Introduction: housing affordability and affordable housing

Abstract

This introduction discusses select aspects of housing affordability in terms of household expenditures and household incomes and select aspects of affordable housing. It provides a contextual base for considering the relationship between housing and affordability issues across diverse examples and the national, state, and local cases discussed in the articles of this special issue. The final part of the introduction briefly introduces the papers that follow, before going on to consider some potential policy solutions.

The effect of upzoning on house prices and redevelopment premiums in Auckland, New Zealand

“…In addition to upzoning, other policies intended to reduce impediments to market-led supply include relaxing urban growth boundaries (Anacker, 2019); reducing unnecessary regulations and making the development process more certain and transparent (Freeman and Schuetz, 2017); and accelerating land-use and construction approvals (Anacker, 2019). Other researchers instead advocate for direct state intervention.…”

Affordable Housing For Low-Income Masses: A Case Study of A Densely Populated Area in Lagos Metropolis

“…While it could be claimed that insufficient affordable housing issues are similar to developing nations, some distinct circumstances not limited to social wellbeing, housing standards and suitability, the housing market, transportation costs, households and their quality of life and political criteria (Ezennia & Hoskara, 2019;Anacker, 2019) need to be noted. The problems that continue to affect housing provision in Nigeria include constraints on the high price of obtaining and registering secure land titles, insufficient access to finance, sluggish administrative procedures and high land expenses (CAHF, 2019), space, design, and quality standards adopted by designers among others (Adegun & Adebusuyi, 2019).…”

“…Consequently, Enisan & Ogundiran (2013) opine that the efforts made by the Lagos government and its various agencies to provide their citizen's homes are near perfect, but they seem far from reaching the low-income masses living in a high-density region. The letting housing could be made inexpensive to low-income households through measures that enhance housing provision like private rental policy options, proffering financial grant, flexible financing, lowering the price of land for housing development and loan guarantees (Czischke & van Bortel, 2018;Anacker, 2019) or those that boost the acquiring power of low-income masses (Quigley & Raphael, 2004), regulating the right and obligations under the tenancy agreement as well as offering housing units based on preferred households as being surveyed (EIU, 2012). Likewise, the initiation of resourceful services such as housing microfinance was efficiently implemented in other nations with comparable macroeconomic indicators (Okupe, 2002 cited in Makinde, 2014).…”

“…It is proven that the problems associated to affordable housing are not limited to rural-urban migration (Makinde, 2014), increasing cost of construction materials (Anacker, 2019;Adegun & Adebusuyi, 2019), under research and low use of local building materials (Ajayi et al, 2016), low supply of housing to demand (Makinde, 2014;Robert et al, 2019), rapid urbanization and industrialization (Oni-Jimoh & Liyanage, 2018) and growth of slums (Anofojie et al, 2014;Enisan & Ogundiran, 2013). As such, the open choice for housing to low-income masses is often limited.…”

Slum Rehabilitation Through Public Housing Schemes in India: A Case of Chandigarh

“…The lack of affordable housing largely impacts household budget, constraining people to spending less on food, utilities, transportation to work, health and childcare expenditures, as well as reducing savings for pursuing higher education, emergencies, retirement and other opportunities. These challenges may result in a lower overall standard of living for the poor (Anacker, 2019). Inadequate slum rehabilitation policies generate forced mobility, as some slum dwellers might be unable to face additional expenditures on legal electricity, maintenance, taxes or have unfavourable new living conditions (household size or economic activities).…”