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# Privatisation and the death of public housing (May 2020)

* **Privatisation and the death of public housing**
* By Stuart Hodkinson, published in Safe as Houses, on 18 May 2020.
* [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098020943482](https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526154644.00008) (paid access)
* **Abstract**:
  * This report gives an insight into the history of public housing in the UK, from its emergence as part of a wider collective resistance to its (possible) demise.
  * The report explains how public housing represented **both the partial decommodification of shelter and the protection of residents’ health and safety** through a wider system of building regulation and control.
  * Subsequently, these qualities - the paper argues - is what made **public housing a target for privatisation and demunicipalisation policies** 
  * Privatiation and demuncipalisation policies have financialised housing and land for profit-seeking corporate interests, and resulted in **the rolling back of building regulations and the rolling out of self-regulation, which has weakened building safety** and residents’ ability to hold their landlords to account.
* **Keywords**: UK, England, public housing, social housing, affordable housing, privatisation of housing, building regulations, financialisation of housing