Council house
Acouncil house,corporation houseorcouncil flatis a form of Britishpublic housingbuilt bylocal authorities.A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 to 1980s, as a result of theHousing Act 1919.Though more council houses have been built since then, fewer have been built in recent years.[citation needed]Local design variations exist, however all followed local authority building standards. The Housing Acts of1985and1988facilitated the transfer of council housing to not-for-profithousing associationswith access to private finance, and these new housing associations became the providers of most new public-sector housing. The characterisation of council houses as 'problem places' was key for leading this movement of transferring public housing stock to the private arena. By 2003, 36.5% of the social rented housing stock was held by housing associations.[1]
History
[edit]House design in the United Kingdom is defined by a series of Housing Acts, and public housing house design is defined by government-directed guidelines and central governments' relationship with local authorities. From the first interventions in thePublic Health Act 1875(38 & 39 Vict.c. 55) to theHousing of the Working Classes Act 1900,council houses could be general housing for theworking class,general housing, part ofslum clearanceprogrammes or just homes provided for the most needy. They could be funded directly by local councils, through central government incentive or by revenue obtained when other houses were sold. Increasingly, they have been transferred through the instrument ofhousing associationsinto the private sector.[citation needed]
An early use of the new powers was inBath,where 36 new houses named Lampard's Buildings were built in 1900 on thecompulsory purchasedsite of a row of rat infested cottages.[2]
First World War housing
[edit]Woolwich Borough Councilwas responsible for theWell Hall Estatedesigned for workers at the munition factories atWoolwich Arsenal.The estate and the house were built to thegarden suburbphilosophy: houses were all different. The estate received the royal seal of approval when, on Friday 24 March 1916,Queen Marymade an unannounced visit.[3]
Interwar housing
[edit]A programme of council house building started after the First World War following on from theDavid Lloyd George's government'sHousing Act of 1919.The 'Addison Act' brought in subsidies for council house building and aimed to provide 500,000 "homes fit for heroes" within a three-year period although less than half of this target was met.[4] The housing built comprised three-bedroom dwellings with parlour and scullery: larger properties also include a living room. The standards are based on theTudor Walters Report of 1919,and the Design Manual written according to the 1913 building standards.[5]
In 1923 theChamberlain Actwithdrew subsidies for council houses except for private builders and houses for sale. Councils could undertake to build houses and offer these for sale but also to sell off some of their existing properties. This was essentially reversed by the incomingLabour governmentof 1924. TheWheatley Act (1924)passed by the new Labour Government introduced higher subsidies for council housing and also allowed for a contribution to be made from the rates. The housing revenue account was always separated from the general account.[4]This was a major period of council house construction.
TheHousing Act 1930stimulated slum clearance, i.e., the destruction of inadequate houses in the inner cities that had been built before the 1875 Act. This released land for housing and the need for smaller two bedroomed houses to replace the two-up two-down houses that had been demolished. Smaller three bedroom properties were also built. TheHousing Act 1935led to a continuation of this policy,[6]but thewarstopped all construction, and enemy action reduced the usable housing stock.[4]
Post-World War II housing
[edit]
Prefabs
[edit]TheHousing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944led to the building ofprefabbungalows with a design life of ten years. Innovative steel-framed properties were also tried in an attempt to speed up construction. A number survive well into the 21st century, a testament to the durability of a series of housing designs and construction methods only envisaged to last 10 years.
