Housing Economics A Historical Approach

The world has still to emerge fully from the housing-triggered Global Financial Crisis, but housing crises are not new. The history of housing shows long-run social progress, littered with major disasters; nevertheless the progress is often forgotten, whi

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Housing Economics

Geoffrey Meen • Kenneth Gibb • Chris Leishman • Christian Nygaard

Housing Economics A Historical Approach

Geoffrey Meen Department of Economics University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom

Kenneth Gibb School of Social and Political Sciences University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom

Chris Leishman School of the Built Environment Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Christian Nygaard Department of Economics University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom

ISBN 978-1-137-47270-0 ISBN 978-1-137-47271-7 DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-47271-7

(eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936401 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration © Geoffrey Meen Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London

Preface

The cover illustration1 depicts the Long Alley almshouses in what is now the Oxfordshire town of Abingdon; the almshouses were first built in 1446 by two medieval guilds, the Fraternity of the Holy Cross and the Guild of Our Lady.2 The former received a Royal Charter in 1441, although it appears to have been in existence as a voluntary organisation for much longer, whereas records of the latter date back to 1247. The Fraternity operated as a mutual self-help society with assistance provided to its members suffering sickness or poverty; its objectives were partly religious, but also secular with an involvement in major civic infrastructure projects. A part of its Royal Charter mandate was to make provision for ‘thirteen poor sick and impotent men and women’ and Long Alley was built to meet the requirement. The Fraternity thrived through the fifteenth century, but both Guilds were supp