The 2024 ECRP
The winner was Dr Michael Marshall, a Research Associate, University of Sheffield with his paper "The spatial distribution of non-decent homes: Introducing the Non-Decent Index "
Sponsored by
We are grateful to our sponsors, Altair, Aster, L&Q and Inside Housing. The runner-up was Tom Kennedy, Policy & Public Affairs Manager, Northern Housing Consortium for his paper "Brownfield First – How devolved brownfield funding can build a new generation of homes in the North "
Winner
The spatial distribution of non-decent homes: Introducing the Non-Decent Index
Long-term underinvestment in England’s housing stock has resulted in systematic issues with housing quality and standards across tenures. Government has responded through several legislative and programmatic agendas, including reforming regulatory standards in the social sector, stating an ambition to extend the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) to the private rented sector, and an assortment of low-lost loans and grants for owner-occupiers. In this paper I argue that there is a lack of knowledge on the spatial distribution of housing quality issues, especially at lower spatial scales. This gap inhibits the development of programmes and initiatives to improve housing standards at the area level. Consequently, I construct and open-source index – the Non-Decent Index (NDI) – which aims to identify lower-super-output-areas with a relatively high concentration of properties that fail the DHS. The NDI can be used as a strategic tool to target resources, information and enforcement activity to support area-based programmes of housing improvement in the private sector. Furthermore, using a logit regression model and English Housing Survey data, I show that private rented and owner-occupier households have a higher probability of non-decency relative to social housing, even after controlling for structural property characteristics, which underlines the need for intervention.
Runner Up
Brownfield First – How devolved brownfield funding can build a new generation of homes in the North
This paper draws on engagement with Mayoral Combined Authorities across the North of England as well analysis of local authority brownfield land registers. The paper identifies total capacity for 320,000 new homes across the North of England on brownfield land and a potential total remediation cost of £4.2 billion. It subsequently makes a series of recommendations to improve the delivery of brownfield funding programmes in the future, such as extending the timescales upon which brownfield funding operate, reforming the value-for-money appraisal and business case processes so investment can benefit a wider range of areas and deliver on mayoral priorities, simplifying the brownfield funding landscape and addressing capacity issues within local government.