Housing

"Living space" redirects here. For the German foreign policy, see Lebensraum. For the Isaac Asimov short story, see Living Space.

For the type of container, see Housing (engineering). For the Chinese TV series, see Housing (TV series).

Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing is a basic human need, and it plays a critical role in shaping the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. Homelessness has a huge connection to housing as well. "A homeless person is someone who is unable to secure a dwelling that is adequate, safe, and permanent. Homelessness is the condition of being homeless. Homelessness represents a broad social category of people who are, for any number of reasons, left without a place to call their own.

Industrialization brought mass migration to cities. This one-room worker home from Helsinki from 1911 represents an attempt by the city government to improve the conditions of workers e.g. with electricity and running water installed in the row house.

While it seems to be plenty of living spaces throughout the globe, Housing crisis can strike at anytime. This crisis is the effect of interest rates rising causing homeowners not being able to afford their monthly mortgage payments. Thousands of protest targeting landlords, developers, and government officials has taken place in order to recant this injustice. Citizens even present a bill to ease Texas housing crisis which has quietly failed. These tenuous efforts has made little to no difference seeing as this crisis only worsens.

Overview

Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it is a home or some kind of physical structure for dwelling, lodging or shelter and it includes a range of options from apartments and houses to temporary shelters and emergency accommodations. Access to safe, affordable, and stable housing is essential for a person's health, safety, and well-being. Housing can also impact a person's economic, social, and cultural opportunities, as it influences their access to education, employment, healthcare, and social networks. In many countries, housing policies and programs have been developed to address issues related to affordability, quality, and availability, and to ensure that everyone has access to decent housing. Some have one or more housing authorities, sometimes also called a housing ministry or housing department.

In general there are two types of housing, market housing and non-market housing. While Market housing consists of apartments, condominiums, private housing, etc. Non-market housing consists of public, social, and cooperative housing among others. Market housing refers to housing that is bought and sold on the open market, with prices and rents determined by supply and demand. This type of housing is typically owned by private individuals or corporations, and the rental rates are determined by the landlord based on the local market conditions. Non-market housing, on the other hand, refers to housing that is provided and managed by the government or non-profit organizations, with the goal of providing affordable housing options to individuals or families with low to moderate incomes. This type of housing is typically subsidized, meaning that the rent is lower than the market rate, and tenants may be eligible for rent assistance programs.

History

United States of America

In the United States, it was not until the 19th and 20th century that there was a lot more government involvement in housing. It was mainly aimed at helping those who were poor in the community. Public housing provides help and assistance to those who are poor and mainly low-income earners. A study report shows that there are many individuals living in public housing. There are over 1.2 million families or households. These types of housing were built mainly to provide people, mainly those who are low-income and elderly, with safe, affordable, and good housing units.

There are many types of housing styles that have been improved over time. An article that discusses the history of housing states that, "Tenement housing was the first style of apartment buildings. By 1903, New York City's eighty-two thousand tenements housed nearly three million people, nearly all of whom occupied the lowest economic rung of society." As the economy has progressed the housing styles has as well. This same article speaks of how the housing styles looked. "Tenement housing offered few advantages other than cheap rent. The buildings were erected close together so that there were no lawns. The Lower East Side of New York at the turn of the century was a typical tenement ghetto (a poor, crime-ridden section of the city). There, the basic tenement buildings were five stories high and contained twenty three-room apartments, four to a floor. Each apartment or flat contained a front room, small bedroom, and kitchen, for a total of 325 square feet. The only room to receive light or ventilation (air) was the front room. As other tenement buildings were constructed around it, however, both light and vent

With regards to the history of housing, there are studies that prove that the involvement of the government began in 1937, and it was "under the United States Housing Act". The goal was to improve many things such as all of the unsafe, unsanitary, and terrible housing conditions which connect to the issue of affordable housing. In 1940, there was development, and there was an Office of Housing expenditures. Later on, in the years, another housing act took place in 1956, and in 1960, there was recognition of rights which was considered to be a "huge turning point for public housing". Many of the policies created back then tend to be still active nowadays. If anybody needs housing follow some easy steps and get the housing whenever you want at any location or any price student accommodation london.

From that time until now, public housing has been increasing. In the 1980s, there were many public housing individuals and tenants who lived in many different areas, particularly those areas that were segregated. Some years later, a new program was created, and it caused many people to be relocated. This is similar to what we have today, where people are repositioned. Back then, the program was called Hope VI.

