This annual compilation of statistical data would not have been possible without the substantial help and guidance of a host of civil servants, at Communities and Local Government, the Department for Work and Pensions, The Treasury, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Office for National Statistics, and elsewhere.

Similar assistance was given from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Housing Corporation, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and many others. The enormous help they have all once again provided in the compilation of this year’s edition of the Review is most readily and gratefully acknowledged. Much of the statistical data presented here is generally available in a variety of published, or publicly available, statistical series, and sources are comprehensivelyacknowledged against each table in the Review.

This year thanks are again due to Alan Lewis for his help in updating much of the Compendium of tables in the Review . The editor is also particularly grateful toJohn Perry of the Chartered Institute of Housing for his insightful article on council house finances in this year’s edition of the Review.

This year the Review has been produced jointly by the Building Societies Association and the Chartered Institute of Housing. Thanks are thus variously due to Alan Dearling, John Perry and Peter Williams for their hard work, support and creative contributions in producing this edition of the Review.

There are many to thank for their financial support for the Review this year, including Communities and Local Government, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The support of all these government agencies for the Review, representing all parts of the UK, is particularly welcome given that from time to time the Review will inevitably raise issues that are challenging for one or another of those agencies.

Thanks are also due to the University of York who have this year covered the costs of the Contemporary issues section of the Review, and to Savills and the Building Societies Association for their support for the production costs of the Review . For all the diverse help provided, and despite every attempt that has been made to check and double check all the figures included in the Review, and the construction put upon them, the final responsibility for any errors, omissions or misjudgements is entirely the responsibility of the editor. The views expressed in the Review are the responsibility of the respective authors.

December 2008

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Professor Steve Wilcox
Centre for Housing Policy
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
Telephone: 01823 323891
E-mail: stevewpwilcox@aol.com