Higham, A P (2014) Conceptual framework for the sustainable benefit evaluation of UK social housing projects. PhD thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
Abstract
Recent decades have seen an expansion in the role and size of the UK social housing sector. This sector is challenged to use its new housing development, regeneration and improvement programmes to deliver social benefit within an environment affected by government policies on funding and in the organisational context of particular geographical and commercial pressures. Such challenges draw focus to the under- researched field of asset management. Traditionally, this field has been dominated by the: financial measures of success rather than the wider benefits to the community. However, this study proposes a new approach that is grounded in, the theory of sustainability, within which investments are appraised not only on their financial merits but also on their interplay with the human environment within which they are located through the assessment of social and local economic benefits. Initially implementing a qualitative methodology, the research explores the existing attempts to integrate the appraisal of sustainable benefits within the decision making process. The results suggest that, to date, no apparent tool exists to facilitate this process. A further quantitative survey of UK social housing professionals was undertaken to confirm the initial observations. The results show that, despite the fact that social housing practitioners understand the importance of considering sustainability, they are not yet in a position routinely to appraise the benefits associated with potential schemes, confirming the need for the development of a sustainable benefit evaluation framework. Adopting a case study approach, this study identifies the essential features of sustainability which will ensure that such undertakings generate community benefits. These features are subsequently used to develop and validate a framework for sustainable benefit evaluation within the social housing sector, linking financial appraisal with the evaluation of sustainability. This framework provides a decision aid or tool for practitioners to employ during the early stages of appraising potential social housing investment schemes.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Stephenson, P |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | asset management; case study; commercial; decision making; evaluation; funding; government; housing development; investment; professional; sustainability; UK; valuation |
| Index terms: | evaluation, social benefit, asset management, survey, housing development, programme, methodology, decision-making, practitioner, conceptual framework, appraisal, case study, decision-making process, funding, government policy, social housing |
| Subjects: | decision analysis, project controls, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, research methods, theoretical framing, factor and component analysis, asset management, housing and residential development, practitioner, construction type, economic analysis, public policy |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Governance, Construction Technology, Urban Studies, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here