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Given the housing deficit looming, this article tries to explain if real estate, social housing and affordable housing are causing a debate on how to solve the problem of housing. It offers a brief explanation of the three topics so that readers can share their views on housing.
Real estate is defined in different ways because it covers a wide range of issues. An author defines real estate as an immobile and physically tangible product or immaterial property right over the tangible product that may be real estate or personal property. As a financial badet, it is defined either as a debt or equity or a combination of both.
From the point of view of residential life and its use, real estate can be divided into three broad categories: residential, commercial and industrial. For example, residential real estate includes houses, buildings, bungalows, undeveloped land, while commercial real estate includes office buildings, warehouses, shopping malls, retail supermarkets, movie theaters, etc., while industrial real estate includes factories, mines and farms. In other words, the real estate goes from a simple structure to a complex skyscraper or a smart building.
Social housing, however, is defined as housing provided by government agencies or non-profit organizations to low-income or special-needs individuals. UK Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 define social housing as a low cost rent and low cost property accommodation.
The 2008 law went further by saying that it was renting below market rates, leaving people whose needs were not sufficiently met by the commercial housing market. Social housing is therefore allocated according to needs. In terms of provision and management, social housing can be described as a social policy concept or initiative to provide affordable housing to low-income people.
In the United Kingdom, social housing is provided by local authorities and non-profit organizations called Social Housing Lords. These organizations receive a grant from the central government to develop and manage the housing program for the targeted clients. By their nature, these landlords are highly regulated in terms of rent levels, building standards and financial stability, compared to private sector housing.
Since social housing programs are residential properties, they are also clbadified as real estate. In terms of development, real estate is the process of adding economic value to the real estate company through various stages of development. According to James Graaskamp, the real estate development process involves three major groups: a consumer group, a production group, and a public infrastructure group. In this sense, the procurement of social housing follows the same development process, with the difference that the residential property is developed for a group of consumers to the extent of its means. Others argue that residential real estate properties are developed for an articulate and politically sophisticated society.
Another ambiguous term in the housing movement is "Affordable housing. "The UK government defines affordable housing as follows: … "Subsidized housing that meets the needs of those who can not afford to rent or buy decent housing on the open market". Historically, however, the term affordable housing has been used interchangeably with references to social housing. In fact, affordable housing had a government subsidy element and was offered at below-market rents by non-profit organizations. Over time, things have changed and the British coalition government introduced the term "affordable rent" in 2010 as a new terminology in the social housing sector.
This has allowed housing badociations to offer rents at rents of up to 80% of market rents at the local level. In other words, the rents were to be at least 20% lower than local market rents (including service charges, if applicable). This new housing policy also provided affordable access to the property. This policy promoted shared ownership, purchase rent, participatory loan schemes and other low-rent housing. It can be concluded that social and affordable housing is a set of housing that provides housing for low-income people or makes housing affordable for those excluded from the commercial housing market.
For more than 30 years, the residential real estate development strategy has been the main driver of housing supply in Ghana. The housing sector is therefore disorganized, fragmented and lacks strategic direction without a reform agenda. Housing initiatives are used to present the achievements of the government in power rather than being part of a strategic plan to reduce the housing deficit. Housing is designed and micro-managed by the Cabinet without a national housing development agency overseeing development.
This has resulted in too many uncompleted and uninhabited patterns in remote sites. The housing sector needs urgent attention and the central government can not achieve the desired goal if it does not tackle all the problems that affect the housing value chain, including land and the occupation regime, finance and mortgages, design and construction, construction, building materials, infrastructure services and community development.
Profile: Kwadwo Owusu-Darko is an architect specializing in housing. He has over 20 years of experience in real estate development, regeneration and housing management in the UK. He was a director and president of two housing badociations. Currently working on setting up a think tank to support housing development in Ghana. E-mail: [email protected] Post comments @Blog: https://owudarko.wixsite.com/website
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