International Observatory on Social Housing
Examine the world of social housing from an international perspective.
Yes- this is absolute click bate. The reason for writing this blog is less about how to compare your housing authority to others but more about a trend I have noticed developing in the sector. Bench marking is completely normal and healthy because it allows housing authorities and associations to know if they are meeting... Continue Reading →
Are there too many PHAs? I am not postulating but simply asking a question. There are around 3500 public housing authorities throughout the United States administering around 3.2 million affordable housing units mainly through public housing and housing choice voucher programs. The majority of these housing authorities are extremely small. In some states there... Continue Reading →
Dr. Carson's appointment to be the leader of HUD was universally derided by many within the public housing sector. His lack of experience in the housing sector was often cited as the reason. While Dr. Carson might not have experience in the housing arena, he has the opportunity to make a major mark on... Continue Reading →
This is a very controversial subject within the public housing world. When it comes to time limits in federally subsided housing programs, there are many on both sides of the argument. This blog is meant to simply introduce a few of the housing authorities that went down this road and their reasoning for... Continue Reading →
There are so many dedicated professionals working on the homeless issue around the world that we can sometimes forget to stop and appreciate the hard work and innovation. Below are 5 interesting programs, developments or ideas that have been implemented around the world. Hyper Aggressive Housing First in Finland: Finland as a country made housing... Continue Reading →
How do Social and Public Housing Associations respond to tenant needs? It is hard to imagine a better example of responsiveness to tenant needs than what is taking place in Copenhagen. I recently met Ulia Gregor who works for a large social housing organization called DAB Copenhagen. In fact, her organization has over 50,000 units.... Continue Reading →
Housing authorities across the USA are always trying to develop or redevelop new or existing affordable housing. In some cases, these redevelopments are multi-million and even billion dollar real estate deals. In these instances, the redevelopment brings jobs, infrastructure and opportunities to areas that might be economically depressed. Lets examine three of the larger projects... Continue Reading →
I recently met and heard from Carina Dantas who works with and in the social housing and aging industry within Portugal. She spoke at the International Housing Festival about demographic change within social housing. Mrs. Dantas let us know that the aging population is growing dramatically not only in Portugal but all around the world.... Continue Reading →
There are often complaints that the public sector is not innovative enough or is far behind the private sector. While there is truth in that statement, there are still hundreds of housing authorities around the world trying out and experimenting with new ideas to help the citizens and residents of their communities. Here are a... Continue Reading →
I recently had a chance to meet and hear from Dr. Rudiger Ahrend the head for the Urban Programme in the OECD’s Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development. He gave a presentation at Housing Europe's yearly conference regarding the rise of large cities and the challenges that it presents for housing. Dr. Ahrend... Continue Reading →
International Observatory on Social Housing 