Reframing Social Housing in England

Abstract

This paper looks at how social housing in the England has come under scrutiny from the government over the last year following the tragic fire that took place in 2017 at the Grenfell tower block in Kensington, London, which resulted in over 70 deaths and it asks why the government has used this episode to reframe the debate about social housing. It looks at the legal framework regarding fire safety in the country and describes the responsibilities that landlords are required to comply with to provide homes for their customers that have had the appropriate fire safety measures implemented. Social housing is contextualised in regards to the focus of successive governments since 2010, first, the Conservative dominated Coalition and then successive Conservative governments. The political ideology followed by these administrations was informed by the neo-liberal agenda that had been set during the 1980s which sought to reduce state involvement in social housing, the privatisation of housing, the use of market forces within the provision of housing and the promotion of the home ownership agenda. The introduction of austerity as a policy by the Coalition government in 2010 after their election was a response to the Global Financial Crash of 2008 and has been used by the government to carry out large cuts in the provision of welfare services to those in need. The theoretical underpinnings of the process of framing and re-framing policies are described as well as how this is being applied to social housing in England in the 21st century. It concludes by asking how a tragedy that health and safety implications for the fire safety management within social housing has, has become a focal point for re-framing the debate about social housing.