...------------------------------------------------- Shelter THE RIGHT TO SHELTER AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN SATISFYING THAT RIGHT * The right to adequate housing applies to everyone. Furthermore, individuals, as well as families, are entitled to adequate housing regardless of age, economic status, and group or other affiliation or status, and enjoyment of this right must not be subject to any form of discrimination. * The right to shelter is clearly supported by international law. International recognition of the right to shelter was initially given in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Article 25 of the Declaration states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services”. * The UN CROC Article 27 (3) states that the government must provide material assistance and support programs where necessary, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing. * Article 11 of the U.N. International Covenant on Economic, Social, Cultural Rights (1966) states, “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to...
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...Have you found yourself wondering how you’re going to pay rent or a mortgage payment this month? Have you had to rely on outside sources to help supplement your food and utility expenses? In 2012, over 5.4 million workers left the job market entirely (Folks, 2013) and are now facing housing crises. As the demand for affordable housing continues to grow as adults are unable to find work, many Americans are facing homelessness and have no affordable housing available to them. All across America, more people are finding themselves homeless. Whether in big cities or small urban towns, the homeless rate continues to grow as the inability to pay for affordable housing grows. The number of people paying more than fifty percent (50%) of their income toward rent increased by more than six percent (6%) from 2009 to 2010. The United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) classify those paying that high of a percentage as “severely housing cost burdened”. In a survey conducted by the Low Income Housing Information Service, more than 17.6 million households with children experience at least one major housing problem, meaning that one out of every two households with children in this country experience an issue with housing (Kaufman, 2013). Per The National Alliance to End Homelessness (2012) the national rate of homelessness was 21 homeless people per 10,000. Nearly four in ten of those homeless are unsheltered, living on the streets or in cars, abandoned buildings or other places...
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...LONDON SCHOOL OF COMMERCE MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS 18TH OF OCTOBER 2012 Submitted By- Jannatun Nayem Sultana Runa ID—B0279KDKD0412 BA (Hons) SEMESTER-2 Lecturer-- ELLIE SAMSER Contents Pages Introduction 3 Aim 3 Limitation 3 UK Housing Market 3 Review of UK housing market 3-6 Factors effect in UK housing market price 7-14 a) Demand 7-11 b) Supply 12-14 Present situation/scenario 15 Government innovation 19-21 Conclusion 22 References 23-24 INTRODUCTION The UK housing market has experienced a varied rate of ups and downs in house prices for past few decades. During the past 30-year period, the nominal and real average annual price in UK has undergone volatile changes. There were three boom periods: 1980s, late 1990s and early 2000 and a bust in early 1990s (Sloman, John2006). These rise and falls in house prices had been primarily caused by the changes in demand for housing. Being a big open economy, UK is not really affected by external shocks caused by changes in international prices and currencies but by various internal and associated factors. Money supply and government policies are believed to be important factors behind the booms. The primary reason behind the increase of money supply was continuing high economic growth during the concerned period. From examination of historical development of the UK housing market, it can be argued that house prices fundamentally come under pressure from...
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...To what extent can housing led regeneration schemes tackle social exclusion? Written by: Rosalie Burke – University of Westminster MA Housing Policy and Practice (April 2012) In order for housing led regeneration schemes to tackle social exclusions, the regeneration organisers and the residents of the area will have to play their parts. This paper will be looking at how regeneration schemes can tackle social exclusion by creating mixed tenures, and what roles residents can play in sustaining mix tenures in order to tackle social exclusion. This paper will also look at if social exclusion can be kept out of housing regeneration schemes in this bad economical climate which has seen many job losses and the changes in which the Localism Act has introduced. Regeneration programmes, are normally conducted in areas which are deemed to be poor and is usually based around improving the quality of housing and tackling social exclusion. Regeneration can be funded by the public sector and a mixture of private and public sources (Muir, 2008). Regeneration schemes can bring in investors to the area which in turn can create employment opportunities and from employment, this would lead to money being spent in the area, people would want to raise a family, work and continue to live for a very long time. Regenerating an area does not always mean knocking down the whole community and starting again, it can be that some of the properties are knocked down because...
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...References and Bibliography BBC News (2012) Housing benefits cuts. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17452712 [Accessed: 22 Feb 2013]. Changes to housing benefit and local housing allowance (LHA) - Shelter England. 2013. Changes to housing benefit and local housing allowance (LHA) - Shelter England. [ONLINE] Available at: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/changes_to_local_housing_allowance. [Accessed 22 February 2013]. DWP.(2010).21st Century Welfare.Problems with the current system.1, 7-16. Gilligan, A. (2012) The 'final solution'? Don't believe the hype about the housing benefit cap - Telegraph. [online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9250321/The-final-solution-Dont-believe-the-hype-about-the-housing-benefit-cap.html [Accessed: 22 Feb 2013]. Newstatesman.com (2012) The benefit cap: what does it mean and why is it unfair?. [online] Available at: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2012/01/benefit-cap-children-support [Accessed: 22 Feb 2013]. Ramesh, R. (2012) Poorest 400,000 families worse off under universal credit, finds report. [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/22/poorest-families-worse-universal-credit [Accessed: 22 Feb 2013]. UK, T. (2012) Universal Credit Could 'Backfire' On Poor People, Think-Tank Warns. [online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/17/universal-credit-could-backfire-on-poor-people-think-tank-warns_n_1889449...
