Introduction

The idea for this book arose out of a conference held at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1991 to explore current issues for women in the delivery and management of housing services. It was the view of the conference organisers that the conference would explore an agenda that was relevant to the 1990s. It was also the intention that the papers delivered at the conference would present, as far as possible, a holistic view of women’s housing concerns. The conference was divided into three parts to consider women as consumers, providers and protesters of housing services. This gave participants an opportunity to consider how women access a range of housing tenures; innovative housing designs; the ways in which various groups of women have different experiences of housing; how appropriate housing education is for women; career prospects within housing management, and the role that women play in campaigning for better housing.