Housing policy in Britain toward the rental sector is currently undergoing a major change. The Conservative government's white paper, Housing: The Government's Proposals, published in September 1987, and the subsequent 1988 Housing Act and 1989 Local Government and Housing Act mark a decisive break with the consensus policies that have been pursued through most of the postwar period. Since 1945, governments of both parties have subscribed to the view that council housing—the direct provision of rental housing by local authorities—was the major method by which the need for rental housing would be met. However, the present government has broken with this consensus. In the future, local authorities are no longer ...