ABSTRACT
The two outstanding trends directly affecting British social housing since 1979 have been a reduction in the stock of social rented homes and a gradual redistribution of the remaining stock from local authorities to non-profi t-sector landlords. In the 25 years to 2006 the number of homes rented from local authorities fell from its peak of 6.1 million to only 2.6 million. Over the same period housing associations have grown from less than 10 per cent of all social housing to over 45 per cent and look likely to exceed 50 per cent by 2010 (see Table 5.1).
