ABSTRACT
The formulation of policy properly requires an explicit political perspective; here, it is to develop a socialist alternative housing strategy that is compatible with the alternative economic strategy so widely discussed within the British labour movement. The objective of any socialist housing strategy must be to satisfy the housing needs of the working people of a country within the limits imposed by its overall political, economic and social development. One of the major objectives of the strategy is a return to full employment in the medium term; the associated increase in the real income of numerous households will quite certainly strengthen the ability to purchase rehabilitation output. Public ownership of the major commercial banks is a central feature of virtually all versions of the alternative economic strategy and it is a socialist advance the support. A far more challenging problem is posed by the other mode of housing production for owner-occupation, that is to say, rehabilitation of the existing stock.
