ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the background approaches and mechanisms which govern housing policy, and relates them to housing need. It analyzes the performance of the key indicators used for public resource allocation to meet housing need. The chapter considers that the development of the enabling approach: a key component was the desire to cut down expenditure on this sector and the key measures used in the allocation process. Housing needs data is reproduced in the Housing Strategy and the Local Plan, and it may help to indicate elements such as the sizes of dwellings required. Neither on the housing nor the planning side is there a clear place in the allocation mechanisms underlying resource allocation. The indicators are heavily biased towards the condition of the dwellings, rather than the social factors associated with the actual occupants, and include little relevant social content. A centralised system has been developed to support decisions to allocate finance.
