Abstract :
A significant number of recent papers and research reports in the U.K. have focused attention on the ‘alternative way’ of reducing the pressures borne by social housing providers in the face of public spending cuts. By exploiting aspects of the land-use planning system, it is possible to lower land prices in certain circumstances and therefore reduce producer costs. As well as exploring the strategy in general terms, this paper considers the operation of this ‘alternative way’ in rural Wales and asks the following questions: is this strategy numerically significant (in terms of the number of units added to the rural housing stock); how has the strategy helped shape the relationship between voluntary and public sector housing agencies and, is the strategy sustainable, particularly in the context of the Governmentʹs new Housing Act?
