Public Affairs Part I

Social Housing
 Different Phases in Social Housing
• The “Prefab” – post-1945, lots of new housing was needed quickly for the
millions made homeless by the war. ‘Jerry-built’ prefab buildings were
quickly built

• Tower blocks – in the 1960s, especially the later years under Harold
Wilson’s Labour government, there was a rush to build functional housing
on a grand scale, using as little land space as possible (to enable industry
to flourish in the “white heat of technology”). Social housing started being
built in skyscrapers

• New Towns – Margaret Thatcher turned against the tower block in the
1980s, after decades of criticism of the often poor quality accommodation
they provided. At the same time, as she tried to promote the idea of a
“home-owning democracy”, she ordered the building of a number of “new
towns”, including Milton Keynes
 Post-Council Housing Revolution
• 1985 – Introduction of the “Right to Buy” principle, whereby
tenants who had been in council housing for two years were
allowed to buy their homes at a discount rate of 60 per cent of
their market prices. Criticisms included fact that councils were
barred from using the capital receipts from these sales to build
any more homes for those who still needed it.

Some councils accused of using council house sales as ‘bribery’.

Westminster City Council leaders were prosecuted for
“gerrymandering” local election results, by fast-tracking sales of
homes to potential Tory voters, and moving some known Labour
voters into other wards, in an effort to ‘spread’ the Labour vote –
thereby reducing the likelihood of Labour councillors being elected
 Post-Council Housing Revolution
• 1988/9 Housing Act officially turned local councils into “enabling”
authorities (effectively “commissioners” of social housing), rather than
builders/providers. Non-profit bodies called housing associations
(overseen by a quango known as the Housing Corporation) began
to gradually take over the maintenance of existing social housing
stock, and the construction of any new homes

• 1993 – Tories give groups of tenants in council homes right to take

over day-to-day running of their housing blocks – even if they didn’t
buy up their homes. To do this, a vote of tenants was needed, and a
tenant management organisation (TMO) could be formed

• 1996 – By this date, 51 councils had transferred their entire housing

stock into housing association control
 Current Home Ownership Figures
• Home ownership = 67%

• Rented sector = 33%

• Council housing = 19%

• Housing associations = 4%

• Private landlords = 10%

Other Aspects of Local Authority
Housing Provision
• Housing budgets - unlike any other area of council spending, there is
a separate account covering housing expenditure: the housing
revenue account. This covers repair and maintenance costs, and
revenue from rents and fines for vandalism etc is paid into it
• Unfit housing/overcrowding - councils have responsibility for
ensuring no local residents live in property that is “unfit for human
habitation”. They can prosecute private landlords under the
Environment Protection Act 1990
• Renewal areas – councils can ‘buy up’ (if necessary by compulsory
purchase) areas containing at least 300 dwellings where 30 per cent
or more of residents receive benefits to provide improved or
additional housing, under the terms of a ‘renewal area’ arrangement
• Social landlords – charities/other bodies can build social housing,
under terms of a ‘social landlord’ agreement with the local authority
 Councils and the Homeless
Under the 1977 Homelessness Act, local authorities have a statutory
duty to house anyone who is “unintentionally homeless” in their area
within 28 days of learning of this. This can, though, be in “temporary
accommodation”, including so-called B&Bs and night shelters.

Those deemed “intentionally homeless”, though, include people who

have been evicted due to rent arrears (for whatever reason)

The following are treated as “priority cases”:

• People with dependent children

• People made homeless by an emergency and disaster (flood etc)
• People vulnerable because of old age, mental or physical handicap
• Pregnant women and their households