Post-War Homelessness Policy in the UK

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Definitions, Neglected Issues and Pre-War Position

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 1-18

3. Key Themes in Post-War Homelessness

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 19-46

4. 1945–1961: From Everybody’s Problem to Problem Families

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 47-70

5. 1961–1979: The Long Road to Change

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 71-109

6. 1979–1997: Homelessness and Ideological Conflict

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 111-148

7. 1997–2010: The Restoration of Rights, Social Exclusion and Meta-governance

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 149-192

8. The Conservative-Led Administrations from 2010: Familiar Policies in New Rhetoric

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 193-227

9. Reflections on the Post-War Period

   • Jamie Harding

   Pages 229-233

10. Back Matter

    Pages 235-239

    PDF

This book discusses homelessness policy in the UK from 1945 to 2019.  It identifies five key factors that have driven policy: the favoured explanations for homelessness, distinctions between different groups of homeless people, demand for social rented housing, geographical differences and the forms of prevention preferred by policy makers.  The account analyses how these factors have influenced key pieces of legislation such as the 1948 National Assistance Act, the 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act and the 2002 Homelessness Act.  It also identifies the key issues that policy has sought to address at different times, including children being taken into care because of their parents’ homelessness, rough sleeping, the use of bed and breakfast hotels as temporary accommodation, social exclusion and welfare reform.  In addition to published sources and archival material, the book draws on the experiences of two former Ministers and other key figures in the developmentof homelessness policy.

• Homelessness
• defining homelessness
• quantifying homelessness
• inequalities
• Victorian era
• World War Two
• causes of homelessness
• single homeless people
• geographical differences
• housebuilding
• 1948 National Assistance Act
• welfare policies
• welfare departments
• eviction
• 1957 Rent Act
• Cathy Come Home
• local authorities
• benefits
• social exclusion
• welfare reform
• British Politics

“This thoroughly researched volume provides a detailed description of policy evolution over this long period whilst tentatively outlining a five-part explanatory framework. Jamie Harding’s career in housing and homelessness policy, incorporating practice and academia, informs a wide-ranging and accessible book. … The book fills a key gap in charting the history of homelessness policy in the UK and, in so doing, offers a valuable point of reference for students and scholars working in this area.” (Kit Colliver, Housing Studies, Vol. 37 (9), 2023)

• Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

  Jamie Harding

Jamie Harding is Senior Lecturer in Research Methods at Northumbria University, UK. He worked previously in social housing and has published articles on the subject of homelessness in a range of journals, including Housing Studies, Local Government Studies, Social Problems and Social Policy, and Probation Journal.

Policies and ethics