IS THERE JUSTIFICATION FOR GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE UK HOUSING MARKET AND HOW HAS RECENT POLICY OVERCOME MARKET FAILURE?

Housing is a basic necessity of life; it provides safety and security (Gibb et al, 1999.)  Government has never been the universal provide of housing and consequently, policy goals have been pursued by less than direct methods.  There are alternative views as to why housing should be part of the welfare state.  Glennester believes that it is because housing has a long life, the provision of which depends on a stock of assets whose size is very large; the housing market is slow to adjust to changes in prices and therefore tenants are open to exploitation.  Gibbs argument is much wider in that housing is conceived as part of a broader social policy agenda….(short extract)