SS6057 Assessment 1: Literature review (30%)
You should write a 1000-word review on ONE of the following key course texts: (or if you have identified a book on housing which you would like to review, this can be done as long as it is agreed with the module leader)
Boughton. J (2018) Municipal Dreams. The Rise and Fall of Council Housing. Verso.
OR
Minton. A (2017) Big Capital. Penguin Books.
OR
Lund. B (2019) Housing in the United Kingdom. Whose Crisis? Palgrave Macmillan.
OR
Madden. D and Marcuse P (2016) In Defense of Housing. Verso
OR
Shelter (2019) A vision for social housing. Shelter
The literature review involves you writing a SUMMARY of the aim of the book or report including the key points and argument presented by the author. You need to read and summarise the Introduction and at least TWO chapters in your review. If you choose to review the Shelter (2019) report, you need to review the whole report.
SS6057 Assessment 2: Essay (70%)
You should write a 2000-word essay
You should choose ONE essay title (again, if there is a particular aspect of housing and housing policy not covered below that you would like to write your essay on, please discuss with the module leader)
Discuss why housing is a key driver of poverty in London and the UK and how housing policy can be a key tool in poverty reduction. In what ways has Covid-19 highlighted the impact of housing inequalities on public health? Outline and discuss the ways in which housing reflects and reinforces wider social class and/or ethnic and/or gender inequalities in society? Discuss why housing has been called the ‘wobbly pillar’ of the welfare state in the UK? Why is 1979 seen by many as the most significant date in the history of post-war housing policy in the UK? Examine the impact of neo-liberalism on housing policy in the UK since the 1980s. Is building more social housing a panacea to the current housing crisis in the UK? Discuss the main causes of the current housing crisis in London and the UK. Minton (2017. p.xiv) argues that in the UK ‘housing is now, first and foremost a financial asset, a safety box for the super-rich’ Discuss the impact of the financialisation and commodification of in London. Examine the impact of recent welfare reforms on tenants in the private and social rented sectors. Outline recent trends in and the underlying causes of homelessness and discuss the policy options for reducing homelessness. Critically evaluate the impact of recent policies to demolish and rebuild council housing estates, using examples.