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...Minimum wage in Hong Kong Table of Contents 1. Part 1: Minimum Wage law in Hong Kong 2 2. Introduction 2 3. Minimum Wage – Economic Theory 2 4. Introduction in Hong Kong – May 2010 3 5. Impacts – 15 months later 5 5.1. Employment 5 5.2. Firms profitability 6 5.3. Inflation 7 6. Economic cycle considerations 9 7. Part 2: Housing issues in Hong Kong 9 8. Introduction 9 9. Housing situation in Hong Kong 9 10. Housing Demand in Hong Kong 11 11. Housing supply in Hong Kong 14 12. The Current Government Policies 15 12.1. Policy 1: 15 12.2. Policy 2 16 12.3. Policy 3 16 13. Conclusion 17 14. Bibliography 18 Part 1: Minimum Wage law in Hong Kong Introduction The Hong Kong Government introduced of a Minimum Wage in Hong Kong in May 2011, in response to increased incomes disparity in the territory. It uses economic theory to predict certain impacts such as level of employment, profits of firms, inflation effect and potential positive effects on the economy in general. Minimum Wage – Economic Theory Economic theory tells us that when artificial price floors are introduced in the market, they force prices to remain above the level that balances supply and demand. The same is true with minimum wage; it raises the quantity of labor supplied and reduces the quantity of labor...
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...Microeconomics 200 Essay Semester 3, 2012 Student’s Name: Lam Chung Him Michael Student’s ID: 14634820 Unit Name: Microeconomics 200 Tutorial Day and Time: Thursday 5-6pm Tutor’s Name: Lee Thiam Soon Introduction The reason of writing this essay is that nowadays people purchase real estate mainly for making money. Therefore, this essay will apply standard consumer theory to the housing market and clarify the differences of the decision-making process in purchasing a residential dwelling between standard consumer choice theory and behavioral economics. Moreover, the specific characteristics of speculative bubbles in the real estate market in Spain before and during 2008-2012 will be examined. Part 1: Applications of Traditional vs. Behavioral Economics Explanations Consumer choice is about maximizing their satisfaction by using the limited incomes to fulfill their preference (Silberberg and Suen 2001, 252). There are few general assumptions about consumer’s preferences. Firstly, consumer can rank and compare their choices according to their preference. For example, they can decide to prefer residential dwelling to holiday activity, holiday activity to residential dwelling or indifferent between both choices. This is the assumption called completeness (Isaac 1998, 9). Secondly, preferences are transitive. It means that if a consumer prefers residential dwelling to holiday activity and holiday activity to car, then the consumer also prefers...
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...analysis of the key macro and micro economics factors which impact on the current UK housing market Introduction This paper explores the current situation in the UK housing market. Fundamentally, the paper argues that the current situation in the housing market is a legacy of the way in which the housing market developed over the early 2000s into the 2007 and 2008 financial crisis. As the fall out from this crisis has taken two or three years to properly be felt it can currently be said to be exerting a major influence on the way the housing market in the UK is working today. The paper therefore places a major focus on developing an understanding of how the financial crisis occurred and the impact that this had on the UK housing market, in order to understand the key factors which are shaping the housing market today. The paper begins with a look at the state of the UK economy at the moment. This is only examined in brief but provides a key background to the work. This is then followed by a look at the UK economy and the housing market and how the two link together. The following section is the major section of the work as this focuses on the macroeconomic factors which have shaped the housing market. This section in particular focuses on the legacy of the housing market developments of the early 2000s. The following section briefly explores the microeconomic elements which have shaped the housing market – the major emphasis here is on the role of buy to let mortgages as a means...
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...low equity contributed by owners. The recent financial crisis and the role of mortgage backed securities including allegations of fraudulent activities continue to threaten the company’s financial health through sub-prime related losses. “We believe that these lawsuits further increase the company’s litigation risk and also represent a threat to scathe the company’s financial health to some extent. However, if proved or settled, the investors can breathe some relief” Market Analysis The markets have been in decline for 3 years and there is a very significant challenge that the housing market is presenting to us. We may be on the verge of a double dip recession, the economy is weakening both here and abroad, and the housing market is a significant part of that. Because prices have gone so low, willingness to purchase homes has gotten so low, there are very few starts, very few permits, very low construction activity, resulting in putting people out of jobs and it looks like it may continue for the foreseeable future. “The drop in pending home sales is clearly disappointing,” said Pierre Ellis, an...
