This PhD research adopts a pragmatic approach to social science research. The pragmatic approach has gained prominence since the 1970s because of its usefulness in bridging the gap between the hard line of realism/positivism and constructivism. That is, it draws liberally from quantitative and qualitative assumptions. There is freedom to choose methods, techniques, and procedures suitable for the purpose of the research (Creswell, 2003). The focus in pragmatism is on what knowledge assists in understanding and solving the problem, and not on what methods were applied (Morgan, 2007). Furthermore, the pragmatist is interested in consequences within a defined context (Cherryholmes, 1994). This research is interested in a solution and the feasibility of that solution to improve maintenance in the Ghanaian context.
Context is important in pragmatism. Research takes place in social, political, economic, and other contexts (W. John Creswell, 2003). This research focuses on what solutions bring about desired results – to improve housing maintenance and quality in Ghana (Creswell, 2003; Morgan, 2007; Patton, 1990). Therefore, it relies on the views of actors in HM and maintenance. The consequence of the methodological approach is the application of appropriate strategies of inquiry, such as the case study and design research, and methods of data collection, including interviews, observations, and focus group sessions.
§ 1.5.1
Conceptual scheme
How well an organisation is performing depends on the objectives it sets for itself, which may be identified from mission statements or policy documents (Bouckaert & Van Dooren, 2009). Several factors influence housing quality/conditions. These may include environmental conditions, such as cleanliness of estates (Awotona, 1990); socio-cultural practices and attitudes towards the use of houses (Awotona, 1990; Yakubu et al., 2014); the quality of construction, materials, and finishing (Ukoha & Beamish, 1997; Yakubu et al., 2014); and management and maintenance (Tufuor, 2004; C. Whitehead, 2011). This thesis focuses on management as an element that affects maintenance and, therefore, impacts the quality/condition of public housing in Ghana. The thesis adopts the framework developed by Vincent Gruis et al. (2009) based on the 7S model (Waterman Jr., Peters, & Phillips, 1980) to describe elements of an organisation. The framework identifies seven elements in HM: legislation, policy, structure, finance, human resources, culture, and quality – the outcome of a combination of the others. This ensemble of elements leads to HM activities, including maintenance, and produces (more or less) desired housing quality outcomes.
HM activities include allocations, managing voids, repairs and maintenance, support for tenants, and effective rent collection (Murie & Rowlands, 2006). These activities have been divided into three categories: technical, social, and financial (Boelhouwer, 1999; Priemus et al., 1999; Tsenkova, 2009). Technical activities include the monitoring of use, regular checks to assess conditions, and repairs and maintenance. Social management activities involve reviewing applications, vetting them against set criteria, allocating dwellings, and dealing with evictions. Financial management activities would normally include setting and collecting rents, and, generally, mobilising financial resources to finance management and maintenance. This research is set within the conceptual framework that reorganising HM would bring about housing maintenance by LAs and lead to improvement in quality (see Figure 1.2). To illustrate this, finance is required to carry out repairs and maintenance, but funds have to be mobilised within an organisational framework of effective rent policy, rent collection, and arrears recovery. However, the organisation of HM is influenced by context (e.g., national level) factors such as the legal framework (legislation and regulations, national housing policy, Ghanaian socio-cultural practices), people’s attitudes, and the economic situation (e.g., wage levels).
43 Introduction Lead to/ Performance Technical: - Maintenance - Renovation - Inspections Social: - Allocation - Tenant feedback - Crime control Financial: - Rent policy - Rent collection - Arrears recovery Housing activities Organisational elements Human Resources Financial Resources Policy / Strategy Organisational Structure Legal Framework/Rules Culture Housing quality Housing Management Policy e.g. standards, tenants’ participation Socio-cultural e.g. attitudes, traditions Legal framework e.g. regulations, laws Context factors Housing management Quality of existing housing
FIGURE 1.3 Conceptual framework of research
§ 1.5.2
Definition of key concepts
Four key concepts that are important to define in the context of this PhD thesis include public housing, housing quality/conditions, housing maintenance, and HM.
Public housing
Many scholars (e.g. Haffner, Hoekstra, Oxley, & Heijden, 2009; Tsenkova, 2009; Tsenkova & Turner, 2004) have used the term “public housing” to refer to social rented housing. However, Sousa and Quarter (2005) distinguish public housing, housing owned by the state, from social housing, subsidised (non-market) housing provided by organisations other than the state. M. Haffner et al. (2009) also note that social housing is provided by different organisations that are usually supported by government or the state through, for example, subsidising land, state grants, loan guarantees, and subsidised loans. Werna (1999) writes that public housing is housing owned by the government and rented directly to households. The target group is households that cannot afford housing on the market. In this research, which focusses
on Ghana, “public housing” refers to rental housing provided by the state/government, managed by municipal/LAs, and rented to government employees at below-market rates. Therefore, the term “public housing” also refers to the public rental housing, and it is used in both senses in this thesis.
