Delivering public services under the New Public Management: The case of public housing

One of the biggest changes in public sector housing practice in recent years has been the Introduction of New Public Management techniques. Housing associations, promoted by successive governments to supplement local authority provision of social housing, have readily taken on the new management agendas of performance indicators and business disciplines in service delivery. The author identifies a conflict between the social purposes of public funding for housing and the business Practices of housing associations. The limited accountabilily of housing associations allows for practices that lead to social exclusion. For local authorities, a parallel conflict arises because of government emphasis on 'what works' in public housing management, rather than on 'what matters'.