Older Tenants in Australian Public Housing: Management Policies, Practices and Patterns of Transfer
Abstract There are good reasons for believing that Australian eligibility requirements create elderly public housing recipients who are older and predominantly female. These residents are therefore likely to be characterized by higher social risk and dependency than the aged population as a whole. Although there have been a number of studies carried out in individual public housing estates, older residents have tended to be under-represented in community surveys which aim to investigate the need for support services. The purpose of this paper is to provide basic information about transfer patterns to indicate the scale and nature of the possible care needs of elderly public housing residents. Patterns of movement in accord with changing dependency provide an indicator of their needs and are investigated by analyzing their reasons for departure and their destination. The sample is drawn from Ministry of Housing residents in Victoria. Other areas examined are Ministry of Housing policies and procedures with...
Coming, Going, Remaining in Public Housing:
This study investigated policies of retention and transfer among housing authorities in North Carolina which had projects with 50% or more elderly (N = 40). Results showed approximately 90% of the housing authorities had written eligibility and continued residence policies but few reported having services offered within their projects. Reconsideration of eligibility status was done by a combination of participants, but the ultimate decicision to evict a tenant usually lay with upper level management. Approximately one-half of the authorities reported having no resident staff persons in their projects and fewer than this amount required special training of their managers in the services and needs of their older clients. Recommendations are made to decision makers in public housing.
THE CUMULATION OF INEQUALITY: HOUSING COSTS AND INCOME SUPPORT IN OLD AGE
Housing inequalities accumulate over the life course and take on their greatest force in old age. Among the 95 per cent of older people who continue to live in the community, there is a polarisation between the majority of outright home owners and the minority of permanent private tenants. This article identifies the effect of housing tenure and related public policies on standards of living in retirement. Most importantly, it, concludes that increases of Supplementary Assistance are an immediate priority. A major restructuring of taxation, pension, and housing policy is recommended to resolve the more fundamental problems.