The Stated Reasons for Social Housing Estate Renewal/Regeneration and the Consequences Thereof

This session invites papers that examine the government narratives and impacts of social housing estate renewal and the demolition of public housing. The “renewal” has increasingly been associated with the creation of mixed-tenure communities containing large number of often expensive market housing - aka 'state-led gentrification'. We are interested in papers that examine why governments embark on forced relocation of social housing tenants and how they go about embarking on the displacement. Other regeneration strategies can be identified apart from demolition and rebuild, notably refurbishment and retrofitting of existing properties. We are interested in the impacts of renewal/regeneration programmes. What impacts does renewal/regeneration have on housing and communities? How do the impacts of demolition compare to the impacts of refurbishment for example? How do tenants respond to such programmes? What are the temporal impacts of the various programmes with demolition typically taking much longer than refurbishment? One important focus is the impact on displaced tenants. Why are some tenants able to (re)establish themselves in their new home and area whilst others are not, and what role do statutory and voluntary services play in shaping the impacts of relocation? The session will hopefully deliver an in-depth understanding of the varying impacts of renewal/regeneration including relocation in a number of contexts.