Housing under the Conservatives 1979–97

Abstract

The period of Conservative government between 1979 and 1997 saw major changes in housing policy and provision in the United Kingdom epitomised by privatisation and deregulation and an anti-municipal approach. There were, however, important continuities in policy too. It is widely argued that the downturn in public expenditure on housing commenced in 1976 and the concern to keep public expenditure under control was already embedded in housing policy under the previous Labour administration. Rather than developing a coherent financial framework for the provision of housing, the Conservative Government continued to operate very different financial arrangements for different parts of the housing system. The lack of a coherent approach to public expenditure is evidenced by the substantial growth of housing benefit expenditure and the growth of tax relief expenditures associated with home ownership. By the end of the period of Conservative government, the tax advantages associated with home ownership had come under attack and the ideological drive which marked the earlier years of the government with encouragement of home ownership associated with electoral and political, as well as other advantages, had been modified. Deregulation of the private rented sector had not resulted in any marked increase in supply or investment in this sector but the rising rents which resulted considerably increased housing benefit expenditure. At the same time, a crisis in the home ownership sector following the boom period of 1986–9 left a series of questions about the sustainability of home ownership in a different economic and labour market context than had applied years earlier.