A Comparative Look at Social Housing in Developed and Developing Countries: The Role for Social Enterprises

A Comparative Look at Social Housing in Developed and Developing Countries: The Role for Social Enterprises

Fidelis Ifeanyi Emoh, Don Macdonald, Charles Oham, Gladius Kulothungan
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7724-0.ch005
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Abstract

Provision of housing is vital to all the members of any country, and even a fundamental right of every person in a society to be housed properly. Whilst the state has a primary role to play in reallocation of resources to meet the needs of the majority and ensure ‘public good', the economic status of developing nations has made this a complex issue. The developing world has increasingly come to rely on voluntary action, especially the social enterprise (SE) movements. There are marked differences in the approaches to tackling the social housing issue in the developed and developing world, from the point of view of the role played by sSEs in this area. This chapter takes a comparative look at the role played by SEs and SEs in the area of social housing in the developing and developed world by looking at some specific examples and case studies and concludes that in the developing world the SE movement has a stronger role to play.
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Introduction

There is no single definition of social housing across the nations. However, definitional issues exist particularly around the position of co-operatives; time-limited subsidies, and the role of private suppliers. Definitions may relate to ownership - notably non-profit organizations and local authorities (e.g. the Netherlands and Sweden); who constructs the dwellings (e.g. Austria and France); whether or not rents are below market levels (e.g., Ireland and England); the relevant funding and/or subsidy stream (e.g. France and Germany); and most importantly, in almost all of the countries, the purpose for which the housing is provided. In some countries, social housing is formally available to all households (e.g. Austria and Sweden) but in most cases, it is directed at those who cannot serve their own housing needs (e.g. the Netherlands and England.

In the developed world the principle of social housing is that where the private sector is unable to provide the required level of affordable accommodation for all those who need it, the state must intervene to ensure that those on low incomes are provided for. The provision of social housing is seen as a key remedy to housing inequality, as rent increases are limited so they remain affordable to those most in need. In the UK Social housing is the term given to accommodation which is provided at affordable rates, on a secure basis to people on low incomes or with particular needs. Social housing properties are usually owned by the state, in the form of councils, or by non-profit organisations such as housing associations. As of 2015, 17% of all households in England were social housing (Mullins, Czischke, & van Bortel, 2012).

Social Landlords

The varying definitions of social housing mean that it is impossible to provide strictly comparable figures on the supply of social housing - rather we must use each country’s definition which reflects their views of the nature and importance of social housing. A social enterprise, on the other hand, is defined as a business or other hybrid organization characterized by the delivery of social value as the principal aim as opposed to maximizing profit for the owners/shareholders; and the ongoing production of goods or the provision of services to generate an income that covers costs and potentially allows for a surplus (ILO, 2016). A social enterprise’s primary objective is to address social needs through a financially sustainable business model where surpluses (if any) are mainly reinvested for that purpose. It is a business venture that exists to fix a social or environmental problem and uses its profits for this purpose (Coetzee, 2016). Social landlords are social enterprises based on their objectives and characteristics. Beugre (2017) notes that the meaning, practice and governance of social enterprise could vary from country to country. They can be identified as a social enterprise based on the following characteristics:

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    Have a clear social and/or environmental mission set out in their governing documents;

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    Generate the majority of their income through trade;

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    Reinvest their profits to further their mission and objectives;

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    Risk-taking propensity; be autonomous of state or private control;

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    Be majority controlled in the interests of the social mission;

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    Passion and alertness; and

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    Be accountable and transparent.

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