| dc.description.abstract | Assignment objectivesThis report describes a project carried out by Norwegian Social Research (NOVA) on behalf of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (KRD). The Ministry was primarily concerned to establish the means and methods applied by local authorities to assist disadvantaged individuals find accommodation in the private rented sector. KRD asked NOVA to suggest, in light of the study's findings, "a definition of the term municipally mediated rented accommodation' for use in KOSTRA auditing by the municipalities» [KOSTRA is an accounting system used by Norwegian municipalities to file reports with central government]. KRD also asked NOVA to suggest practical indicators and determinants to inform the development of prospective set of guidelines on KOSTRA auditing.Conducting the survey by Internet-based questionnaireWe came to an early conclusion that the type of survey in question would have to be either a traditional sample survey or - in light of the relatively small universe, only 434 municipalities in all - a complete survey. Thanks to the generous assistance of Statistics Norway (SSB), we were able to include every Norwegian municipality in the survey by using a net-based questionnaire. Making use of extant KOSTRA reporting channels, this probably represented the best way of reaching the most eligible people in the municipalities to answer our questions. We obtained responses from 233 municipalities and 20 city district authorities, or 55 per cent of those that could answer. In terms of population, we received responses from municipalities representing about 75 per cent of the population.Municipal accommodation assistance - what does it include?The municipal accommodation service we studied with a view to establishing its scope and organization, consists basically of local authorities bringing low income accommodation seekers in contact with landlords in the private rental market. We found it useful to differentiate mediation arrangements into three groups: 1) measures primarily aimed at helping people in need of accommodation in the rental market; 2) measures primarily aimed at the supply side, i.e. to stimulate the supply of rented accommodation; and 3) more broker type measures where local authorities play a more active role, offering advice and information to the parties involved, and stipulating terms and conditions of rental leases within statutory limitations, or when deemed legitimate or necessary on other grounds.Key findings of the empirical studyThe majority of municipalities and city district authorities do help disadvantaged groups find accommodation in the private rented sector. These services vary in scope and, in the case of most municipalities, tend to be more sporadic than regularised. The same applies largely to the way municipalities deal with prospective landlords and the advice and information they provide for the benefit of the parties. Mediation services are not only more likely to be found in the larger municipalities, they are more likely to offer a wider range of measures. Norway's four largest cities stand out with the most differentiated array of services for accommodation-seekers, and by offering the most active - brokerage type - assistance in the mediation process. We should note here that mediation services in the four biggest cities are delegated to local city district authorities or decentralised social service administrations. These cities are therefore also represented in this survey with their city district authorities or area social service authorities.The most prevalent mediation mechanism tailored to the accommodation-seekers is a minimum measure where social service officers encourage people to try and find accommodation themselves, but telling them to return if they are unsuccessful. Rather surprisingly, it is thisarrangement, according to our informants, which is most likely to lead to a satisfactory result - i.e. accommodation - for the client. Arranging viewings of different accommodation arrangements - a step which is seldom taken - is ranked as the next most effective measure. We disregard here municipal provisions of security or loans to cover security deposits, which, of course, are intrinsically effective.Most of the study's informants report mixed success with this form of mediation. According to many, it is difficult to find accommodation in the private rented sector for people described as "disadvantaged» in the current housing market. Landlords often hesitate before accepting on tenants living on social assistance, or whose housing history is somewhat chequered. In the opinion of our informants, however, accommodation in the private rented sector is not particularly favoured by the tenants either; less than 10 per cent believe it is the preferred option of most people; about 25 per cent believe people prefer council housing; and a third that people are ready to take "whatever they can get».The mediation services we are addressing here come in many different organizational forms. Most municipalities delegate these tasks to area social services or divide them between area social services and a housing agency. Only a minority of the municipalities/city district authorities say they use a registration system to record the activities of their mediation services.Only a minority of 56 - just over a quarter - of our informants were willing to offer an estimate of the number of households local authorities had helped find new accommodation in the private rented sector over the past twelve months. The data are therefore too scant to allow a reliable estimate of the overall success of the provisions. On the basis of data concerning security guarantees and security deposit loans - details of which are filed with the government under the current KOSTRA system already - we can estimate the number of tenancy agreements effectuated by municipal mediation in some shape or form to be in the neighbourhood of 12,500 in 2004.A reporting system which used the current KOSTRA system to file accommodation mediation data, including outcomes, with Statistics Norway, would require an auditing system where officers could enter the relevant data on a regular basis. We finally asked our informants whether they, in the round, would recommend the establishment of such an auditing system for municipal accommodation services. The responses fell into three groups of almost equal size: slightly more than a third found it difficult to say; a third said it was not a good idea; and slightly under a third said they would recommend such action. Recommendations There are two principal reasons to establish an auditing and reporting system for these mediation services: 1) There is a need to ensure efficiency and fairness in dealings with state housing allowance applications in light of the new terms and conditions laid down by the Norwegian State Housing Bank. This would require simple, unambiguous and practical criteria to determine when a tenancy agreement in the private rented sector is the result of (active) municipal mediation. 2) We are dealing here with an important social concern, where both the public and the government are entitled to easily accessible and reliable information on the balance between resources used in policy implementation and policy outcomes. In administrative decision making, the criteria defining a particular good need to be clearer than for statistical purposes.In this instance, there is no reason to apply two definitions of «municipally mediated rented accommodation». For statistical use, it should suffice to set up a reporting system based on the existing registration system for security guarantees and loans for security deposits, slightly modified where called for. Theadministration of the new Housing Bank terms and conditions for housing allowance need to incorporate some way of determining the phenomenon «municipally mediated rented accommodation», because we know that when local authorities help people find rented accommodation where loans or security guarantees are not involved, it is as a general rule not recorded.Neither the survey nor the discussion between my self and experts in the area resulted in clear, unambiguous criteria - based on the nature and scope of the facilitating services - to separate municipal mediation services from non-mediation services in this area. I would like, nevertheless, to outline two possible solutions, both of which are based on standard administrative procedures and the assumption that such procedures should, as time passes, encourage similar treatment of similar cases:1. In light of the «documentation» ideally required by the amended terms and conditions on housing allowance of the State Housing Bank, it would be reasonable to establish a register where new tenancy agreements could be put on file. The register would contain copies of tenancy agreements/accommodation leases. These leases, at the same time, could provide the documentation necessary of a successful instance of municipal accommodation assistance.2. Alternatively, one could imagine an indicator covering the entire range of accommodation assistance, based on individual casework records, after an initial session to clarify the client's situation. One could imagine a simple auditing system covering key client information, the date their file was opened, the type of assistance offered and the date the file is closed. If the outcome of the process is also recorded, it would be serviceable in housing allowance decision making, and, at the same time, as a basis for filing and reporting municipally mediated rented accommodation through the KOSTRA system. | en |
