According to Patton (1990), “purpose” is the controlling force in research (see also W. John Creswell, 2009). It informs decisions about design, measurement, analysis, and
39 Introduction
reporting. The purpose of this thesis research is located within the applied research classification described by Patton (1990). Applied researchers try to understand and deal with a problem. For instance, is it possible to introduce sustainable financing measures, such as collecting rents locally, to address the absence of funds for maintenance? Is it possible to transfer management responsibility to tenants? Or is it possible to adopt a participative approach that involves more active roles for tenants in management? At this point, it is not known what approach is most suitable for HM by LAs that may bring about maintenance of public housing in Ghana. Therefore, the purpose of this research is:
To propose an approach to housing management by LAs that may bring about maintenance and lead to better public housing quality in Ghana.
Here, HM refers to the structures and processes that allow for the mobilisation of needed resources to execute HM functions effectively and efficiently, including maintenance and repairs. Housing maintenance refers to the actions that are carried out to maintain, restore, or improve the utility of and quality of buildings. To reach the goal of the research, the following question was answered.
§ 1.4.1
Main research question
In order to achieve the goals of the research, the following question is addressed: In what way can HM by LAs be organised so as to bring about maintenance and lead to better public housing quality in Ghana?
This main research question is reduced to four areas of inquiry: problems or challenges of the current organisation of local authority management, theoretical knowledge that provides guidance for proceeding to answer the question, lessons from other contexts that offer knowledge suggesting solutions to the problems, and solutions that address the problems of HM in order to lead to maintenance.
In line with the areas of inquiry, the research is divided into four parts. The
background introduces the research and describes the problems and the context. The methodological approach and literature that are applied in this research are described in the theoretical part. The third part, concerning lesson drawing, describes studies of HM in other contexts to gain knowledge for addressing HM challenges. Part four describes the application of practical lessons learned and theory in transferability to
develop a set of solutions that is presented in an HM approach for Ghana. The following specific questions help the research to answer the main question systematically:
1 How is housing management and maintenance by LAs organised, and how have challenges identified therein affected public housing quality in Ghana?
This question introduces and describes public housing development and management in Ghana. It then describes and analyses the current organisation of management and maintenance by LAs and identifies challenges that have affected the performance of maintenance and, consequently, public housing quality. The challenges identified then form the basis for selecting and studying other models of housing management to gain knowledge for suggesting solutions.
2 What factors can be distinguished to describe and analyse the organisation of and assess performance in HM?
This question aims to develop a framework for analysing and assessing performance in HM. It concerns the scope, organisation, activities, and national context factors for HM. It relates organisational elements, including legal framework, policy, finance, structure, and human resources; organisational culture in the 7S-based framework developed by Gruis et al. (2009); the categorisation of HM activities into technical, social, and finance (Boelhouwer, 1999; Priemus, Dieleman, & Clapham, 1999); and national context factors in a framework that is used to describe and analyse HM. The analysis enables the research to identify both weaknesses and effective ways to organise HM and maintenance, as well as context factors that enable or inhibit HM. In addition, the question concerns how to measure performance in housing management. It involves key criteria for performance assessment in HM, including effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and legitimacy/support, along with their related indicators.
3 What lessons can be learned from the organisation and practice of HM in other contexts?
This question investigates the organisation and practice of HM with particular focus on maintenance in two different approaches. These are the professional approach to social HM taken by housing associations in the Netherlands and the tenant-led approach to management of council housing by TMOs in England. The purpose of these studies is to abstract principles by identifying issues from the cases that need to be addressed for
41 Introduction
effective organisation of housing management and maintenance. These principles are then applied to guide the development of solutions to HM problems in Ghana.
4 How can the lessons learned from other contexts be applied to HM by LAs to bring about maintenance and improve public housing quality in Ghana?
This question focuses on developing solutions to HM challenges faced by LAs in Ghana. It applies the guiding principles from question 3 to develop a preliminary HM approach, which is then validated through interviews with public housing professionals and tenants in Ghana to produce a final HM approach. Thus, the suggested solutions are presented in an HM approach embedded in local authority governance. Key elements of the approach include reforming financial arrangements, defining a clear structure for housing management that effectively addresses maintenance, and involving tenants in the management process.