영국 공공주택 재생사업 과정에서 Housing Action Trust의 위치와 의의 ― 리버풀 HAT의 사례를 중심으로 ―

This paper examines Housing Action Trust (HAT) policy, concerning regeneration of estates and neighborhoods in England, focusing on two aspects of the HAT: (1) the emergence and evolution of HAT policy; (2) the projects, process and governance of the HAT program. The objectives of the Housing Action Trusts will be: to take over local authority housing within the designated area; to repair, modernize and improve the stock; to improve the living conditions and general environment of the area; to secure diversity of tenure. The local authorities and estate tenants first opposed the framework for HATs when it was established under the Housing Act of 1988 on grounds that it was over-centralized. This failure transformed HAT policy from a centralized agency model to a partnership model, based on partnership with local authorities and tenants. Nowadays, HAT policy has three special features: (1) the remarkable approaches to tenants’participation in HAT projects; (2) the multi-focused approach to regeneration in deprived estates and neighborhoods; (3) the ample funds available for projects. The lessons in regeneration from HAT policy, especially the tackling of wider social and economic problems of their neighborhoods and the governance system of HAT that discourages moral hazards of regeneration, can be transferable to regeneration of Korean public estates. The paper is based on interviews and on-site inspection at Liverpool HAT. The article briefly profiles the Liverpool HATs’ designated areas, then assesses the degree to which it has achieved its main objectives. The HAT has thus far had mixed success. It has attached greater priority to employment and training and quality of life measures, community empowerment and sustainability than earlier estate regeneration programmes. However, it has still devoted the lion’s share of its resources to housing investment and the question remains whether it has gone far enough in tackling the deep-rooted social and economic problems of deprived neighborhoods. I do not doubt that this article will have a great impact on Korea’s urban regeneration project.