Housing and urban planning policy
Research Topic
Language: English
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- What are the gaps between the design performance, and the actual energy usage or other measured performance of buildings?
- What can we learn from variations in the performance of different public service providers within each public service (taking account of area cost differences and differences in the characteristics of the population served)? To what extent does devolution, the adoption of best practice, or other interventions reduce such variation and improve overall public service performance?
- What are the broader social benefits to individuals from jobs with higher pay, better working conditions and security, and can we link these benefits to wider society e.g. through savings to the Exchequer via reduced healthcare needs?
- What are the best examples of local initiatives to reduce child poverty – what levers were used and how can central government provide support?
- What is the most constructive way to address the issue of empty homes – particularly long-term vacants?
- What are the long-term impacts/implications of community-based sponsorship?
- What are the long-term impacts of housing quality on social cohesion, health, educational attainment, child poverty, life chances, wellbeing and other outcomes? What are our best quantified and monetised estimates of these relationships?
- What are the impacts from jobs with higher pay, better working conditions and security on affordability and supply in the private rented sector?
- What are the best methods for robustly estimating productivity differentials across different parts of the UK and what are the main reasons for these differences?
- Why do otherwise similar areas experience different health, education and other outcomes?
- What is the evidence that prevention and early intervention in adult social care, children’s social care and other local services improve outcomes – compared with treating problems – and lead to better value for money for taxpayers?
- How different (if at all) are the pressures facing local authorities when welcoming resettlement cohorts? What is the reason for any differences?
- Are there any examples of AI tools being used effectively for data gathering from local authorities creating a less burdensome approach to gathering data, analysis or reporting?
- How can the evidence base illustrate the extent to which outsourcing and the position on pay and conditions in social care has resulted in a) a greater reliance on foreign workers, b) poorer quality of care and c) inefficiency in public service delivery?
- How can we further quantify the impacts of planned changes to employment law on raising living standards across the UK, as measured by real household disposable income?
- What can we learn from recent experiences of planning reform both across the UK and internationally?
- How have instances and levels of harassment and intimidation in elections changed over time? Who in the electoral process experiences harassment and intimidation, by (1) their role in the electoral process e.g. voter / candidate / staff, (2) their demographics? What are the barriers (if any) to individuals reporting instances of harassment and intimidation to police, and to the police investigating these reports?
- What examples are there of local public service reform initiatives that we can learn from?
- How does susceptibility to mis- and disinformation, and its impact (if any) on voting behaviour, vary by age? What impact could extending the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds have on this?
- How can different public services, delivered by different scales of devolution and methodologies, be compared to learn best practices and improve efficiency?
- What are the monetised economic, social and fiscal costs of homelessness and rough sleeping for different groups in the short, medium and long term?
- What are the qualitative and quantitative evidence for the way that an increase in housing supply or an improvement in housing affordability has an impact on economic growth and productivity?
- What are the key policy levers needed to ensure the most deprived communities can share in the benefits and opportunities from growth?
- How best is land value captured to pay for social housing and infrastructure? What are the limits to the capture of land value, and why?
- How can we use novel datasets to understand capital investment needs across the UK, including by sector and region?
- What is the best evidence for the social and economic impacts of living in a more integrated and cohesive place?
- What further evidence is available on locally driven initiatives to combat homelessness that has positive outcomes for service users?
- What opportunities does devolution offer for strengthening local resilience and improving community cohesion?
- How do we ensure the economic benefits of city centres or industrial clusters generate spill overs for surrounding towns, villages and sectors? What is the key to prosperous local towns and villages?
- What are the most cost-effective measures for moving households out of temporary accommodation – and keeping them out?
- What are the capability and capacity gaps (both in delivering high quality new housing and remedying issues in existing stock) facing the construction workforce in the UK and what impact do those gaps have on housing quality and safety?
- What is the regional picture on jobs with higher pay, better working conditions and security?
- How can our estates (including school nurseries, schools and publicly provided children’s homes) provide a suitable, healthy, and resilient environment for learning and to deliver our Opportunity Mission and how can this be done in the most cost-efficient way?
- Are there any local examples of effective strategies to help individuals settle, which generate better outcomes for people?
- What are the best ways in which the use of AI could speed up the planning system, reduce costs for local government and improve the delivery of public services?
- What are the most cost-effective ways of making new homes more energy-efficient?
- What devolved or new powers would support increased productivity in regions which are falling behind?
- What are the challenges associated with delivering infrastructure to support housing development and how best can they be overcome?
- How can transport investment release additional land for housing and deliver wider economic benefits?
- What are the strongest policy levers for improving living conditions for tenants and is there evidence from any locally driven initiatives we can learn from?
- How can digital infrastructure be integrated with physical infrastructure to improve service delivery, enhance connectivity, and optimise resource use?
- What is the environmental impact of our estates, what works in reducing their impact (when, where and why) and which adaptations are needed for our future climate?
- What are the best examples of how to incentivise local residents to support new housing and infrastructure in their local areas?
- How can technology be utilised to enhance and strengthen systems for gathering, analysing and using data and information to assess community resilience and cohesion?
- What are the lessons to learn from successful insourcing of services by local government? What are the common themes behind failures of outsourcing relevant to local government?
- What are the long-term impacts from prolonged insecure work on the life chances of individuals, including on family formation and stability, opportunities to get on the housing ladder and healthcare needs?
- To what extent have weaknesses and limitations in the UK’s employment rights protections – such as exploitative zero hours contracts – contributed to poor productivity, regional inequality, or child poverty?
- What role can housing policies play in helping to alleviate child poverty and longer-term life outcomes?