Identifying the Dimensions of Housing Policy Effectiveness

Housing policy is commonly implemented through programmes intended to widen access to affordable housing, yet the success of such programmes is still frequently measured only by the number of housing units delivered. This narrow focus overlooks whether housing outcomes actually meet the needs of the intended beneficiaries. This paper addresses this gap by reviewing housing attributes reported in previous studies and reorganising them into broader dimensions of housing policy achievement. Adopting an archival review approach, the study examined 27 selected housing studies published between 2008 and 2026 covering residential satisfaction, housing affordability, housing preferences, public housing governance, housing management and housing delivery. Relevant housing attributes were extracted from each study, compared for conceptual similarity, and grouped through thematic synthesis according to the housing outcome each attribute represents. The review identified 49 indicators, organised into seven dimensions: affordability, financing, quality, location, neighbourhood, matching and delivery. Each dimension captures a distinct aspect of housing policy achievement, ranging from the financial burden of housing costs and access to financing mechanisms, to physical housing quality, spatial accessibility, neighbourhood liveability, the fit between housing supply and household needs, and the fairness and efficiency of the housing delivery process. The main contribution of this paper lies in translating housing attributes originally developed for studies of residential satisfaction, housing preference, affordability and housing management into a unified set of policy achievement dimensions. These dimensions extend the assessment of housing policy effectiveness beyond physical output indicators to the lived conditions experienced by target households. The findings offer a broader conceptual basis for evaluating government housing programmes and provide a foundation for developing and validating an empirical measurement instrument in future research on housing policy effectiveness.

housing policy effectiveness; housing policy achievement; housing attributes; affordable housing

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