ABSTRACT
The complex interactions between different agencies, both within civil society and the state means that national housing policy cannot be constructed simply as central government objectives. This chapter examines overall central government housing policy as it relates to local authorities. Both partnership and agency models are widely used to explain the conduct of housing policy. For national and local housing policy the explanation usually imparted was that, up until the mid-1970s, a ‘partnership’ of sorts was in place, but since the implementation of public expenditure cuts to control public sector borrowing, central and local state have been in conflict. Local state services such as education and housing are vital to the physical reproduction of the labour force. The 1989 Local Government and Housing Act prepared the way for compulsory competitive tendering. Government activity in the housing domain is a conflation of often quite separate concerns including employment, taxation, planning and social security policies.
