The dominant image of public housing has become the forbidding, vandalised high-rise block. . . . Many critics have condemned tower block living tout court, but there is evidence that, given the ongoing investment in management and maintenance necessary for this building form (Bulos and Walker 1988) and the opportunity for appropriate allocations procedures, even this housing can prove successful for many households (Anderson et al. 1985). The remaining majority of public dwellings, mainly two-storey houses with gardens, when suitably maintained and upgraded, offer space and amenity which generally compare well with the physically shrinking, cost-inflating offerings of the private sector.
Bibliography
Ian Cole and Robert Furbey. The Eclipse of Council Housing. London: Routled: 1994.