Refurbish decrepit empty housing, including dead-but-hasn’t-fallen down public/social housing?
Maybe it’s a good idea. A growing number of nations worldwide, from those who think public housing is or was a near total disaster such as the USA, to those where it has had a long, large and successful impact on their housing needs, like the Netherlands, there’s a growing recognition that more is needed. That’s because there seems little relief for the desperate requirement everywhere to find housing for those with low- and no- incomes.
But why? The problem is the international commodification of housing as a gambling chip for investors. One outcome of the relentless drive to speculate and win: gamblers have driven housing costs to own and rent higher and higher — rising beyond the capability of the most vulnerable in most countries to afford a roof over their heads.
Public housing shields homes from the free market investment casino. For all its flaws, real or imagined, it is one sure means of ensuring stable, truly affordable rents.
But how to create more, economically? Over the last few decades Thatcherite “small-government” thinking has elevated the workings of the the free market to that of a housing cure-all. With the marketplace left to its own devices, private public partnerships (PPPs) will surely balance need and cost to deliver the truly affordable housing that is needed.
That experiment, tested over several decades, has proven that the market, driven by private investment and goosed along by public funds, has capably produced tens, even hundreds of truly affordable rent-stabilized housing units. Unfortunately, tens and hundreds of thousands of units are needed.
Which brings us to the idea of refurbishing empty, often run-down housing to create new public housing. Some of the ideas for accomplishing this are simple, others quite byzantine in their complexity.1 There are also experts who believe this is an exercise in throwing good money after bad. After all, it is not hard to find those who believe public housing is an experience not to be repeated for any reason, at any cost.
For the more optimistic, however, there is good news. Not only is the cost of refurbishing empty housing relatively inexpensive, it can churn out truly affordable rent-protected public housing in quantity. Read more about one recent initiative in The Limerick Leader: Limerick council meets target to refurbish and re-let housing ‘voids’
Harvesting this low-hanging refurbishable fruit will not by any means go far enough to meet most national needs for more public housing. Still, it must come as some comfort for cities like Windsor, Ontario. It has, like many others, been reluctant to face all but the most urgent of problems for years. But recently Windsor has taken the plunge and committed to refurbishing old, boarded up public housing: Read more at the CBC: ‘Historic’ $170M plan to repair community housing comes after decades of deterioration
Refurbishing housing holds promise for other social housing providers too. Try this post for an earlier example: Your Affordable Home Is Falling Down. Sorry, It Can’t Be Fixed. You Have To Move. Not.
