ABSTRACT
One fact stands out in any review of the housing situation in Britain: the main period of urbanisation occurred in the nineteenth century and, in spite of frequent housing construction drives after World War II, the nature and quality of the housing inherited from the industrial revolution and its aftermath continue to dominate discussion of housing policy. Even by 1975, 56 per cent of all dwellings in Britain were built before 1944 and a full 33 per cent were built before 1914.1 The problems of Britain’s early industrialisation — which puts it at a distinct disadvantage in relation to many other developed societies — have probably been compounded by relatively low levels of investment in housing in recent years. Hence, in 1975 Britain invested 4.4 per cent of GDP in housing compared with 7.2 per cent in France, 5.3 per cent in West Germany (1974), 6.7 per cent in Italy and 8.4 per cent in Japan (1973).2 Of the major industrial societies only the United States invested less than the UK (2.7 per cent in 1975), but the American housing stock is much newer than Britain’s and per capita GDP is much higher — as increasingly is the case with other industrial societies.3