TheBurt Committee,formed in 1942 by the wartime government of Winston Churchill, proposed to address the need for an anticipated 200,000 shortfall in post-war housing stock, by building 500,000prefabricated houses,with a planned life of up to 10 years within five years of the end of theSecond World War.The eventual bill, under thepost-war Labour governmentof Prime MinisterClement Attlee,agreed to deliver 300,000 units within 10 years, within a budget of £150m. Of 1.2 million new houses built from 1945 to 1951 when the programme officially ended, 156,623 prefab houses were constructed.[7][8]
New Towns Act housing
[edit]Mainly during the immediate post-war years, and well into the 1950s, council house provision was shaped by theNew Towns Act 1946(9 & 10 Geo. 6.c. 68) and theTown and Country Planning Act 1947of the 1945–51 Labour government. At the same time this government introduced housing legislation that removedexplicitreferences to housing for theworking classand introduced the concept of "general needs" construction (i.e., that council housing should aim to fill the needs for a wide range of society). In particular,Aneurin Bevan,theMinister for Health and Housing,promoted a vision of new estates where "the working man, the doctor and the clergyman will live in close proximity to each other".[9]
From 1970s and onwards
[edit]From the late 1970s, the wider takeover of free market economics propagated by Margaret Thatcher's conservative government sought to reduce the role of the state and the housing sector was further opened for private investors and actors. Deregulation of the mortgage finance sector in the 1980s was particularly significant, with the1988 Housing Actintroducing private competition into the sector.[10]TheHousing Act 1988marked the onset of various policies resulting in the residualisation of the public housing. Residualisation refers to the shrinking of the social housing stock, consisting mostly of deteriorated quality dwellings, and the growing concentration of disadvantaged minorities in such housing.[11]As the residual housing sector is mostly concentrated in lower-income neighbourhoods, a 'neighbourhood effect' manifests, reinforcing the idea of poverty as a problem of the place which has allowed market ideologies to advocate against decommodified housing provision.[12]
Landlord's obligations
[edit] |
A landlord's obligations are set out in several pieces of legislation, including the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which applies to tenancies entered into after 1961. In summary, section 11 provides that a landlord shall:
- keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling, including drains, gutters and external pipes;
- keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling for the supply of water, gas, and electricity, and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and keep in repair and proper working order the installation in the dwelling for space heating and heating water.
If a landlord refuses to repair a rented property, the tenant can take action to require them to carry out necessary works and claim compensation.
Design
[edit]Addison Act housing (1918–1923)
[edit]TheAddison Act 1919houses were usually three-bedroom houses with aliving roomandscullery,sometimes also with aparlour.Some had two, four, or even five bedrooms, as well as generously sized back gardens intended for vegetable growing. At most, they were built at 3,000/km2.They were generally built to the recommendations of theTudor Walters Report.[citation needed]Examples are found inDownham,Watling Estate,andBecontree.[citation needed]
Tudor Walters Committee recommendations
[edit]| House without a parlour | Area sq ft (m2) | Volume cu ft (m3) | House with a parlour | Area sq ft (m2) | Volume cu ft (m3) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parlour | 120 (11) | 960 (27) | ||||
| Living room | 180 (17) | 1,440 (41) | Living room | 180 (17) | 1,440 (41) | |
| Scullery | 80 (7.4) | 640 (18) | Scullery | 80 (7.4) | 640 (18) | |
| Larder | 24 (2.2) | – | Larder | 24 (2.2) | – | |
| Bedroom No. 1 | 150 (14) | 1,200 (34) | Bedroom No. 1 | 160 (15) | 1,280 (36) | |
| Bedroom No. 2 | 100 (9.3) | 800 (23) | Bedroom No. 2 | 120 (11) | 960 (27) | |
| Bedroom No. 3 | 65 (6.0) | 520 (15) | Bedroom No. 3 | 110 (10) | 880 (25) | |
| Total | 855 sq ft (79.4 m2) | 1,055 sq ft (98.0 m2) | ||||
| Desirable minimum sizes, Tudor Walters Committee[13] | ||||||
Labour government homes (1924–1930)
[edit]The Addison Act 1919, and the severe housing shortage in the early 1920s created the first generation of houses to feature electricity, running water, bathrooms, indoor toilets and front/rear gardens. However, until well into the 1930s, some were built with outdoor toilets. Some did not feature an actual bathroom; the bath could often be found in the kitchen with a design which allowed it to double as a work surface.[14]
TheChamberlain Act 1923reduced the expected standards. TheWheatley Act 1924attempted to restore some of them. Under the Addison Act, a house would be 1,000 square feet (93 m2) but after 1924 it would be 620 square feet (58 m2).[15]This was a major period of council house construction.
