Social Ownership

Abstract

Within the Labour Party there has been a firmly held conviction that the social ownership of housing is not only desirable as a means of creating an egalitarian society but that it is necessary if the immediate problems of poor housing and an inadequate supply of rented accommodation are to be solved. A Party statement Homes for the Future (1956) explained in detail how municipalisation (a major form of social ownership) could be put into effect. In 1959, at the ‘you’ve never had it so good’ election, the Labour Party’s election manifesto stated:

At the last count there were seven million households in Britain with no bath: and over three million sharing or entirely without a WC. The Tories have tried to induce private landlords to improve their property by means of public grants with very small success. Labour’s plan is that with reasonable exceptions, local councils shall take over housed which were rent controlled before 1 January 1956 and are still tenanted. They will repair and modernise these houses and let them at fair rents. This is a big job which will take time and its spread will vary according to local conditions.