Housing policy: corruption risks and potential safeguards

Query

Please provide details on corruption risks and safeguards in relation to housing policies.

Summary

Housing policy is in essence “the quantitative and qualitative provision of housing space” (BBSR 2022). As such, it encompasses a range of government actions from legislation to specific programmes that have an impact on housing supply, availability, and quality. There is a spectrum of housing policy instruments, from stimulative polices such as public sector housing construction and subsidies, to restrictive measures to regulate housing markets such as land use planning and fiscal controls (Shucksmith and Sturzaker 2012).

Bribery, conflict of interest, favouritism in allocation of housing, and procurement fraud, among others, tend to be the main corruption risks affecting housing policies. Mitigation measures for these range from establishing a detailed code of ethics, conducting regular audits, effective monitoring and the establishment of accessible grievance mechanisms.

Contents

1. Background

2. Overview of integrity risks in the provision of social housing

3. References

Main points

• Housing policy refers to a range of government actions that typically seek to provide affordable and accessible housing to citizens.
• Corruption can distort the intended impact of housing policies, so that stated beneficiaries of government policies are not able to secure their human right to adequate housing.
• In many countries, social housing is a crucial pillar of housing policy, to provide adequate housing to those unable to afford market rates.
• This paper provides a tabular overview of key integrity risks in the four distinct phases in the provision of social housing (land acquisition; construction; allocation and managing contracts).

Authors

Kaunain Rahman, [email protected]

Reviewers

Matthew Jenkins, Transparency Internationa

Date

26/10/2022

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