Briefing and working paper: 10

Housing Scoping Papers: overview

Housing Scoping papers provide an overview of research and policy reflections on the role played by third sector organisations with regard to housing. The papers explore what third sector housing is becoming, and set the agenda for further research. This research on the housing dimension will contribute to the wider understanding of the third sector. While it is clear that housing associations are an important part of the third sector, the 1700 or so housing associations account for only one subset of relevance to the housing work of TSRC.

Scoping papers have been produced on the following sub-sectors:

• Housing associations
• mutual and cooperative housing
• homelessness advice and support
• the tenants’ and community movement
• self-help housing organisations
• social enterprises working in the homelessness field

While these sub-sectors are to some extent overlapping, each presents a distinctive set of issues. They may be regarded as windows through which the diversity of the third sector can be seen. The papers explore:

• the historical development of the sub-sectors
• the numbers and types of organisations and typical activities
• the definitions used to define the sub-fields, and to establish boundaries with related fields
• the understandings of key actors within these fields
• the extent to which there is a common sense of ‘third sector identity’, and the components of this identity
• the existence of umbrella organisations and ‘field leaders’, and their external dependencies.

Research contact:
Professor David Mullins