Housing Associations: Autonomy, Constraints and Choices

Abstract

There have been significant changes over the last four decades to the way the state organises delivery of public services in the UK. A variety of forms of restructuring – privatisation, deregulation and sector specific interventions - which affect direct responsibility for provision of services as well as access to capital and forms of governance have resulted in wholesale re-organisation of public service provision. As part of this, the increased importance of particular kind of organisations with autonomy, i.e., higher education institutions and housing associations, can be highlighted. The provision of social housing, a distinctive part of public services, has been fundamentally altered as a result of the state’s privatisation drive. Most obviously, the role of local authorities has been diminished and not-for-profit housing associations are now the largest owners and managers of social housing stock. With changes in regulatory regime, the state has effectively passed the responsibility for social housing to housing associations. This has created a number of challenges for housing associations as they need to balance financial sustainability and social mission in an uncertain policy environment. The central aim of this thesis is to explore the notion of autonomy from the perspective of housing associations, through addressing three research questions. The first attempts to understand the specific processes which led to the housing associations becoming the largest social landlords in the UK and the implications of this transformation for their operation. The second research question builds on this context to analyse the business model dynamics of the social housing sector, by looking at a sample of 19 housing associations representative of the sector, in England and Wales to explore the range of choices that housing associations exercise to manage the business model tensions around cost recovery. The third question focuses on how housing associations understand their own autonomy, through interviews with senior and middle managers at five housing associations across England and Wales. Some important findings of this research include: the extent of autonomy is shaped by some general constraints but is also housing association-specific; social housing income continues to be the most important source of revenue for a housing association; larger housing associations are looking to diversify their income through for-profit ventures, but this carries economic and social risks. The research finds that housing associations are semi-autonomous and that the limits to their autonomy are firmly defined and controlled by the state.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Julie Froud (Supervisor) & Karel Williams (Supervisor)