Housing quality/conditions
“Housing quality” is an amalgamated expression comprising several characteristics (Sengupta & Tipple, 2007). There is no widely agreed measure of quality, making it difficult to define. Indicators of housing quality can vary according to context – national or organisational – and according to purpose. It may be said that the concept of housing quality is relative to local norms and conditions. Thus, every country or locality may have its own standards and indicators or elements for measuring housing quality. Sengupta and Tipple (2007) use indicators such as housing consumption, connection to services, location, and site characteristics to measure quality. In their study of housing quality in Lima, Peru, Meng and Hall (2006) define housing quality as the grade or level of acceptability of dwelling units and their associated and immediate residential environment, including the design and functionality of housing structures, building materials used, the amount of internal and external space pertaining to the dwelling, housing utilities, and basic service provision. According to Komu (2010), some writers use the terms “housing quality” and “housing conditions” interchangeably. In this thesis, “housing quality” and “housing conditions” are used interchangeably to describe the physical state of a building in terms of its component elements and the level of maintenance (see Stone & Hartman, 1983).
Housing maintenance
Several authors have defined “housing maintenance” variously. According to Seely, 1976 in Tufuor (2004), maintenance is “work undertaken in order to keep, restore or improve every part of a building, its services and surroundings to a currently accepted standard and to sustain the utility and value of the building”. The British Standards BS 3811:1993 define maintenance as “a combination of actions required to retain an item in, or restore it to an acceptable condition” (Komu, 2010). What is common across definitions is that maintenance involves taking actions with an objective of maintaining, restoring, or improving the existing situation of a property. In this thesis, “housing maintenance” is defined as works carried out on an existing building to improve its physical properties to an acceptable standard that sustains or enhances its utility and quality.
45 Introduction
Housing management
Generally, “management” has been defined as the process of planning, organising, directing, and/or controlling activities to accomplish stated objectives of organisations and their members (Anheier, 2005). According to Bruil and Heurkens (2012),
management is getting things done with people; it is about decision making and communication within an organisation; it is about matching responsibility with people’s capacity; it is about division and coordination of tasks; it is about learning new things; it deals with continuously changing events. HM builds on management in general but with some specificity in terms of the scope of activities. Because of its specificity, Walker (2000) notes that it is difficult to ascribe a universal definition to the term “management”. However, he defines it as the management of organisations and people to deliver services to customers. According to Priemus et al. (1999), HM is the set of all activities to produce and allocate housing services from the existing social housing stock. Clapham (1992) has defined it as the on-going upkeep of the property and the neighbourhood and the administration of the occupancy of dwellings. This research defines HM to include the mobilisation of resources (including human, finance, and material) and the set of all activities required to maintain and improve the quality of existing housing.
§ 1.5.3
Methodology
Pragmatism arises from actions, situations, and consequences (Creswell, 2009); it is concerned with whether one has made a sensible methods decision, given the purpose of the inquiry, the questions being investigated, and the resources available (Patton, 1990). Pragmatism underpins mixed methods, which is the approach adopted in this research.
The design research approach was adopted for this research. As postulated by Peffers et al (2007), the design process is iterative, proceeding from a problem and concluding with suggestions based on existing knowledge and theory to solve the problem. This thesis proceeds by first coming to an understanding of the public HM problem in Ghana, and then it draws on existing knowledge from theory and practice, through case studies, to proffer solutions to HM challenges in Ghana. In doing so, the research applies the strategy of transferability of policies and programmes from one context to another. A systematic approach is used to describe and analyse models of HM in different contexts and to abstract principles that are then applied to develop an HM approach for Ghana. To enhance its feasibility, an iterative validation approach
involving stakeholders in housing is applied in the development process to produce the final HM approach for LAs in Ghana.
Mainly qualitative and to a limited extent quantitative methods were applied in the research (see Table 1.1). Qualitative methods including literature and document review, interviews, and observation were applied to collect both primary and secondary data. Data were analysed through descriptive inferential and descriptive thematic approaches. The Atlas.ti tool was used to facilitate the analysis of qualitative data.
TABLE 1.1 Application of methods to answer sub-questions
SUB-QUESTION OBJECTIVES APPROACH METHODS OUTPUTS
How are housing manage- ment and maintenance by LAs organised, and how have challenges identified therein affected public housing quality in Ghana? (Chapter 2)
– To describe public hous- ing in Ghana
– To examine the main- tenance and quality of public housing in Ghana – To identify HM challeng-
es in Ghana
Case study Document review Interviews
– Describe housing in Ghana
– Define HM problem in Ghana
What factors can be distinguished to describe and analyse the organisa- tion of and assess perfor- mance in HM? (Chapter 4) – To identify forms of public HM – To identify approaches to measure housing performance
Literature review Document review – Framework for analysing public HM – Elements to assess
performance
What lessons can be learned from the organisa- tion and practice of HM in other contexts? (Chapters 5 & 6)
– To abstract principles for effective organisation of HM and maintenance Case study Lesson drawing Document review Interviews Observation – Principles for effective HM
How can the lessons learned from other c ontexts be applied to HM by LAs to bring about maintenance and improve public housing quality in Ghana? (Chapters 7 & 8)
– To design a preliminary approach for manage- ment of public housing in Ghana
– To validate a preliminary model of public housing in Ghana
– To propose a final model for public HM by LAs in Ghana Design research Transferability Interviews Focus groups – Preliminary ap- proach to public HM – Validation report – Context and implementation issues
– Final approach for public HM
47 Introduction