The Eclipse of Council Housing

In the 1990s, council housing was widely criticised, rejected by government and was the object of waning public support. Yet at one time direct state provision accounted for one-third of the nation's housing stock. How did this decline come about? Originally published in 1994, Ian Cole and Robert Furbey trace the emergence, rise and decline of council housing and explore its fluctuating status within the welfare state. The authors ask whether council tenure was misconceived from the start and whether it should now be seen as a suitable case for reform, or for total abolition. They examine why, of all welfare sectors, public housing has been subjected to the most intense attack by the Conservatives since 1979,…