19 Facts About Council housing

Houses and flats built for public or social housing use are built by or for local authorities and known as council houses, though since the 1980s the role of non-profit housing associations became more important and subsequently the term "social housing" became more widely used, as technically council housing only refers to housing owned by a local authority, though the terms are largely used interchangeably.

Council housing houses were built on council estates, known as schemes in Scotland, where other amenities, like schools and shops, were often provided.

Council housing homes were built to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at reasonable rents to primarily working-class people.

Housing stock has been sold under Right to Buy legislation, and new social Council housing has mainly been developed and managed by Council housing associations.

Public Council housing became needed to provide "homes fit for heroes" in 1919, then to enable slum clearance.

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Pressure for decent Council housing was increased by overcrowding in the large cities during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century; many social commentators reported on the squalor, sickness and immorality that arose.

Council housing worked on the influential Tudor Walters Report of 1918, which recommended housing in short terraces, spaced 70 feet apart at a density of 12 per acre.

London County Council housing embraced these freedoms and planned eight 'cottage estates' in the peripheries of London: Becontree, St Helier, Downham for example; seven further followed including Bellingham.

Many working-class people, this Council housing model provided their first experience of private indoor toilets, private bathrooms and hot running water, as well as gardens and electric lighting.

The quality of these houses, and in particular the existence of small gardens in England and Wales, compared very favourably with social Council housing being built on the European continent in this period.

Over a million people are on the social Council housing waiting list and a quarter of people on social Council housing waiting lists have been there for 5 years or more.

Council housing houses sold under right to buy are typically sold at half market value, some of the money from the sale has to go to the Treasury.

The 1988 Act redefined Council housing associations as non-public bodies, permitting access to private finance, which was a strong motivation for transfer as public sector borrowing had been severely constrained.

Wakefield district council found itself unable to maintain its supply of council housing and transferred it all to a housing association, in 2004; this represented the second largest stock transfer in British history.

Debate on public Council housing provision is politically polarised, as can be seen in the large number of parliamentary acts referred to above.

Council housing estates have been blamed for creating isolated communities and fostering there a mentality where residents have low aspirations.

Legal status and management of council houses, and the social housing sector, has been subject to lobbying and change in recent years.

Between 1978 and 2016, the amount of social Council housing started to be built failed to keep up with population growth from 2008 onwards.

Just 5,900 social Council housing homes were completed in 2017 which is the smallest proportion of overall Council housing building since records began.