Power, Discursive Space and Institutional Practices in the Construction of Housing Problems

TLDR

A constructionist approach offers a theoretically informed way to analyze how housing policy is formulated and implemented, yet its impact on housing research has been limited. The study aims to fill this gap by reviewing key literature and conceptual issues in constructionist housing research. It examines two UK policy cases—the 1980s redefinition of lone mothers and the resurgence of anti‑social behaviour on housing estates—to illustrate how problems are constructed. The authors conclude that problem construction offers abundant material and significant opportunities for a more critically informed housing research agenda.

Abstract

A constructionist approach to the study of social problems and housing policy provides a theoretically informed means of analysing the ways in which housing policy is formulated and implemented. Yet despite a strong commitment by housing researchers to policy relevance, constructionist studies of how specific social problems are generated and deployed have so far made only a limited impact on housing research. The paper addresses this lacuna by first discussing important literature and the key conceptual issues in this field of study. This is followed by a discussion of two examples from recent UK housing policy (the shift in the 1980s from defining lone mothers as the victims of housing shortages to a morally questionable group subverting needs-based allocation policies and the re-emergence of anti-social behaviour as a problem on housing estates). The paper's conclusion is that the 'construction of problems' provides a rich source of new material as well as offering significant opportunities to develop a more critically informed housing research agenda.