ABSTRACT
Privatisation has become a dominant theme in politics and policy in many countries. It has risen to the top of the British political agenda (Ascher, 1987) and has achieved, it is argued, ‘the largest transfer of property since the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII’ (Pirie, 1985). It has generated considerable academic literature and debate and is a regular theme in newspaper, television and radio presentations. Many of these contributions acknowledge that what has been labelled as privatisation is a very mixed bag. Different contributions have focused on the formation of a company and sale of at least 50% of the shares to private shareholders (Beesley and Littlechild, 1983); the privatisation of public enterprises or the public sector of industry (Heald and Steel, 1981; Heald, 1985); on contracting out of public services (Ascher, 1987); and on the transfer of service or goods production activities (Dunleavy, 1986). Any such focus leaves out the largest transfer of assets which has occurred as a result of public policy. At least until the end of 1986 the sale of council housing had generated more receipts than all the other sales of assets combined. It has involved over one million households in the acquisition of a substantial, individually owned and controlled capital asset.
