Example housing dissertation topic 1:

An assessment of the housing legacy of Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Housing 1945-1951.

Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan was once described by his Labour party successor, Hugh Dalton, as ‘a tremendous Tory’ for his adherence to building standards in the council house building programme that he oversaw in the immediate post-war period. This dissertation evaluates the achievements of Bevan in their historical context. Further, it compares the quality and quantity of houses built under his tenure of office to those constructed by Dalton and, thereafter, Macmillan. This is a dissertation that could be focused onto a specific geographic area and is one that should use an array of primary departmental sources as well as secondary accounts of the post-war boom in council housing within England, Wales and Scotland.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Cole, I. and Goodchild, B. (2000). ‘Social mix and the balanced community in British housing policy – A tale of two epochs’. GeoJournal, vol. 51(4), pp. 351-360.
• Houghton, J. (2008). ‘The ideological importance of housing’. Renewal, vol. 16(3), pp. 31-39.
• Malpass, P. (2003). ‘The wobbly pillar? Housing and the British post war welfare state’. Journal of Social Policy, vol. 32(4), pp. 589-606.