Post on 12-Apr-2017
An examination of Residential Relocation Processes in the
Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder Areas in England
Orna Rosenfeld
In the 2000’s, housing clearance and
demolition forcefully re-emerged as
important state strategies to redevelop
decayed neighbourhoods in Western
Europe and USA.
In England, Housing Market Renewal
initiative proposed demolition of around
60.000 homes in North England and
Midlands in order to renew weak or
failing housing markets.
Planed demolition of existing housing
requires relocation of residents from
dwellings earmarked for demolition to
alternative homes.
Residential
Relocation
presents one of
the most complex
planning
interventions.
Old
Pro
per
ty
Ho
me
Loss
Dis
turb
ance
Gra
nt
Loan
sEq
uit
y Lo
an
Homeswap
Shared Equity
Affordable Property
Source: National Audit Office, 2007
‘We had no standards, but we had a way of working ... to try
and ensure people got feedback, they had plenty of choice
and all the rest of it, but there was no formal guideline’
‘It depends … I am sorry that the answer is ‘it depends’, but it depends on the scheme that you are doing,’ explained the MSP representative in his phone interview, ‘how [relocation] is handled varies from scheme to scheme depending upon the structure of the partnership’
‘I think what’s not necessarily always acknowledged is ... the cost that that [relocation] actually involves ... it’s not
necessarily planned out as realistically as it might be’,commented the BNG respondent critically.
‘This can involve anything, really, organising the removal, paying the disturbance, informing them about the time scales ... we help them to find suitable alternative accommodation. When they don’t know where to go they come to us ... if we don’t manage it, we enable to make it happen’.
‘We buy properties on the open market near demolition areas, refurbish them to decent standard specifications’, explained the GW respondent.
‘The relationship that you have with them [relocatees] is crucial
because if you’re advising somebody that hasn’t moved in years
and the ways that allocation policies for housing have probably
changed beyond recognition’. Relocation Officer BNG.
‘The percentage of affordable housing doesn’t
necessarily respond to number of households moving
out of a clearance area’. EEL Respondent .
‘When their homes wasn’t gonna be demolished, they sort of walked away’ BNG Resident.
We’re not against regeneration’, said a residents’
representative in TSY, ‘just the wholesale demolition of
Spital Hill. We would like to be listened to and to take
an active role in rewriting the Masterplan …’ (Burngreave
Messenger, March 2005).
Planning Strategy
Financial Assistance Provision
Resident Support
Alternative Housing Provision
Ow
ne
r O
ccu
pie
rs
Soci
al T
en
ants
Pri
vate
Te
nan
ts
Community Involvement
PathfinderNon statutory body
delegates statutory tasks to entitled partners
Local Authority Statutory body
delegates tasks to contracted agencies
LAs delegating implementation of RR processes
Financial Assistance
Planning Strategy
Alternative Property Provision
Community Involvement
Resident Support
• Private Consultants • RSLs
• Private Lenders
• Private Developers • RSLs• Housing Associations• ALMOs
• Community / Voluntary Groups• RSLs• Private Consultants
• ALMOs• Housing Associations
‘It's like a tale of two cities, to be honest. The
approach on the East End and the West End [of
Newcastle]… they are just miles apart. It is
really interesting to see how one city can take
such a different and diverse approach to
regeneration.’ Relocation Officer BNG
‘The approach that we’re taking [in Scotswood] is really to get through the
demolition and the site assembly before anything is handed over to the developers
… it always works on the basis that we take care of the demolition and basically
provide a green space for future development.’ Scotswood Regeneration
Director.
‘In Walker, we’ve had a number of foundations in place…The approach was that we wanted to really take the community with us … have them involved in the whole project. So we would clear some land, build some houses and move some of the community in, then knock their houses down, build some more houses, move the next lot of community in.’ Walker Project Leader.
‘We came up with fantastic plans …we produced them… with the help of
architects… in the process of this planning, we gave up our homes, I did...The whole
package now is really good, it worked well for me, but not without an awful lot of
heartache’, Scotswood resident.
‘And we were in the middle waiting for things to happen, it was very political..…you would go to the meeting and you’d have a Councillor saying, “I don’t agree with that” and I was saying “well, why not”… “Oh, no, that wouldn’t work” … we as community reps said “you have no authority to stop the project’ Walker Resident. ”.
Contribution to Knowledge
Residential Relocation:• Residential relocation in differentiated polities is delivered by a complexnetwork of actors operating at ta local level. Governance of relocationexplains why outcomes of residential relocation are mixed and uncertain.
Policy level• Future policy would benefit from adopting a process approach toresidential relocation planning and implementation.• Development of strategies for cross-tenure relocation• Clarification of accountability for residential relocation.• Management of residential relocation governance networks.
Theoretical level• Key contribution is devising a theoretical vehicle that shows howgovernance has a profound impact on residential relocation delivery inurban regeneration and development.
International relevance
Orna Rosenfeld :: orna.rosenfeld@my.westminster.ac.uk