ABSTRACT
The concept of responsibility is suthciently important of itself to justify consideration. In particular, the notion of social responsibility needs to be considered as a substantive justification for social housing. There are several reasons why responsibility is an important concept in developing a justification for housing. Most countries thus have an age of criminal responsibility where an individual is deemed to be capable of acting for reasons and thus be held to account for his or her actions. Goodin's argument is explicitly aimed to bolster the ideas of social welfare and collective responsibility and thus diminish individual responsibility. The duty is in essence 'socialised' to the extent that social housing becomes an exercise in social responsibility, by linking the obligations of tax-payers to the rights of those in housing need, through the specific structure of the social landlord. Responsibility becomes externalised because the role of institutions is seen as the alleviation of immediate problems rather than internalising responsibility.
