Books on Housing Policy: Understanding Housing Systems and Solutions
Nov 02 2023 UncategorizedHousing Policy Books
Uneven housing systems didn’t just emerge. They were made by federal, state and local policies. Taxes, zoning, and institutional discrimination are just some of the factors that shape today’s housing landscape.
The books that best connect with readers feature research and data alongside personal stories about how these issues impact people. Here are a few housing policy books that do just that.
The Fourth Edition of Housing Policy in the U.S.
The United States faces a growing housing crisis. Millions of families pay unsustainable rents, while millions more struggle to buy their first home. High housing costs burden family budgets, stifle economic growth, maintain residential segregation, and contribute to climate change.
A growing movement calls for housing justice, arguing that affordable and decent housing is a fundamental right for all Americans. In this book, Casey Dawkins chronicles the history of US housing reform and proposes a new conception of housing justice grounded in moral principles that appeal to the home’s special connection to American life.
This fourth edition features a comprehensive look at the foreclosure crisis and its aftermath as well as updated materials on community development and neighborhood revitalization, including a fully revised chapter on Kelo v. City of New London. It also discusses new financing mechanisms for affordable multifamily development and preservation, including exploring the feasibility of FHA allowing Construction to Permanent loans; expanding manufactured housing and accessory dwelling units; and increasing funding for HOME and LIHTC programs.
The U.K.’s Housing Crisis: The Case for Solutions
While house prices continue to rise and mortgage payments take a bigger share of incomes, there are still far too few new homes being built. Vacancy rates remain very low and the space per person for private renters has fallen.
Britain’s population has grown slower than expected due to falling birth rates, slowing life expectancy, suppressed migration and high living costs encouraging young people to live with parents – all of which have weakened household formation. This has resulted in arbitrary national housing targets being missed and the UK is now facing an undersupply of affordable social housing and rental properties.
To resolve the crisis councils need to be allowed to keep more of the money they raise from the right to buy, and there needs to be a fundamental review of local housing allowance levels. Private landlords should be prevented from evicting tenants, and there must be a move towards indefinite tenancies and a system that lets renters borrow against their home as they would their personal savings account.
Housing For Humans
The Right to Housing is one of the fundamental human rights that all people deserve. Safe, stable housing is the foundation for achieving health and happiness, education, economic outcomes, and many other basic needs. This essential right was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has become an important focus of public policy across America, with proposals such as the Housing is a Human Right Act aimed at increasing investments in affordable housing construction and development. This book, written by principals at the leading firm David Baker Architects, offers accessible strategies for designers, developers, and city officials to optimize new housing and create communities that are built for people.
