ABSTRACT
Right up to the Second World War, access to any kind of council housing was considered a huge step up the ladder, and although stigmatized estates were emerging, the incipient lettings problems were not recognized until well into the 1960s. Colour became enmeshed with other elements of discretion and discrimination in the allocation of coucil housing, and Cullingworth's report will stand out as a farsighted failure to influence practice. Because of the tight allocation system and its inevitable sifting, the Act was turned into a management albatross rightly forcing councils to expand greatly their provision for vulnerable groups while doing nothing to ensure the equitable access for poor tenants to good council homes. All factors causing low-grade allocations, such as homelessness, low income, poor previous housing conditions, female head of household and family size, were controlled for and the writers still concluded: 'Differential allocation cannot be completely explained by the measurable aspects of the lettings process'.
