Social housing in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Social rented housing has played an important role in the United Kingdom for almost a century. From the introduction of central government subsidies in 1919 to the new Affordable Homes Programme, governments and landlords have faced trade-offs between the depth of subsidy and the scale of the new build programme; between rent levels and the quality and location of social housing; and between targeting housing on the poor and creating poverty neighbourhoods. These dilemmas are encountered in any country, but are played out through different institutional structures and within the wider context that includes demography, the labour market and wider economy, social security system and social attitudes.