The urban geography of most large British cities has resulted from historical developments unique to housing tenure, which is unlike that portrayed in Shaw and McKay's Chicago model of concentric ring development. Bureaucratic mechanisms for allocating housing tn the public rental sector have profound direct and indirect effects on offender distributions and community crime careers. These mechanisms may help to maintain the stability of offender rates in particular communities, exacerbate the rate, or reduce the rate by changing practices in a given public authority housing area. Private rentals, although severely diminished in importance during the 20th century, are found in decaying areas around city centers and attract a transient clientele, often resulting in high offender rates. Changes in social composition that were initiated by government changes in housing policy have made some areas into more desirable residential districts without causing dramatic declines in offender rates. because the future of the main tenure forms -- owner occupation and public housing -- remains uncertain, it is difficult to predict how offender rates will change. Numerous examples demonstrate crime patterns in public sector and privately rented housing. Tables and approximately 40 references. (Author abstract modified)