Concepts of need in housing allocation.

Spicker, Paul

Abstract

Policies for the allocation of council housing are subject to considerable local variation. Despite the differences, the schemes which housing departments have developed seem often to reflect a common understanding of the concept of 'need'. Their emphasis is on an individual, material, absolute idea of 'need' which depends strongly on conventional interpretation to determine what is included and what is not. The values expressed in explicit policies form part of an ideology of need, in the sense that they constitute an inter-related set of ideas commonly shared within a profession. This ideology is based less in the implementation of common principles than the constraints of practice.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 31, 1987
• Journal: Policy and politics
• Print ISSN: 0305-5736
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-8442
• Publisher: Policy Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 17-27
• Institution Citation: SPICKER, P. 1987. Concepts of need in housing allocation. Policy and politics [online], 15(1), pages 17-27. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1332/030557387782514636
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/030557387782514636