Housing corporations do not always strive to achieve maximum profit. The corporation invests, either through conscious decisions or not, a share of its equity with the intent to accomplish a multitude of social, public housing-related goals. The problem with such goals is that very few of them are easily quantifiable and, therefore, difficult to compare with each other. Are we going to add another house with a reasonable rent level to our core supply or do we choose to invest more in the overall liveability of the neighbourhood? And what will the effect of such a decision be on our financial constraints, for instance of a minimally required solvency? These are questions that will remain difficult to answer as long as the goals can not be compared in an objective manner.
At ORTEC we have developed an ingenuous method for comparing these goals to each other. It utilizes the paired comparison-approach according to the well-known Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) of Saaty. With the aid of the AHP the various goals are ranked on their relative significance. In order to apply the AHP, an interval will be created for each goal, ranging from the minimally required level to the desired one. With these intervals it becomes possible to compare various goals with differing units. This method can be applied to support decisions at the corporate level, but also to execute such decisions at, for instance, the neighbourhood or regional level. In this way, and at every decision-making stage that it is desired, an optimal balance can be attained between allocated capital and the accomplishment of goals. And our WALS system can be of great use in applying this method.