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...The Housing Market and Macroeconomics Housing is an important part of macroeconomics. It contributes to our GDP through private investments and consumption spending. This includes purchasing a new or existing home and the costs of maintenance or upkeep on the property, in the form of services. Prior to the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007, the market had seen a steady increase in housing prices, and a decrease in interest rates, due to the increase in the federal funds rate (Arnold pg 379). As interest rates fell the demand for housing increased, thus increasing housing prices. But what caused the housing bubble? There are many different arguments to this question. During this period lending practices became less strict and we saw a move to less traditional lending patterns and unsound lending practices. Banks were lending with less documentation and a smaller required down payment, bringing homeowners perilously close to 100% loan-to-value ratios. Another cause for concern was the complex mortgage-backed securities and subprime mortgages of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The last interesting argument for the cause of the bubble is housing starts and land-use regulations, which I want to discuss further. THE HOUSING BUBBLE In assessing the causes of the housing bubbles, many scholars have focused on the demand-side factors, such as low interest rates, zero down payments, and easy lending terms. However, as Randal O’Toole argues, the demand-side factors were more or less...
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...Introduction 3 2. The evolution of house price in the UK and the factors affecting 3 supply and demand 3. The price and income elasticity of housing demand 9 4. Literature 11 1. Introduction The aim of this study is to explain the changes in the prices of houses by shedding light on factors affecting the demand and supply of houses in the UK. Firstly, we will look at the evolution of house prices in the UK since 2006 and examine relations between house prices and output, employment and mortgage interest rate. Also, supply of houses will be discussed by noting changes in the number of new houses and factors such as land cost, building cost. Then, in the next section we will proceed to examine the factors affecting the sizes of different elasticity of demand 2. The evolution of house price in the UK and the factors affecting supply and demand Over the last four decades, the UK housing market has been subject to boom/bust cycles and Stephens (2011) indicates that UK has one of the most persistently volatile markets in the world. Especially, since 1997 there has been a record growth in UK house prices. The above chart indicates that there are significant fluctuations the in UK housing market. House prices experienced steady growth during both 2006 and 2007 and reached their peak in late 2007. As the end of the 2008, the average house prices had fallen by around 15%...
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...Great Depression in 1929 everyone stuggled to pay rent and mortgages. The greatest hurt was in Detroit the auto industry was cut in half as well as the wages. On March 7, 1932, 5,000 workers that were laid off marched to the factory to demand unemployment relief. Unarmed crowd in deerborn police officers reached out and fired into the crowd 5 workers were killed. A few days later 60,000 people were honoring them at their funeral. A communist newspaper accused henry ford’s son of leading a massacre Diego rivera mural showing Detroit as a sign of cooperation not class conflict was a lifelong communist 1933 seen as travesty The new deal is what began to reunite the us pioneered the idea of a property owning democracy Gov rigged housing market to give incentives to become home owners garentied loans New administration offered lower interest loans most fixed for 20-30 year fannie mae created a nationwide market Reducing monthly cost made ownership possible for more Americans than ever before Modern US born out of new deal reforms Not everyone in America had the invitation to the property owning party. Whether you got the money...
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...Housing Rates in the city of Jacksonville, Florida tend to vary a great deal between areas of the city; therefore, purchasing a house in this city can prove to be quite a challenge, particularly when the housing market is not booming as it has in the past. To decide in which area to buy a house, one should first consider the different variables affecting the prices of these houses. The Express Estate Agency has recently identified five factors that generally affect housing prices: location, age, size and type, condition, and accessibility (Express Estate Agency). Though it is difficult to assess the quantitative impact on the value of a house caused by qualitative factors such as type, condition, and accessibility, these are important to keep in mind as well as the factors presented in this study. Generally, when one thinks of houses, the more square feet of area the house covers, the more expensive it becomes; this is also true for many other purchasable objects in America. When looking for both large and small houses, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms is an additional characteristic of each house to be considered, as the more bedrooms and bathrooms a house has, the more expensive the house is perceived to be, according to the United Kingdom branch of Nationwide (Nationwide). Another characteristic commonly linked to a house's perceived value is the age of the house; houses that are very new are often perceived as being more expensive than those that are both slightly older...
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...The Department of Housing and Urban Development Abstract The Department of Housing and Urban Development has developed programs designed to help out the less fortunate for years and protect them from discrimination. Administrative law is especially valuable to agencies such The Department of Housing and Urban Development as it addresses fairness and responsibility issues with governing laws. Court cases help to make change where needed when it can be shown the system has failed or if one’s rights have been violated. The Department of Housing and Urban Development The Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) manages and is responsible for the running of programs that provide housing as well as community development assistance. The HUD agency also works to ensure fair and equal housing opportunity for all people. An example of one of the programs is the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which is part of HUD, is a government agency which objectives are to improve housing conditions and standards as well as provide a house financing system with insurance of home mortgage loans. Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in 1934. The FHA became a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Housing in 1965. The HUD agency and issues it covers is very broad so administrative law is a must for this agency to ensure there is fair housing and equal opportunity. Administrative law covers several areas such as rule-making...
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...The second take home message that I would like to draw attention to is the idea of the undeserving poor concerning their lack of access to affordable housing ("What We Heard," 2012). Historically, the government has retained the belief that they are only responsible for the “deserving” poor (Vengris, 2017). Those that the government deemed to be “undeserving” was encouraged to take personal responsibility for their life struggles (Hick, 2014). In my experience with the welfare state, it seems that the government continues to ensure that people who are low-income and unemployed fair worse than those that are working for a minimum wage. According to Hennessey (2012), the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives brings attention to the fact that...
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