Privatisation of Housing and the Impact of the Conservative Government's Initiatives on Low-Cost Homeownership and Private Renting between 1979 and 1984 in England and Wales: 3. Impact and Evaluation of Low-Cost Homeownership Policy

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This is the third in a series of four papers describing and evaluating the British Government's policies of privatising housing. In this paper the research on the short-run impact of the low-cost homeownership programme is examined, by looking at the right to buy, shared ownership, improvement for sale, and homesteading, and at starter homes and licence schemes. The purchasers who have benefited from the programme are identified and the reasons for some of the failures of the policy to reach priority groups and areas of need are examined. An evaluation of the programme is made under three headings: the extent to which new investment is generated, the extent to which benefits are restricted to groups in need, and the long-term consequences of expanding homeownership amongst low-income groups. It is concluded that privatisation cannot be achieved without continued state support and regulation.