Reserved for the poor? Social housing in a liberal market economy

Since 1980, social housing has undergone a fundamental transformation in England. In the 1970s, three out of ten households, the majority of whom were not poor, lived in council housing. And during that decade local authorities built on average over 100,000 house a year. Today, however, local authorities accommodate only one in 16 households in England, most of whom are poor or disadvantaged. And as council housing has become increasingly reserved for the poor, its public image has also deteriorated. Furthermore, local authorities now build only a few thousand new homes a year. Non-profit housing associations have grown from a relatively minor part of the housing system in the 1970s to a major provider of social housing today. Taken together, these two forms of social housing are landlords to only one in six households. This paper examines this transformation in social housing and its role in the wider welfare state. It looks at why and how this transformation came about; examines the legacy that the decline of council housing has left behind; discusses the rise of non-profit housing associations; and considers the prospects for social housing.