ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to consider choice in housing, both in relation to need and to current housing policy which increasingly emphasises choice. Choice, it is argued, allows for subjectivity and individualisation. It also aims to consider rights in some detail, arguing that the notion can form the centrepiece to an individualistic justification for housing. A rights-based argument offers the universalistic grounding for housing. The book discusses the role of social housing plays as demonstrative of social responsibility. It illustrates the concept of individual autonomy. It aims to link choice, rights and responsibility together around the notion of individual autonomy. The book suggests that this combined notion offers a universalist understanding of housing, but one that allows for the necessary degree of contingency and subjectivity for sustainable dwelling to be maintained.
