ABSTRACT
The eclipse of council housing by both Conservative and Labour governments in recent years has taken broadly three forms: first, the sale of council houses to their tenants; secondly, the disposal of council stock to housing associations, trusts and private companies; and thirdly, the assumption of local authorities’ housing management functions by other agencies. Two initiative – Tenants’ Choice and Housing Action Trusts – were identified as the means by which housing stock was to be transferred out of local authority control. This chapter deals with the different methods by which councils have been forced or encouraged to dispose of the whole or parts of their stock to other landlords, and/or to relinquish their housing management functions. Throughout the history of council housing, local authorities have been empowered, subject to ministerial consent, to dispose of housing land and stock to the private sector. Only exceptionally will a local authority seek to transfer property with vacant possession.
