Housing Associations and Housing Policy: A Historical Perspective

Housing Associations and Housing Policy is an important and timely contribution to the housing studies literature, providing the first detailed account of the growth of voluntary housing in Britain from its earliest origins through the present day. Drawing on extensive original research, Peter Malpass fills in much previously missing history, questioning, exploring and making explicit the extent of links between modern housing associations and medieval almshouses, and the Victorian model dwellings organizations. The book reveals the rich diversity of voluntary housing in the past, but exposes its critical weakness--the failure to raise sufficient capital to make a measurable contribution to tackling housing shortage. In the period since 1988, housing associations have changed more than at any time in the past and Peter Malpass' book will be essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand these changes in their historical perspective.