(De)constructing a policy ‘failure’: housing stock transfer in Glasgow

Abstract

The most significant housing stock transfer in the UK took place in Glasgow in 2003. It has been widely and repeatedly depicted as a policy ‘failure’, by both journalists and informed critics. This article evaluates the specific claims of failure by looking at developments to date and the available evidence. It uses an available theoretical framework to consider how such judgements have been arrived at, revealing the biases contained therein. The label of ‘failure’ is rejected, but policy deficiencies are identified; again, a theoretical framework is used to relate these weaknesses to the nature of the politics involved in the formation and oversight of the policy.