Social housing in inghilterra: due casi studio

This article proposes an analysis of British housing policies with the aim to identifying any innovative features in them that are transferable to housing policies in Italy where, as in almost all western countries, the substantial increase in property values over the 10 years has created a worrying situation that is worsening and becoming more widespread: there are a growing number of families who, in order to purchase a house, are saddling themselves with ever high levels of debt over ever longer periods of time; there are a growing numer of families who have to resort to rent subsidies; the number of people cohabiting because they do not want to be pushed of the cities is increasing; while the number of cases of families who give up and are driven out of their local district in search of houses at more affordable prices. The question of affordable housing was introduced in Britain in 1996 by the labour government with the housing act, after years of dismanting the role of the state in the provision of state houses and after a massive sell-off of the stock of public housing through the right-to-buy policy introduced by the Tatcher government which allowed about 2 million people who were renting to become owner-occupiers. The main innovation introduced in the recent reforms of housing concerns the way in which the Housing association are financed. The labour government therefore achieved a double success: it compensated for the reduction in public spending and at the same time increased the supply of houses at affordable rents.