This book provides a comprehensive introduction to housing policy and finance in Britain. It describes changes in the condition and tenure of housing in the post-war period, and contrasts the massive investment in house building and improvement with allegations that housing conditions are deteriorating. Discussing the rise of the owner-occupied sector, the book examines the effects of taxation on housing finance. It describes the rise of the public housing sector and the slight decline in the face of the Thatcher government's policy on council house sales, which followed. The steady fall in private rented housing, under the impact of rent controls is also examined. Various proposals for housing reform are considered in detail. These include changes in the tax treatment of owner-occupied housing, the reform of council housing and the removal of rent controls. The book thus provides a background for the development of housing policy over the next decade.