The thesis has as its primary objective an analysis of rent legislation in the United Kingdom between I9I5 and 1972. The historical formation and meaning of the Housing Finance Act (1972) is examined in some detail. The methodology of the whole is largely determined by the 'Marxist' interpretation of social development. This standpoint is best able to distinguish the various academic and professional falsifications of reality in the housing rent process- large areas within the sociology of law, neo-classical economics and the relationship between State and the fractions of capital. It is misleading to compartmentalise elements of social structures, and as such historical analysis of rent legislation immediately requires analysis of more basic elements in capitalist society. It is found that authoritative definitions of reality, particularly as embodied in the legal apparatus, have their origin in power structures. The extraction of rent and the legislation by which it is determined are therefore the result of discrepancies in power structures. The historical material in the thesis demon- strates that modifications in the rent bargain hare been brought about in response to the changing needs of capitalism. Finally, analysis is made of the relevant agents of social control in this areas rent tribunals, rent assessment committees and private 'welfare' institutions
