Council house

The council house is a form of public housing found in the United Kingdom. Council houses were built and operated by local councils for the benefit of the local population. As of 2005, approximately 20 per cent of the country's housing stock is owned by local councils or by housing associations. By far the largest council estate in the country is Wythenshawe in the south of Manchester, which was built after the war in an attempt to make a working-class paradise. Other large estates include Speke in Liverpool, Langley in Middleton, Greater Manchester and Seacroft in Leeds. All of the new towns built after the war were originally made up of council housing. The Yorkshire village of Grimethorpe was almost entirely council housing.

Related Topics:
Public housing - United Kingdom - Councils - Housing association - Wythenshawe - Speke - Liverpool - Middleton, Greater Manchester - Seacroft - Leeds - Grimethorpe

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Council housing was generally typified by houses with generously sized rooms (compared to the bottom end of the private sector), particularly those built in the 1970s after the Parker Morris standards were introduced. However they also tended to be unimaginatively designed, and rigid council rules often forbade tenants "personalising" their houses. Council tenants also faced problems of mobility, finding it hard to move from one property to another as their families grew or shrank, or to seek work. Despite the building there was a constant demand for housing, and 'waiting lists' were maintained with preference being given to those in most housing need.

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