[4] The Trust also built some high-rise tower blocks, partly because of green belt policies,[5] but these had many problems, and most have since been demolished.
[6] The Trust introduced a points-based system to allocate houses impartially, and was supposed to operate in conjunction with local councils.
But because only ratepayers could vote in council elections, some councils, particularly in the west, were keen to control housing allocations in their areas for electoral advantage, and opposed the Trust's efforts, withholding planning permission and sewerage facilities and causing unnecessary delays.
These factors had the effect of disadvantaging Catholic tenants, which was one of the grievances that led to the Northern Ireland civil rights movement in the late 1960s.
[1] Following civil disturbances in 1968–69, a commission appointed by the Northern Ireland government and led by Lord Cameron found that "grievances concerning housing were the first general cause of the disorders which it investigated".