{"title":"Institutional Formation in Tumultuous Times: Reforming English Social Housing Regulation Post-Grenfell","authors":"Michael Marshall","doi":"10.13060/23362839.2023.10.2.559","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"English social housing regulation theoretically exists to promote the social purpose of the sector, yet the success of regulation against this objective has been questioned amidst concerns with the quality of service provided by landlords. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, the government initiated a reform process to reverse a policy of regulatory passivity on consumer standards. This paper conceives of regulatory reform as a case of institutional formation; a dynamic process that shapes conduct via rules, practices and narratives. It fills an empirical gap on how regulatory practice has responded to an ambiguous institutional environment where the governmental narrative was committed to improving standards, but formal legislation lagged. Quantitative text analysis demonstrates that the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has re-emphasised consumer standards post-Grenfell. But the process of institutional formation has been punctuated by social, political and economic crises, and the power of the regulator to enforce improved standards has been limited by legislative delays.","PeriodicalId":37598,"journal":{"name":"Critical Housing Analysis","volume":"5 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Critical Housing Analysis","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2023.10.2.559","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
English social housing regulation theoretically exists to promote the social purpose of the sector, yet the success of regulation against this objective has been questioned amidst concerns with the quality of service provided by landlords. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, the government initiated a reform process to reverse a policy of regulatory passivity on consumer standards. This paper conceives of regulatory reform as a case of institutional formation; a dynamic process that shapes conduct via rules, practices and narratives. It fills an empirical gap on how regulatory practice has responded to an ambiguous institutional environment where the governmental narrative was committed to improving standards, but formal legislation lagged. Quantitative text analysis demonstrates that the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has re-emphasised consumer standards post-Grenfell. But the process of institutional formation has been punctuated by social, political and economic crises, and the power of the regulator to enforce improved standards has been limited by legislative delays.
期刊介绍:
Critical Housing Analysis is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on critical and innovative housing research. The journal was launched in January 2014 and publishes two online issues annually. Critical Housing Analysis is published by the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Critical Housing Analysis aims to provide on-line discussion space for researchers who come up with innovative, critical and challenging ideas and approaches in housing-related research. The unique function of this journal is to facilitate rapid feedback on critical and innovative ideas and methods developed by housing researchers around the world. We are especially keen to publish papers that provide: 1.Innovations in methods, theories and practices used in housing-related research. We especially welcome papers applying original research strategies (such as, mixed and interdisciplinary methods) and international comparisons with a strong sense for contextual and institutional differences. Papers should provide new and fresh research perspectives allowing a deeper understanding of housing markets, policies and systems. Innovations need to be justified but they could be “work in progress”, i.e. their findings may not yet have been fully verified. 2.Critiques of assumptions, methods and theories used in housing-related research. Such critical evaluations must be well-founded (empirically or by consistently logical argument) and convincing. However, there is no particular need to provide a solution to the problems that have been identified. 3.Critiques of applied housing practices and policies in particular cultural and institutional contexts, especially for those countries that are less represented in mainstream housing policy discourse. The critical assessment of policies must be analytical, should propose new perspectives and lead to wider policy implications.