Social housing is a phrase which has only really gained currency over the last fifteen years or so, and it is not without its critics, both as an expression and as a concept. In this book, it is taken to mean housing provided by local authorities and housing associations (sometimes known as Registered Social Landlords, although there is not an exact equivalence), and extended to cover housing managed by these bodies, regardless of ownership. The key feature which defines the essence of the products and services provided by all social housing providers is that these activities and products are non-market, in that they cannot be obtained by bidding with cash or other financial resources in competition, and that the products are allocated principally on the basis of housing need rather than effective demand, although there has been some blurring of the boundary with the increased prominence of low-cost home ownership in general and shared ownership housing in particular.

Social housing bodies can be direct providers of housing – such as when a the housing agency responsible or enablers – where a body helps its clients or customers to find housing through another agency, for example, where a local authority (that is, a council) makes a cash grant to a housing association to build housing or works through the planning system to enable land for social housing development. Another example of enabling is where a council contracts out the management of its homes to another party. The largest housing enabler is the government, which makes cash help available to back council housing management and maintenance activities and gives permission to councils to raise money to do major regeneration or improvement schemes. The Housing Corporation, the housing agency responsible to Parliament for part funding housing associations through the social housing grant regime, is another key enabler, as are private finance institutions. It is important to understand the nature and development of providers and enablers to gain a full awareness of the scope and direction of social housing, against a backdrop of macro-economic imperatives.