Smaller houses (1931–1939)
[edit]With theHousing Act of 1930,otherwise known as theGreenwoodAct, the government signalled a change of priority, slum clearance.Pre-regulation terraced housingwas to be cleared and the residents rehoused in new council houses. There was a cut in funding and the housing density on theperipheral estateswas increased leading to a poorer build quality. The former tenants of the inner city properties were displaced far from their workplaces unable to afford the higher rents (though reduced from the 1919 levels) or the cost of transport. Stable communities were broken up, and with it support networks.[15]
Temporary prefabs (1941–1950)
[edit]
All prefab units approved by the Ministry of Works had to have a minimum floor space size of 635 square feet (59.0 m2), and the sections should be less than 7' 6 "(2.3 m) wide.[8] These "service units" had to include a combined back-to-back prefabricated kitchen that backed onto a prebuilt bathroom, so water pipes, waste pipes and electrical distribution were all in the same place, and hence easy to install. The house retained a coal-fire, with aback boilerto create bothcentral heatingand a constant supply of hot water.[7]Thus it had a bathroom included a flushing toilet and man-sized bath with hot running water. In the kitchen were a built-in oven, refrigerator and baxi water heater. All prefabs under the housing act came pre-decorated inmagnolia,with gloss-green on all additional wood, including the door trimmings and skirting boards.[7]
Pre-cast reinforced concrete
[edit]
Parker Morris homes
[edit]TheParker Morris Committeedrew up an influential 1961 report on housing space standards inpublic housing in the United KingdomtitledHomes for Today and Tomorrow.The report concluded that the quality of social housing needed to be improved to match the rise in living standards. Out of the report came theParker Morris Standards.In 1963 these were set out in theMinistry of Housing's "Design Bulletin 6 – Space in the Home".They became mandatory for all council houses from 1967 until 1980.[16] Among theParker Morris standardswere the requirements saying that:
- In one-, two- and three-bedroom dwellings, oneflushing toiletis required, and it may be in the bathroom.
- A semi-detached or end-of-terrace housefor four people should have a net floor area of 72 m2.
- A dwelling for three or more people should have enclosed storage space for the kitchen of 2.3 cubic metres.
- Dwellings should be fitted with heating systems that maintain the kitchen and circulation space at 13 °C, and the living and dining spaces at 18 °C, when the external temperature is -1 °C.
Tower blocks
[edit]
Particularly in larger cities, councils built high-rise blocks from the 1960s to the 1980s to accommodate a highdensityof dwellings at relatively low cost. Notable schemes includePark Hillin Sheffield,Hulme Crescentsin Manchester,Cottingleyin Leeds,Churchill Gardensin London, andmany examples in Glasgow.
Radburn Style Estates 1970s
[edit]
The Radburn housing layout that aimed to separate cars from housing was used extensively in new towns. As a result, the houses are accessible to the front only by footpaths. This has created areas with poor surveillance, particularly over car parking at the rear, which have become the focus of crime.[citation needed]In Skelmersdale, tenants are calling for their Radburn style housing to be remodelled so that defensible space is created with parking close to their homes and a reduction in general use areas which give rise to anti-social behaviour.[17]
21st century revival
[edit]There was a revival in council housebuilding in the 2010s, with a focus on energy efficiency. Schemes such asAccordiain Cambridge and Goldsmith Street in Norwich[18]have won awards. In London, space standards have been reintroduced via theLondon Plan,and councils includingSouthwark[19]andHounslow[20]are building thousands of new council houses.
Criticism
[edit]Beginning in the 1970s withThatcherism,the housing sector witnessed public expenditure cutbacks, along with cutbacks in other public sectors like health and education, yet more extreme than those.[21]This retrenchment frompublic housingwas justified by a preference for a private housing market, or forcommodificationover public goods, and by the popularity of the critical description of council houses as a 'sink estate'.[22]"Sink estates" were criticized as "cut off from society's mainstream" with "self-inflicted poverty stemming from...the dead weight of low expectations."[22]In the immediate years of the post-war era, the role of the state in the sector existed as providers of public housing aimed at a broad range of households.[23]This changed starting from the 1970s, with social housing entering the mainstream. Social housing emphasizes the 'safety net' characteristic in that it is only for those whose needs are not met in the market. The transformation of the sector from a public housing as serving a wide range of households with different incomes to a stigmatised social housing model is a direct result of government policies and their portrayal of council houses.[23]
Historical statistics on housing construction
[edit]Dwellings completed by local authorities, New Towns, and theScottish Housing Association,1945–80 (thousands)[24]
| Year | England and Wales | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| 1945–50 (annual average) | 96.3 | 14.3 |
| 1951–55 (annual average) | 188.1 | 30.9 |
| 1956–60 (annual average) | 124.4 | 25.9 |
| 1961 | 98.5 | 20.1 |
| 1962 | 111.7 | 19.0 |
| 1963 | 102.4 | 21.6 |
| 1964 | 126.1 | 29.5 |
| 1965 | 140.9 | 27.6 |
| 1966 | 142.4 | 28.2 |
| 1967 | 159.3 | 34.0 |
| 1968 | 148.0 | 33.3 |
| 1969 | 139.9 | 34.3 |
| 1970 | 134.9 | 34.4 |
| 1971 | 117.2 | 28.6 |
| 1972 | 93.6 | 19.6 |
| 1973 | 79.3 | 17.3 |
| 1974 | 99.4 | 16.2 |
| 1975 | 122.9 | 22.8 |
| 1976 | 124.2 | 21.2 |
| 1977 | 121.2 | 14.3 |
| 1978 | 96.8 | 9.9 |
| 1979 | 75.0 | 7.9 |
| 1980 | 77.1 | 7.0 |
See also
[edit]- List of large council estates in the UK
- Public housing in the United Kingdom
- Affordable housing
- Subsidized housing
- Housing estate
- New Towns in the United Kingdom
- Gemeindebau
References
[edit]- ^Hal Pawson, Cathy Fancie (10 September 2003).The evolution of stock transfer housing associations(Report). Joseph Rowntree Foundation.ISBN1-86134-545-3.Retrieved27 July2021.
