Current and Preferred Housing of Psychiatric Consumers/Survivors

As part of a participatory action research project, we surveyed 300 psychiatric consumers/survivors from southwestern Ontario regarding their housing preferences and housing satisfaction. We found that, while 79% of the sample preferred independent living, 76% were living in some other type of setting (e.g., temporary shelter, supportive housing, sheltered care). Those living in temporary shelters reported the lowest levels of housing satisfaction, and those who were living in the type of housing that they preferred had the highest levels of housing satisfaction. This information is being used by stakeholder groups involved in the project to help build the capacity of the community to provide the types of housing that are preferred by consumers/survivors

Assessing Post-earthquake Housing Needs to Inform Recovery Planning

Residential damage from major disasters often displaces residents out of their homes and into temporary housing. Communities tend to rely on out-of-town contractors for post-disaster housing recovery, and these contractors also need temporary housing. The conflicting housing needs from the displaced residents and out-of-town contractors create pressure on the local available housing stock. Communities that prepare for temporary housing demand can minimize the impact on residents and expedite housing recovery efforts. This study uses simulation models to investigate the housing recovery of San Francisco after a hypothetical M7.2 earthquake. The earthquake is expected to significantly damage about 17,000 homes and displace their occupants. A peak demand for 4,000 out-of-town contractor crews following the earthquake is identified. The total temporary housing demand of 20,000 units can stress the local housing market and expose the displaced population to longer periods of housing instability. These results highlight the need to plan for a surge of out-of-town contractors and a shortage of temporary housing during the recovery phase

Public private leasing arrangements: an effective response to the rapid growth in rent supplement claims?

In 2004 a public private leasing arrangement, the Rental accommodation Scheme, was introduced into the housing system of the Republic of Ireland. Lauded as a more structured, accommodation-based approach to the use of the private rented sector to meet long-term housing need, the Scheme was designed as a means of eliminating dependence on temporary income support payments. However over the last ten years expenditure on the rent supplement scheme has increased fivefold while long term dependency on temporary income supports remains an acute housing policy concern. As a result the effectiveness of the Rental Accommodation Scheme has come in for robust criticism. Yet while the Scheme has encountered a number of operational difficulties the Irish Government remains committed to hybrid leasing arrangements as a long term policy instrument. This paper considers the extent to which this hybrid leasing arrangement offers an effective and sustainable housing policy intervention, particularly in light of the onset of the economic recession. The paper begins by explaining the position the Rental Accommodation Scheme within the broader Irish housing system before describing the Scheme’s design and structure. The paper goes on to examine the various difficulties which the scheme has encountered to date before considering the role which regulatory oversight of the hybrid scheme as set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 may play in the coming years

House Prices, Disposable Income, and Permanent and Temporary Shocks

This paper specifies a two-variable system of house prices and income for N.Z., U.K. and the U.S., covering periods from 1973:4 through 2008:2. The analysis allows the identification of differences in house priceincome relationships over sub-periods and, using an SVAR approach, compares the responses of house prices when faced with permanent and transitory shocks to income. It continues by decomposing each historical house prices series into their permanent, temporary and deterministic components. Our results suggest that while real house prices have a long-run relationship with real income in all three economies, the responsiveness of house prices to innovations in income will vary over both time and markets depending on whether the income disturbances are viewed as permanent or temporary. The evidence suggests that N.Z. and U.K. housing markets are sensitive to both permanent and transitory shocks to income while the U.S. market reacts to temporary shocks with the permanent component having a largely insignificant role to play in house price composition. In N.Z. the temporary component of house prices has tended to be positive over time, pushing prices higher than they would have been otherwise while in the U.K. both permanent and temporary components have tended to reinforce each other. Overall, there is no clear consistent global pattern regarding the importance of these shocks which implies that housing markets will react differently to the vagaries of global and domestic economic activity driving such shocks

東日本大震災における仮設住宅に暮らす被災者の身体状況

Although it has been 7 years 6 months since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many victims still experience health problems related to the event. In this study, the health conditions of victims who lived in temporary housing for a long time and moved from temporary to restoration housing earlier were investigated and compared. Somatometry and a survey using the brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire were performed among temporary housing residents in Rikuzentakata city and restoration housing residents in Kesennuma city in August 2015 and 2017. In 2015, no significant differences were found between the two groups. On the other hand, the body weight, body mass index, level of visceral fat, and fat intake (E%) were relatively higher in temporary housing group than in the restoration housing group, as shown by the results obtained in 2017. Stress, lack of exercise, and unbalanced intake induced by long-term residency in temporary housing might be factors that contributed to the weight gain and visceral fat accumulation among the residents

The Negev Desert: a viable Israeli resettlement option?

On Feb. 9, 2004, Israeli Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzsky suggested that the 7,500 Israeli settlers who are to be removed from the Gaza Strip under Prime Minister Sharon’s disengagement plan could be housed in the 13,000 empty apartments available in the Negev Desert. The Negev “Desert Cities” plan isn’t a perfect option, but it will allow the settlers to move into high-quality housing rapidly. While at least some settlers will almost certainly have to live in existing apartment housing during the construction of the Negev settlements, this plan offers the best chance of ensuring that the apartment housing will be only a temporary solution

Savings, Asset Holdings, and Temporary Migration

This paper analyzes savings and asset holdings of immigrants in relation to their return plans. We argue that savings and asset accumulation may be affected by return plans of immigrants. Further, the way savings and assets are held in the home- and host country may also be related to future return plans. Thus, comparing savings and assets between immigrants and natives may lead to serious underestimation when neglecting the home country component. We show that immigrants with temporary return plans place a higher proportion of their savings in the home country. In addition, both the magnitude and the share of assets and housing value accumulated in the home country are larger for immigrants who consider their migration as temporary, and lower the value of assets and property held in the host country. Finally, and conditional on observable characteristics, we find no evidence that immigrants with temporary migration plans save more than immigrants with permanent migration plans.international migration, wealth accumulation, housing demand

Savings, Asset Holdings, and Temporary Migration

This paper analyzes savings and asset holdings of immigrants in relation to their return plans. We argue that savings and asset accumulation may be affected by return plans of immigrants. Further, the way savings and assets are held in the home and host country may also be related to future return plans. Thus, comparing savings and assets between immigrants and natives may lead to serious underestimation when neglecting the home country component. We show that immigrants with temporary return plans place a higher proportion of their savings in the home country. In addition, both the magnitude and the share of assets and housing value accumulated in the home country are larger for immigrants who consider their migration as temporary, and lower the value of assets and property held in the host country. Finally, and conditional on observable characteristics, we find no evidence that immigrants with temporary migration plans save more than immigrants with permanent migration plans.International Migration, Wealth Accumulation, Housing Demand

How do Consumption and Asset Returns React to Wealth Shocks? Evidence from the U.S. and the U.K

In this work, I analyze the response of consumption and asset returns to unexpected wealth variation. Using data at quarterly frequency for the U.S. and the U.K., I show that: (i) while housing wealth shocks have a very persistent effect on consumption, financial wealth shocks only have transitory effects; and (ii) similarly, unexpected variation in housing wealth delivers a reasonably persistent response of real returns while financial wealth shocks have just a temporary effect.financial wealth, housing wealth, consumption, asset returns.