Public housing in the United Kingdom

Public housing in the United Kingdom provided the largest proportion of rented accommodation. Houses built for public or social housing use were built by local authorities and collectively known as council houses. Before 1885 housing for the poor was provided solely by the private sector. Council houses were built on council estates, where frequently other amenities like schools and shops were provided. From the 1950s blocks of flats, four storey maisonnettes were built too, and mixed estates of flats and houses.

Council homes were built to supply un-crowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at reasonable rents to primarily working-class people. Council house development in the mid-20th century, at which time council housing included many large suburban "council estates" and numerous urban developments featuring tower blocks. Many of these developments did not live up to the hopes of their supporters, and now suffer from urban blight.

Since 1979, the role of council housing has been refocussed. Housing stock has been sold off through Right to Buy legislation, and new social housing is developed and managed by housing associations. A substantial part of the UK population still lives in council housing, in 2010 this amounted about 17% of UK households. Approximately 55% of the country’s social housing stock is owned by local authorities (of which 15% is managed on a day-to-day basis by arms-length management organisations, rather than the authority), and 45% by housing associations. In Scotland, council estates are known as schemes.

Council house

A council house is a form of public or social housing built by local municipalities in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A council estate is a building complex containing a great many council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Council houses were solidly built and distinctive in design which evolved over the period of their construction from 1919 to 1980. There were local design variation but they all stuck rigidly to Local Authority building standards – differing from the more relaxed attitude of the private sector.

Context

House design in the United Kingdom is defined by a series of Housing Acts, and public housing house design is defined by government directives and central governments relationship with local authorities. From the first interventions in the Public Health Act 1875, council houses could be homes fit for heroes, general housing aimed at the working classes, general housing for all, parts of a slum clearance programme or just homes provided for the most needy. They could be funded directly, through central government incentive or by revenue obtained when other houses were sold. Increasingly, they have been transferred through the instrument of housing associations into the private sector.