The Case of Affordable Housing: Private Sector Investment in Social Infrastructure

Towards a Better Understanding of Private Sector Investment in Social Infrastructure – The Case of Affordable Housing

Organised by the UCL Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management with the support of The Bartlett Innovation Fund

This symposium brings together researchers and stakeholders to enhance understanding of affordable housing provision in the UK and internationally and to explore alternative solutions to the housing affordability crisis in the UK.

From an investor’s point of view - while being a form of real estate with real estate developers playing a major role - affordable housing is a form of social infrastructure, the provision of which has been enabled by governments and local authorities.

The symposium paper session will present cutting edge international academic research, while the round table discussion will bring together key private and public sector stakeholders for a strategic discussion on the financial viability and investment dynamics of affordable housing.

The day will address important questions related to the viability of existing affordable housing schemes involving public and private cooperation such as Help-to-Buy and Shared Ownership as well as exploring alternative ways of enhancing private investment and increasing the provision of affordable housing.

This is a free event made possible by The Bartlett Innovation Fund.

About our keynote speaker

Ingrid Gould Ellen is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at the Wagner School at NYU and a Faculty Director at the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. She joined the NYU Wagner faculty in the fall of 1997 and presently teaches courses in microeconomics, urban economics, and urban policy.

Professor Ellen's research interests centre on housing and urban policy. She is author of Sharing America's Neighborhoods: The Prospects for Stable Racial Integration (Harvard University Press, 2000), editor of How to House the Homeless (Russell Sage Press, 2010), and author of numerous journal articles and book chapters related to housing policy, community development, and residential segregation.

Professor Ellen has held visiting positions at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. She attended Harvard University, where she received a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics, an MPP, and a PhD in public policy.

About The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management

The UCL Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management is an international centre of excellence in the teaching and research of project management and economics. The School is recognised across the world as a leading centre for research and insight in the management of projects and project enterprises, economics and finance, project-based networks and sustainability in the built environment. We are part of The Bartlett, UCL’s global faculty of the built environment.

The Bartlett Innovation Fund provides funding for activities that generate, or support enterprise collaborations, impact-related activities, and life-learning initiatives.