Housing Policy Analysis

'...an important contribution to a literature that needs to be regularly updated. In this sense Lowe has provided a valuable service which will be much appreciated by students everywhere.' - Peter Malpass, Housing Studies

Taking a policy analysis approach to housing and drawing from the burgeoning comparative literature, this textbook provides a systematic re-evaluation of the nature of British housing that challenges the orthodox "home owning society" view whereby Britain is seen as marking a norm.By virtue of a quiet revolution over nearly a hundred years, Britain has evolved into a home-owning society. The impact of this on British society has been barely understood, but it has helped to shape the Blair 'workfare' state and to draw Britain firmly towards the English-speaking world while distancing the country from other European nations.
Taking a policy-analysis approach and drawing from the burgeoning comparative literature, this textbook explores what has happened to British housing since 1900. Providing more than an account of British housing, the book reinterprets the housing system in a way that is sensitive to the historical and cultural contexts of British policy and society. Examining the nature of 'housing' and how it helps to shape society, Lowe sets British housing in its global context.
Written in an accessible style, Housing Policy Analysis leads the reader through the basic concepts to more challenging themes. It will be important reading for students of housing studies, social policy, public policy and applied social studies.