A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates traces the full arc of British social housing — from 16th-century almshouses to the 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Goldsmith Street — as both architectural achievement and political battleground.
About This Book
At its peak, council housing sheltered one third of the British population. This illustrated survey by social historian John Boughton maps that history through 100 carefully selected estates, charting the ideological shifts that transformed social housing from civic ambition to political liability. The book moves through charitable almshouses, garden villages, postwar towers, and contemporary sustainable developments, never losing sight of what was actually at stake: the right to adequate shelter. For architects, housing researchers, and anyone grappling with today's social housing crisis, this is essential historical context — illustrated with over 250 photographs and sketches drawn from projects across the UK.
Key Features
- 272 pages of social housing history illustrated with over 250 photographs and sketches
- Edited by John Boughton
- Iconic estates including Alton East and West, Becontree, Dawson's Heights, Donnybrook Quarter, Dunboyne Road, and Park Hill
- Projects by Peter Barber, Neave Brown, Karakusevic Carson, Kate Macintosh, and Mikhail Riches
- Published by Routledge, 2019
What You'll Discover
- How the political transition to Thatcherism recast social housing from a solution to a problem — and the measurable consequences: 1.4 million fewer affordable social homes than in 1980
- The full typological range of British council housing, from early charitable provision through garden villages and new towns to modernist towers and contemporary low-carbon schemes
- The architects and practices whose work defined the field, from Neave Brown's celebrated Camden estates to Mikhail Riches' Stirling Prize-winning Goldsmith Street
- How notions of moral economy and the right to shelter underpinned the social housing project long before its codification in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
About the Author
John Boughton is a social historian with a focus on the history of British council housing and municipal urbanism. He brings both archival depth and a clear editorial perspective to this survey, situating individual estates within the broader political and ideological currents that shaped them.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 272
- Dimensions: 229 x 152 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781914124631
- Publisher: Routledge
- Publication Date: 2019
Perfect For: Architects and housing designers engaged with social and affordable housing typologies, urban historians, policy researchers, and students of architecture seeking grounded historical context for the current housing crisis.