The origins of central control over local authority housing allocations: principle or pragmatism?
The origins of central control over local authority housing allocations: principle or pragmatism?
This article considers the motivations behind the introduction of the statutory requirement for local authority landlords, in making a decision to allocate housing, to give certain groups of people a ‘reasonable preference’. The discussion is set in the context of an examination of theories of local government covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, it examines whether central government's decision to restrict local authorities' previous freedom in this sphere was based on any principle or theory of local government or, rather, whether it was a pragmatic decision. An analysis of the Parliamentary debates leading to the relevant Housing Acts suggests that the central–local government relationship of this period was based on pragmatism. The over-arching question of the appropriate distribution of power and functions between the centre and the localities was relatively unimportant, compared with the very real question of how sufficient houses could be built, at rents that working class people could afford.
305-324
Laurie, Emma
c1dd220c-d784-4d82-a3ae-c6cdedd48a18
December 2005
Laurie, Emma
c1dd220c-d784-4d82-a3ae-c6cdedd48a18
Laurie, Emma
(2005)
The origins of central control over local authority housing allocations: principle or pragmatism?
Journal of Legal History, 26 (3), .
(doi:10.1080/01440360500347582).
Abstract
This article considers the motivations behind the introduction of the statutory requirement for local authority landlords, in making a decision to allocate housing, to give certain groups of people a ‘reasonable preference’. The discussion is set in the context of an examination of theories of local government covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, it examines whether central government's decision to restrict local authorities' previous freedom in this sphere was based on any principle or theory of local government or, rather, whether it was a pragmatic decision. An analysis of the Parliamentary debates leading to the relevant Housing Acts suggests that the central–local government relationship of this period was based on pragmatism. The over-arching question of the appropriate distribution of power and functions between the centre and the localities was relatively unimportant, compared with the very real question of how sufficient houses could be built, at rents that working class people could afford.
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Published date: December 2005
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Local EPrints ID: 27929
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/27929
ISSN: 0144-0365
PURE UUID: b65b4cc1-985b-4558-871e-fc06d5863a95
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Date deposited: 17 May 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:03
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