Subverting Housing Plans: Some Institutional Realities

SOME INSTITUTIONAL REALITIES Paul Crompton "Responsibility for making assessements and devising strategies must be with local housing authorities. They are well established as providers and managers of rented housing but their role goes further. By statute their responsibility exte~ to securing adequate housing in their localities. They are therefore concerned with the broad formulation and execution of housing policies for their areas, and it is this strategic aspect of their role which the Government believe should be developed further" (Cmnd 6852 1977, Scottish Housing, Paragraph 5.3). This statement from the last government's consultative paper c ly indicates that while central government now provides, in Cullingworth's phrase, the "enabling framework" for housing, it is increase the responsibility of district authorities for the detailed planning of housing policy. The consultative paper went on to suggest that the new housing authorities were larger and financially stronger than the authorities they had replaced and that since they were responsible for areas conforming more closely to local housing markets, they were well suited for a planning role which would ensure that resources were deployed where. they were most needed. role was envisaged for district authorities with a minimum of direction. In this paper the implications of such a strategic role for district authorities and some of the difficulties they encounter while attempting such a role are discussed. The paper is based on a small scale investigation, conducted during the summer of 1979, of the way in which four district authorities went about preparing their Housing Plans for the years 1978/83 and 1979/84. ( 1 ) However, before the findings of the investigation are outlined, it is important to discuss the background to the introduction of the Housing Plan approach and what such plans are intended to achieve. In 1977 when the consultative paper "Scottish Housing" was pub-