Housing policy in the UK: the importance of spatial nuance

Abstract

The UK has been engaged in an ongoing process of constitutional reform since the late 1990s, when devolved administrations were established in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. As devolution has evolved there has been a greater trend towards divergence in housing policy, which calls into question any notion of a ‘UK experience’. Whilst the 2014 Scottish independence referendum again returned constitutional reform high onto the political agenda, there still remain tensions between devolved governments and the UK Government in Westminster, with England increasingly becoming the outlier in policy terms. Informed by ideas of social constructionism, which emphasises the politics of housing, this paper draws on an analysis of policy narratives to highlight the need for greater geographical sensitivity. This requires not only more spatial nuance, but also a recognition that these differences are underpinned by divergent political narratives in different parts of the UK. This emphasis on the politics underpinning policy has relevance internationally in other geographical contexts.

Keywords:

• Devolution
• constitutional change
• Scottish referendum
• welfare reform
• social constructionism

Funding

This work was supported by Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/J021172/1].

Notes

1 Northern Ireland’s ‘parity’ agreement on social security is that the Assembly’s power to legislate will be used to deliver the same system (including benefit rates) in recognition of the common personal taxation provisions that exist across the UK. Any additional costs of an enhanced system (e.g. the measures agreed in 2016) must be met from the block grant (Bowers et al., 2015).

2 Scotland’s reserved powers are set out in legislation and all other powers are assumed to be devolved; Northern Ireland has both reserved and excepted powers in legislation, the latter being where laws are usually made at Westminster but can be made by the NI Assembly with the consent of the Secretary of State; Wales has a list of devolved powers known as ‘Assembly Act’ provisions and all other powers are assumed to be reserved (see, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland). In all cases Westminster may legislate on devolved matters with the consent of the relevant devolved body, as has happened recently with Northern Ireland’s Welfare Reform Bill.

3 Whilst homelessness is another field marked by significant divergence in the UK context, these differences are long-standing and have been well documented elsewhere and so are not covered here (see e.g. Anderson, 2004; Fitzpatrick, 2004; Mackie, 2015; Pawson & Davidson, 2008; Wilcox & Fitzpatrick, 2010).

4 Whilst the language of ‘fairness’ has been used in the Scottish context to emphasise the desire for a more equal Scottish society and the need for state intervention to deliver this, in England the very same language has been mobilised against low-income groups to justify the introduction of welfare reform to tackle perceived ‘welfare scroungers’ (who are often counter-posed) with ‘hard-working families’. These differences reflect fundamentally different understandings of the causes and solutions to poverty, and the role of state intervention (see, Mooney & Scott, 2011).