The changing role of allocation systems in social housing

Summary

Half of community housing workers surveyed believe that there is no need to make changes to their allocations system, compared to only 11 per cent of public housing workers. The changes to allocations systems that public housing workers would like to see are: more time to interview applicants to fully assess needs (50%), more local rules about allocations (47%), and placing quotas on the number of priority applicants (44%). While there was some awareness of alternative systems of allocation, many respondents in both the community and public housing sectors were uncertain about whether these types of changes were applicable to Australia. For example, only 22 per cent of community housing workers and 19 per cent of public housing workers thought that some integration of public and community housing waiting lists would improve their allocations systems.


Project Number: 50141
Research Theme: Public_and_Community_Housing
Project Leader: Hulse, Kath
Funding Year: 2002
Research Centre: Swinburne-Monash

Research and Policy Bulletin

Research & Policy Bulletin

Issue 064: Social housing allocation systems – how can they be improved?

Practitioners in the public and community housing sectors are reasonably satisfied with current allocation systems. The ways in which systems could be improved include: more efficient allocation of clients amongst a diverse array of social housing providers; respond to localised housing demand pressures; or provide an appropriate degree of choice to social housing applicants.

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Description

Allocations are at the heart of social housing provision and management. Social housing is a scarce public resource and, in the absence of market criteria to allocate priorities, a bureaucratic allocations system is the principal rationing device to determine access. The underlying philosophy, form and direction of an allocations system has a whole range of implications for housing assistance, tenant management, asset management and, as more recently recognised, community sustainability. The broad aim of the research was to provide knowledge as to why, and how, to reform allocations systems in order to enable greater discretion, choice and flexibility.

The specific aims were to:

  • Provide a summary of the current state of allocations (including eligibility) policy in Australia in both the community and public housing sectors
  • Provide an overview of the directions of allocations policy in relevant other countries and identify new approaches in response to issues of client choice, community sustainability, areas of low demand, mutual obligation etc.
  • Identify the degrees of discretion and choice, both formal and informal, in the current system and the potential of, and problems in, allowing greater discretion
  • Develop a framework for assisting governments in undertaking future reviews of allocations systems.

 

More Information

Download now Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 064: Social housing allocation systems – how can they be improved?
66 KB PDF Document

Download now Positioning Paper: No. 047: Allocating social housing
833 KB PDF Document

Download now Final Report: No. 075: The changing role of allocations systems in social housing
1.7 MB PDF Document

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