In this third article from the Newtown Revisited Project, the authors examine how the outcomes of housing policy decisions between 1966 and 1991 have impacted on the lives of Newtown families. Two key trends are found to have characterised housing policy throughout this period, promotion of the growth of home ownership and a gradual withdrawal of support for the public rental sector. These policy trends, in conjunction with a changed economic and financial environment, especially after 1986, are demonstrated to have delivered many of Newtown's families into inappropriate and unaffordable housing.