ABSTRACT
This chapter is the first of the impact studies at the level of the vertical policy field.1 The area of social housing in England was chosen as the UK example of a field in which the voluntary sector contributes to society in the sense of ‘improving economic opportunity’. Adequate housing – in the British policy discourse, involving ‘decent’ conditions – meets a primary human need, providing the security and stability upon which participation in economic and social life can build. Social housing in the voluntary sector is delivered by ‘housing associations’ (since 1996, technically ‘registered social landlords’) required by law to be ‘nonprofit’, whose boards are volunteers and from whose activities excess surpluses (profits) must by law be reinvested in housing activities.2
