Under construction : An inquiry on the social housing policies of Stavanger, Norway

Abstract

Norway has some disadvantaged populations in the housing market. Many people live without a secure safety net of owning homes. In the Nordic welfare state context, housing policies are drawn as strategies to guarantee access to affordable and decent housing for every citizen. This study aims to evaluate such strategies aligning public policies and community development, taking as a study case the city of Stavanger. This study relies on a literature review of research publications and public documents about housing. Querying keywords were “boligsosialt, social housing, public housing, social housing in Norway and Scandinavian context, low income housing.” The guidelines recorded in public documents will be compared with their evaluation by the own literature. Data from national and local contexts and public policies will be analyzed by a SWOT analysis, whose validity and reliability rely on the public character of the implemented housing strategies. From the discussion and the SWOT analysis, I conclude that Stavanger has a demonstrated history of coping with general and local challenges. Local policies are aligned with national guidelines. The analyzed policies, documents, and literature demonstrate that the municipality has well-functioning structures and assets to direct the region’s community development. Moreover, the integration of long-term and immediate policies guarantees the continuity of the housing policies and the obligations of the next political actors to solve the eventual problems. The SWOT analysis indicates some challenges. However, Stavanger had demonstrated competence in dealing with demographic and economic shifts. This study was conducted from the point of view of public policies. Consequently, leading actors, especially government and banking, were privileged voices. Therefore, further research should be done on disadvantaged groups from the community’s perspective. Different results may show gaps, but policy analysis is a first step to addressing the needs of the disadvantaged population.