"Despite the fact that housing is a basic human right, it is not universally available, and immigrants can struggle to access it. Housing discrimination against people based on their national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and a combination thereof still occurs throughout the world, to greater and lesser extents"

Moving forward to the 2000s, the problem of finding affordable housing started to increase, leading United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to start taking action and helping out many homeowners, individuals, agencies, and communities in order to find affordable housing. When counting, there are over nine hundred thousand participants in this program. Throughout the years after there had been an increase in housing prices then they tend to go down after a year, this was occurring in 2005, and it sure is occurring today, nowadays there are such high prices on houses. In 2008, an act did take place called the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" and this act "strengthened and modernized the regulation of...(government-sponsored enterprises) and the Federal Home Loan Banks" From 2013 to 2017, there were contributions occurring; for example, there was the LIHTC which although a source on the outside, did help out with HUD and provide many different funds which helped out with public housing, especially with their capital needs. From 2000 until 2019, inflation dropped because of all of the public housing funds. Nowadays affordable housing is a huge problem for so many families, and this is up by about ten to fifteen percent since 2018 because of the increase in prices.   A lot of the reasoning for better housing and high prices is gentrification ans urban revitalization. "A form of urban revitalization known as gentrification occurs when prosperous residents move into less affluent areas in large numbers, transforming the character of impacted neighborhoods. Gentrification can occur organically or result from the implementation of purpose-built policies designed to augment the economic standing and productivity of an underperforming or historically disadvantaged area"

Macroeconomy and housing price

Previous research has shown that housing price is affected by the macroeconomy. Research from 2018 indicates that a 1% increase in the Consumer Price Index leads to a $3,559,715 increase in housing prices and raises the property price per square foot by $119.3387. Money Supply (M2) has a positive relationship with housing prices. As M2 increased by one unit, housing prices rose by 0.0618 in a study conducted in Hong Kong. When there is a 1% increase in the best lending rate, housing prices drop by between $18,237.26 and $28,681.17 in the HAC model. Mortgage repayments lead to a rise in the discount window base rate. A 1% rise in the rate leads to a $14,314.69 drop in housing prices, and an average selling price drop of $585,335.50. As the US real interest rate increases, the interest rates in Hong Kong must follow, increasing mortgage repayments. When there is a 1% increase in the US real interest rate, the property prices decrease from $9302.845 to $4957.274, and saleable area drops by $4.955206 and $14.01284. When there is a 1% rise in overnight Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, the housing prices drop to about 3455.529, and the price per ft2 will drop by $187.3119.

Effect on health

Housing is recognized as a social determinant of health. Lack of housing or poor-quality housing can negatively affect an individual's physical and mental health. Housing attributes that negatively affect physical health include dampness, mold, inadequate heating, and overcrowding. Mental health is also affected by inadequate heating, overcrowding, dampness, and mold, as well as lack of personal space. Instability in housing can negatively affect mental health. Housing can affect the health of children through exposure to asthma triggers or lead, and through injuries due to structural deficiencies (e.g. lack of window guards or radiator covers).

In addition to the negative effects that affordable housing has on health, there are many other negative effects that come with it. For example, the lack of affordable housing can lead many people to not be able to find housing which causes them to become homeless. Within the issue of people not being able to find affordable housing, there are two groups of individuals in the community;  those who are able to afford it and have the choice to do so and those who are not able to afford it. Those who are unable to afford it are more likely to become homeless but a large number of people will be out of this issue of homelessness if there was more affordable housing available. In California, in the HUD's report, it has proven that "California had about 134,000 homeless individuals, which represented about 24 percent of the total homeless population in the nation". This is such a high number of people who are homeless without housing. It is a terrible thing for people to go through the process of being homeless, it has some serious mental illnesses. Many homeless people tend to get addicted to drugs, many become alcoholics, and many go through trauma and have mental illnesses. Homelessness is proven to increase because of the issue of affordable housing.

See also

• Affordable housing
• Category:Housing ministries
• Housing association; there are many articles on specific named housing associations
• Housing estate
• Housing First
• Housing in the United Kingdom
• Housing in Japan
• Informal housing
• Informal sector
• List of housing statutes
• List of human habitation forms
• Right to housing
• Subsidized housing
• US Federal Housing Administration

External links

The dictionary definition of housing at Wiktionary

• Media related to Housing at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to Housing at Wikimedia Commons house for sale in toronot
• Shadwell, Arthur (1911). "Housing" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). pp. 814–827.