Public Housing: Current Trends and Future Developments

Originally published in 1987, public rented housing in Britain had undergone many changes in the decade before, which had been accelerated by the policies of the Conservative government since 1979. With financial incentives and the ‘right to buy’, owner occupation was being vigorously promoted as the ‘normal’ tenure for the bulk of households, while the public sector was increasingly confined to those on low incomes. At the same time, a severe squeeze on capital and maintenance expenditure was leading to a deterioration in the public stock, and was causing major problems for housing managers. The book surveys the current state of public housing at the time, including a chapter on developments in Europe, and examines how the sector was adapting in terms of new approaches such as decentralisation and co-operatives.

David Clapham is Honorary Professor of Housing and Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He was previously Professor at the Universities of Cardiff and Reading. He has been editor and associate editor of the journal Housing Theory and Society for over 15 years and has also been associated with the International Journal of Housing Studies and Urban Studies. He has published widely in a wide range of international journals and is the author of books including The Meaning of Housing, Remaking Housing Policy and Inhabitation in Nature. David is a sociologist, but has undertaken many multi-disciplinary research studies in the social sciences. His most recent interest is in breaking down the barriers between social and other sciences.

John English was, at the time of original publication, Lecturer in Social Policy, Paisley College.