Houses at affordable prices: the evolution of social housing in Britain

This article proposes an analysis of British housing policies with the aim of identifying any innovative features in them that are transferable to housing policies in Italy. Here, as in almost all western countries, the substantial increase in property values over the last 10 years has created a worrying situation that is worsening and becoming more widespread: there are a growing number of families who, in order to purchase a house, are saddling themselves with ever higher levels of debt over ever longer periods of time; there are a growing number of families who have to resort to rent subsidies; the number of people cohabiting because they do not want to be pushed out of cities is increasing, as the number of cases of families who give up and are driven out of their local district in search of houses at more affordable prices.