Mixed Evidence on Mixed Tenure Effects: Findings from a Systematic Review of UK Studies, 1995–2009

Abstract

Mixed tenure is a key feature of UK housing and regeneration policy. Following an earlier review-of-reviews pertaining to mixed tenure effects (Bond et al., 2011), this paper presents a systematic review of the UK evidence published between 1999 and 2005. The majority of the available evidence is cross-sectional, mostly derived from modest-quality case-study research across nearly 100 sites, supplemented by a very few secondary studies using national data. Six broad domains of outcomes have been investigated across 27 studies. Some positive impacts of mixed tenure were found in the social and residential domains, though notably without impacts on social capital. The evidence for mixed tenure effects in the environmental, safety and economic domains is very mixed. In the human capital domain of health and education, the evidence is sparse. A stronger theoretical base (including the assessment of causal mechanisms) is required to guide future research on mixed tenure effects, which should be longer term and longitudinal in nature, using comparison case studies and secondary data.

Entering and leaving employment in deprived neighbourhoods undergoing area regeneration

“…It may be that the social networks of people in deprived areas are not diverse enough in type or sufficiently geographically dispersed to overcome localising constraints (Quinn and Seaman, 2008). Further, although 'mixed communities' produced by regeneration are intended to offer benefits, including access to job opportunities and employment information via social networks, the evidence for employment effects of social mixing is weak and mixed (Sautkina et al, 2012). Research on mixed-tenure estates has indicated that this is probably due to several weaknesses in approach: job opportunities provided in and around mixed-tenure locations are insufficient; the level and quality of amenities to support social networks is very low; and the spatial integration of different housing tenures, which generates more cross-tenure interactions, is uncommon (Kearns et al, 2013a(Kearns et al, , 2013b.…”

Slippery discrimination: a review of the drivers of migrant and minority housing disadvantage

“…Civil disturbances such as the 1958 Notting Hill riots, 1981 riots in Brixton, Toxteth, Manchester and elsewhere and the 2001 riots in northern towns together with political reactions to the arrival of migrants have contributed to the racialisation and stigmatisation of places of minority and migrant settlement (Rex and Moore 1967;Davis 2001;Solomos 2011). The focus on place-based outcomes of the New Labour government from 1997 onwards together with the stigmatisation of places provided the basis for housing market interventions that were underpinned by the principle of mixed tenure developments (Amin 2005;Bailey and Manzi 2008;Sautkina, Bond, and Kearns 2012). Subsequently these interventions have created local conditions in which gentrification and social exclusion from the growing PRS by market linked housing benefit caps have contributed to spatial polarisation based on wealth (Smith 1996(Smith , 2002Johnstone and Mooney 2007;Wacquant 2008;Leather and Nevin 2013;Slater 2014;Wacquant, Slater, and Pereira 2014).…”

Moving Cities – Contested Views on Urban Life

“…Mixing strategies are in fact explicitly mentioned by many European governments, including the Finnish (see Van Ham/Manley 2010). As outlined in the literature (e.g., Musterd/Andersson 2005;Rowlands et al 2006;Tunstall/Fenton 2006;Galster 2007;Van Kempen/Bolt 2009;Sautkina et al 2012), the idea behind mixing social renting and private housing includes various positive expectations; a mixed tenure structure is assumed to create more balanced communities, lead to a mixed income structure, reduce inequalities and promote equal life chances, strengthen communities, reinforce social capital and increase social inclusion. In brief, tenure mix has been considered a tool to introduce a socio-economic mix in the population profile and social interaction across the socio-economic strata.…”