Australian and British home ownership policies

Rose, Sharon M. (1984) Australian and British home ownership policies. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the housing policies of Britain and Australia. It has been suggested that Britain is moving towards an increased level of home ownership, especially with the implementation of the 1980 Housing Act which gave local authority and housing association tenants the right to purchase their homes. As Australia has a high level of home ownership and a policy of selling public sector houses to tenants, it is appropriate to examine the current problems and issues in the Australian housing field and to ascertain the possible implications for British housing policy makers, in the light of the 1980 Act, in order simply not to replicate their failures. Chapter One examines the historical development of Australian housing policy and the emergence of home ownership as the major tenure form. It traces the involvement of the Commonwealth Government in housing policy via the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement (CSHA) which remains the main vehicle for the implementation of housing policy. The first CSHA of 1945 is examined fully as it laid the foundation stone for subsequent Agreements, although those Agreements were to drift away from the original aim of providing rented housing as a priority. Subsequent Agreements and the major policy decisions contained within them are discussed, up to the most recent Agreement of 1981. Chapter Two follows through the historical development of British housing policy with its original concerns with health and sanitation culminating in the 1919 Addison Act. Changes in direction and policy from 1919 through the inter war years, from 1945 up to the 1970's are reviewed. As the 1977 Green Paper and the 1980 Housing Act are central to this piece of work, they are examined and discussed fully. Chapter Three explores the current issues and problems in Australian housing policy, namely the introduction of a market rents policy, the move towards a welfare housing sector, increasing waiting lists for the public sector, sales of public sector stock and concern as to the inequity of subsidies between the two sectors. The notion of a tenure-neutral housing policy is also discussed. Chapter Four discusses the current issues and problems in British housing policy. The crucial issue of the sale of council houses is reviewed in depth. Government intervention, which is central to an understanding of housing policy, is examined along with the question of subsidies. Chapter Five, the concluding chapter, attempts to draw together the issues discussed in previous chapters and to outline the possible implications for British housing policy makers wishing to pursue a policy of home ownership.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Additional Information: Adviser: David Donnison.
• Keywords: Urban planning.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences
• Supervisor's Name: Supervisor, not known
• Date of Award: 1984
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1984-74122
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 23 Sep 2019 15:33
• Last Modified: 07 Jun 2021 15:56
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.74122
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74122