-vis macro-structural changes 3

4 Social housing organisations and their operating environment State Social housing organisations Community Market 4

5 2. PhD research questions 1. How are contextual developments impacting on the missions, values and activities of social housing organisations? 2. How do these organisations position themselves vis-à-vis the State, the market and community? 3. How are competing drivers enacted in the decision-making process of social housing organisations vis-à-vis contextual drivers? 5

6 4. Contextual drivers Continuous State withdrawal Social housing organisations Increasing and widening housing exclusion Global financial and economic crisis 6

7 5. Conceptual framework Social enterprise Hybridity Stull (2003), Crossan & Van Til (2009), Defourny (2009), Jäger (2010) Brandsen (2005), Billis (2010) Agency Giddens (1979, 1984) Institutional entrepreneurship Strategic decisionmaking Di Maggio (1988), Garud et al (2007) Mintzberg et al. (1976), Eisenhardt & Zbaracki (1992) 7

8 Descriptor variables Legal structure Catchment Profit objective Funding income Descriptor variables Ownership Governance Core business 8

9 Motivator variables 9

10 Behaviour variables 10

11 6. Studying a strategic decision-making in social housing organisations: Critical incident technique Developed in the field of psychological studies (Flanagan, 1954) Outlines procedures for collecting observed incidents having special significance and meeting systematically defined criteria. Transposition from psychological level (the individual) to the organisational level: recourse to an operational concept: à Strategic decision : a decision recognised as having significant implications for the structure, direction or purpose of an organisation

12 Strategic decision and critical incident(s) Strategic decision p r o c e s s Start of strategic decision CI 1 CI 2 CI 3 CI n Outcome of strategic decision 12 12

13 Methods Data sources: Interviews Observation Secondary sources Diary keeping (phone) Analytical tools: a. Decision stories (timeline; formal and content aspects) b. Decision climate profiles (majority and minority reports) 13

14 7. CASES 14

15 CASE #1: Company E (England) Critical incident: The impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and the major shake up of the welfare system on the mission, values and activities of the company (October 2011) Strategic decision: The bid for capital grant in the new policy environment (Oct 2011 July 2012) 15

16 Changing policy environment Wide ranging policy reform in England Major changes to social housing policy and regulation coupled to wide-ranging welfare reform creating a new environment for housing associations: Ø Reduction in capital grant Ø Affordable rental product: possibility for social landlords to charge higher social rents to new tenants (up to 80% market rents) Ø Housing benefit significantly cut Ø Localism bill, big society discourse: emphasis on the role of third sector actors in service delivery Ø Government pledges 150,000 new social units in four-year term. 16

17 CASE #2: Company N (The Netherlands) Critical incident: The announcement by the Dutch government of a new ruling on social housing affecting income limits and the financing of the sector (December 2010) Strategic decision: Decision on whether to follow the ruling (income aspect) or not, and on how to re-organize its financing to comply with the SGEI/ non-sgei split. 17

18 Changing policy environment Debates on the role, scope and financing of housing associations in the Netherlands Major changes to social housing policy and regulation are creating a new environment for housing associations: Ø State aid discussion triggered by complaint from Dutch commercial house building companies to the European Commission (2005) Ø Letter from the EC to the Dutch government Ø State aid used for commercial activity (State guarantee ) Ø Excessive capacity (2.3 mill homes for 1.2 mill households entitled to housing allowance) Ø 2010 Dutch government ruling on social housing: Ø Income limit (< euros) Ø SGEI/non-SGEI split (funding of activities) Ø Wider reform: new Housing Act (governance, etc.) 18

19 8. Conclusions RQ #1 Contextual developments and the missions, values and activities of social housing organisations are in a two-way relationship RQ #2 The positioning of social housing organisations vis-à-vis their environment can be described as a constant balancing act RQ #3 Enacting competing values in social housing organisations entail multiple rationalities at play in decision-making 19

20 9. Strategic decision-making: Theoretical propositions 1. Different modes of decision-making co-exist in the process 2. Participants use a variety of tactics to influence the decisionmaking process 3. Social housing organisations operate with multiple rationalities 4. Social housing organisations face dilemmas of hybridity which can be related to Sate, market and community drivers 20

21 Dilemmas of hybridity Certain attributes might not correspond exclusively to community nor commercial nor public orientations 1. Does fulfilling the mission of a social housing organisation imply choosing between insiders and outsiders? 2. Which should be the leading rationale of a social housing organisation: front office or back office? 3. To develop or not to develop? 21

22 Theoretical propositions (cont d) 5. Social housing organisations and risk: an ambivalent relationship 6. Social housing organisations have consistent stated values but are constantly making choices on how to enact these values 22

23 10. Policy and practice implications 1. The role and scope of housing associations in England and the Netherlands: towards convergence? 2. Uncertainty and policy confusion: constant and incongruent changes from the State domain 3. Differentiation of social housing providers 4. Mandate vs. mission: a key defining feature for social housing providers 5. Prospective analysis on community developments to underpin short-term decisions 6. A social housing organisation s identity: focus on values 23

24 11. Issues for further discussion 1. Emerging gap in provision for a spectrum of middle-income groups excluded both from market and from subsidized housing 2. Rise of new players e.g. community-led housing: a viable alternative to solving housing exclusion for many? 3. Increasing differentiation of housing associations in each country: towards an identity split within the sector? 4. Are housing associations mere agents of (State) policy or are they capable to shape their environment? 24