Council Housing

Council Housing in United Kingdom

Definition of Council Housing

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Council Housing : Residential accommodation provided for renting by local authorities (primarily by district and London borough councils, who, as housing authorities, have a general statutory duty to meet housing needs in their areas). Authorities may build new properties and acquire existing ones for the purpose. The allocation and management of housing stock is in general within their sole discretion, but statute does impose certain priorities (e.g. towards homeless persons) and the Housing Act 1980 (now repealed) gave their tenants a measure of security of tenure. There are also financial restraints, such as restrictions on the proportion of capital receipts available for house building, imposed by central government. Certain tenants of council housing have the right to purchase the freehold of a council house or a long lease of a council flat at a discount. The Housing Act 1988 introduced measures under which council housing can be transferred to the private rented sector if tenants so desire.


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