Overcoming austerity effects through local authority direct action?

This chapter deals with the application of austerity since 2010 as a political act designed to transform the way in which local authorities in the United Kingdom operate and are funded. It explains how the local authorities have been dependent on government funding as the UK is considered as one of the most centralised states in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It also recounts how the UK government in 2010 decided that the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) funding paid to councils would be removed through annual tapering to zero by 2020. The chapter probes the intention of the UK government to replace RSG with each of the council's retention of 75 per cent of the local business rates. It analyses the system of local government funding that operated until local government reorganisation in 1974.

Austerity’s legacy: risk, opportunity and a new form of central–local relations?

This chapter reviews how local authorities in England have taken a range of initiatives to respond to super-austerity and face the twin crises of managing housing demand and supply. It discusses the restructuring of the form of local government and the creation of new unitary authorities or merging council administrations. It also explores the involvement of a range of direct activities for the local government to meet specific needs for housing and generate more income through property acquisition and investment. The chapter investigates the extent to which local authorities have engaged in asset- and income-generation approaches. It describes how councils have continued to extend their activities in a cumulative way, as they gain more confidence and learn from others.

Challenging austerity: why have local authorities been taking their own action?

This chapter looks at local authorities in England that have been intimately involved in the twin crises of super-austerity and housing over the past decade. It discusses the context of the resilient and adaptive system of the local government in England, wherein the authorities' pushback against austerity favoured their own direct action in delivering housing. It also highlights the local authorities' direct role in housing delivery and considers what has motivated them to get engaged in direct delivery. The chapter covers the local authorities' frustrations at private developers within the planning system. It examines how the forms of provision that deal with homelessness, and housing and income generation are enabled legislatively.