ABSTRACT
Housing policy since the 1950s has ensured that there has been a substantial growth in owner-occupation and council housing and a decline in private rented accommodation, while the condition of most of the housing stock has greatly improved. There were great spatial variations in supply and demand, most notably a surplus of cheap housing in much of the North and Midlands, and a shortage of affordable housing in London and elsewhere in the South. G. Esping-Andersen did not include housing tenure in his analysis, it is comparatively straightforward to match the social democratic group with the promotion of various forms of rented housing as alternative sectors available to all, and on a long-term basis. In taking a sympathetic view of Esping-Andersen’s thesis, J. Kemeny attempts to offer an analysis of the distribution of tenure, particularly vis-à-vis the relative importance of social housing. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
