ABSTRACT

The most serious indictment of housing policy in recent years has been the appallingly high level of homelessness. With the failure of market forces to match housing need with the supply of affordable housing, government policy in recent years has significantly failed to reduce an unacceptably high level of homelessness and avert an increase in the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation. In reviewing this scenario, this chapter:

• quantifies the extent of the homelessness in the 1990s; • identifies the causes of homelessness; • examines the economic efficiency of policy; • considers the need for action; • discusses the policy options available to government in the early 1990s; and • concludes by reviewing the effects of Labour’s policy post-1997.