Housing Stock Transfer in Glasgow—the First Five Years: A Study of Policy Implementation

Abstract

In 2003 the City of Glasgow saw the largest housing stock transfer in the UK, involving around 80 000 dwellings. Since then, the implementation of the stock transfer policy has been heavily criticised. This paper uses a framework developed from implementation studies to analyse why this policy has been susceptible to difficulties and to reflect upon the important elements of a revised analytical framework. The paper finds that the study of policy implementation must contain an appreciation of the effects of having multiple policy objectives, multiple layers of governance and multiple actors involved in policy delivery. Additional elements of a policy implementation framework are: the specification of the stages of implementation; consideration of interactions between policy objectives; the need for government to oversee and ensure the effective management of policy networks; and finally, consideration of the effects of competing political interests and perspectives.

Keywords:

• Housing policy
• housing stock transfer
• policy implementation
• Glasgow

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as part of the GoWell Research and Learning Programme. GoWell is a collaborative partnership between the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, the University of Glasgow and the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit and is sponsored by Glasgow Housing Association, the Scottish Government, NHS Health Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. Thanks also to Professor Hal Pawson for discussions with him about Glasgow's stock transfer.

Notes

¹ This is not necessarily to accept the label of ‘failure’ applied to the stock transfer policy in Glasgow.

² The period of study is 1999 to mid-2007. There have been some recent policy developments aimed at furthering community empowerment, but at the time of writing, there had still not been any second stage transfers.

³ However, there is a community consultation process underway in relation to eight large regeneration sites.