The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

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?
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.
0144-0365
305-324
Laurie, Emma
c1dd220c-d784-4d82-a3ae-c6cdedd48a18
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), 305-324. (doi:10.1080/01440360500347582).

Record type: Article

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.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: December 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 27929
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/27929
ISSN: 0144-0365
PURE UUID: b65b4cc1-985b-4558-871e-fc06d5863a95
ORCID for Emma Laurie: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2178-1593

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 May 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:03

Export record

Altmetrics

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×