Responses to a century of housing crisis: Problem, politics and policy

Abstract

The Irish housing system is reportedly in crisis. Homelessness, a lack of affordable housing to rent or buy, and limited security of tenure mean that the housing opportunity available to previous generations is not available to many of the current one. Problems with housing in Ireland are not, however, purely recent phenomena. Reports of inquiry and Census data have catalogued recurring housing crises and failings in housing policy over the last century, but whilst systemic shocks provided the impetus for historic housing policy transformation, inertia in the political system now appears to dampen momentum for effective change. Significant events seemingly encourage further retrenchment of housing policy, as the sector continues to move towards an increasing reliance on the private market.

It is the difference between historic and contemporary responses to housing crises that both informs and forms the basis of this research. This thesis explains why policies to address the current Irish housing crisis are seemingly different to historic responses when there are grounds to expect that they would be similar, and how these policymaking processes differ. Rather than focus on the outcomes of housing policy this study instead compares processes of policymaking and the influences on those processes.

Taking a longitudinal perspective, the research traces, analyses and compares four Irish housing policymaking processes over two eras. Data is collected through historic document review of official public and archival documents and accounts, augmented through interviews with specialists on the history of Irish housing and wider aspects of Irish history for historic cases and key decision-makers in the more recent cases. The context of crisis and major policy change is examined within wider periods of policy stability and continuity through the perspective of path dependence, a recognition that previous decisions impact on future choices. With this theoretical frame, and with process tracing as the means for conducting the research, the influences of efficiency, legitimacy and power on those policymaking processes are traced and compared.

For the original contribution, this thesis argues the importance of external validation, public opinion, political leadership and political consensus as characteristics of, or drivers and verification for, policy change. An alternative to the theoretical proposition of a policy window is also offered, highlighting a process which progresses over time: from problem to politics to policy. The recognition of this progression, and the characteristics of policymaking, could work towards overcoming the permanent state of flux between housing being a problem and a crisis. With implications for theory, practice and future research, this thesis provides a historical approach to contextualise contemporary phenomena.