Sequestering Public Housing Policy and Research

Sequestering the Poor: Budget reductions and housing policy change in the US and UK

Public housing in the United States has had a long history of both being pressured for financial solvency as well as for redressing the racial and poverty concentration of its residents.  In 2013, a fiscal cut-back of substantial size occurred as the budget “sequester” took effect. In New York, for example, the loss of funding amounted to over $200million for the year (Chaban; Dawsey).  Politically analogous budget cuts have also occurred in Britain as the Conservative government has pursued fiscal restraints over the social rental sector. 

This paper will examine the intersection of the various formats of the US-UK fiscal crisis and their impacts on housing policy and related national housing research.  A series of major housing research experiments have been recently launched in the US to learn how to better manage with less, while the ground rules of fiscal support for most forms of welfare policies are being eroded.  My presentation would be upon the choices and tensions as these policy experiments are developed, in the context of on-going reductions in support for the poor. 

 References  

Chaban, Matt. 2013. “Tenants and Landlords fret as sequester cuts hit Section 8.” Crain’s. (June 10): p. 4. 

Dawsey, Josh. 2013. “Local Services Feel Ripples in Federal Cuts.” Wall Street Journal. June 17: A19.