ippr commissions

Introduction

ippr established the Forum on the Future of Social Housing in July 1999. The Forum's task was to carry out an independent inquiry into the future of social housing, to promote an open and inclusive debate and to develop a consensus on the way forward for social housing.

The Forum aimed to describe a vision for social housing in the future which would act as a guide for the development of housing policy and practice. It set out a long-term vision for social housing, together with detailed proposals for who it should be for, how it should be financed, and how it should be owned and run. The vision also described the contribution that housing can make to the success of local economies and communities, and in ensuring everyone has a decent home in a safe and pleasant environment.

In June 2006 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Ruth Kelly, asked Professor John Hills, a key member of the ippr commission, to conduct a fresh review of the role of social housing in the 21st century. The review is looking at who we should provide social housing for and its contribution to wider public policy objectives. John Hills is due to complete the review by the year end.

Many of the issues that were considered by the ippr Forum are still very relevant to the challenges facing the sector today. While the recommendations that the Forum made were widely supported and helped to build a new consensus and momentum behind social housing policy reform, many of them were not taken up or fully implemented.

In view of the close similarity in the terms of references of the Forum and the Hills’ review, we have made the Forum’s outputs, including papers written by John Hills, available below: