ABSTRACT
Social housing does deal with unmet needs, but it has increasingly been criticised for its unresponsiveness to the aspirations of current and potential residents. It is clear though that the balance in housing discourse is shifting away from a needs-based approach towards one based on choice. The relationship between instrumental needs and choice is an iterative one, which, in practice, makes it difficult to distinguish between needs and choice. Once need becomes collectivised it follows that its resolution should also be a collective problem. The basic epistemological point is that, operationally, needs are not basic but instrumental and thus intrinsically interlinked with choice. Choice may apply to a certain extent and have a material difference on the outcome, but one is still reliant on the expert to offer the alternatives and pronounce the odds. Choice is at the centre of discussions on housing policy in the UK. Choice, in a moral sense, relates to notions of autonomy, liberty and responsibility.
