Public ownership and private profit in housing

Abstract

The 1937 Housing Act granted local governments the rights to build and operate public housing. And, while this was a significant win for housing advocates, subsequent public housing policies throughout the 20th century ultimately recreated slum-like conditions leading to another round of demolition and redevelopment. Our paper examines this history in order to make sense of current policy initiatives that, in the name of helping the poor, have sought to reclaim these areas for potential private-sector investment and, simultaneously, re-regulate the poor by attaching the provision of housing to the reproduction of labour.