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1979–1997: Homelessness and Ideological Conflict

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Post-War Homelessness Policy in the UK

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Abstract

The period of Conservative rule from 1979 to 1997 was the one in which increases in homelessness became a major political issue, with critics blaming government policies such as the right to buy council housing and cuts to the benefits available to young people. Crises in both the use of bed-and-breakfast hotels for statutorily homeless households, and rough sleeping among single people, were tackled by the government through specific and limited measures that did not make substantial changes to the income or housing that were available to the poorest people. When the 1996 Housing Act reduced the protection available to homeless families, many local authorities resisted the government by finding methods to provide similar services to those they had delivered under the 1977 legislation.

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  1. Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Jamie Harding

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Harding, J. (2020). 1979–1997: Homelessness and Ideological Conflict. In: Post-War Homelessness Policy in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22117-1_5

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