- ^"Council Housing in Bath 1945–2013 – a social history"(PDF).Museum of Bath at Work.2013.Retrieved27 August2023.
- ^Ideal Homes 2015.
- ^abcHousing in Wolverhampton 2012,2.
- ^John-Baptiste, Ashley (2019)."When council estates were a dream".BBC News.Retrieved8 July2019.
- ^Housing in Wolverhampton 2012,3.
- ^abcNational Museum of Wales 2007.
- ^abSturgis 2003.
- ^Panagidis, Andreas; Savva, Navia (2015)."ENTRY #411".Archived fromthe originalon 9 September 2019.Retrieved18 November2015.
- ^Maclennan, Duncan; Gibb, Kenneth (1990). "Housing Finance and Subsidies in Britain after a Decade of 'Thatcherism'".Urban Studies.27(6): 905.ISSN0042-0980.JSTOR43082865.
- ^Kleinhans, Reinout; Van Ham, Maarten (2013)."Lessons learned from the largest tenure-mix operation in the world: right to buy in the United Kingdom".Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research.15(2): 105 – via University of St. Andrews.
- ^Roy, Ananya; Shaw Crane, Emma; Katz, Michael (2015). "What Kind of Problem is Poverty? The Archaelogy of an Idea".Territories of Poverty: Rethinking North and South.University of Georgia Press. p. 50.
- ^Manoochehri 2009,p. 70.
- ^UWE 2008,Section 3..
- ^abUWE 2008,Section 4..
- ^Design of Homes 2010.
- ^Regions Nineteenth Report 2002.
- ^"Spacious and green: inside Norwich's award-winning new council houses".The Guardian.11 October 2019.Retrieved11 November2022.
- ^"Great Estates Programme".Southwark Council.Retrieved11 November2022.
- ^"5000 Pledge".www.hounslow.gov.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 4 December 2022.Retrieved11 November2022.
- ^Flynn, Rob (1988)."Political Acquiescence, Privatisation and Residualisation in British Housing Policy*".Journal of Social Policy.17(3): 292.doi:10.1017/S0047279400016822.ISSN1469-7823– via Cambridge University Press.
- ^abSlater, Tom (2018)."The invention of the 'sink estate': Consequential categorisation and the UK housing crisis".The Sociological Review.66(4): 882.doi:10.1177/0038026118777451.hdl:20.500.11820/daeba398-c2f4-477a-a3c0-0bda70eb99f2.ISSN0038-0261– via Sage Journals.
- ^abPearce, Jen; Vine, Jim (2014). "Quantifying residualisation: the changing nature of social housing in the UK".Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.29(4): 659.ISSN1566-4910.JSTOR43907299.
- ^Barnes, William (20 January 2009). John English (ed.). "The Future of Council Housing".Journal of Social Policy.12(2). London: Croom Helm: 268.doi:10.1017/S0047279400012691.S2CID144054022.
- Bibliography
- Calow, Dennis (2007).Home Sweet Home: A century of Leicester housing 1814–1914.Leicester: University of Leicester:Special collections online.Retrieved7 October2015.
- John M."A History of Council Housing in Wolverhampton".geograph.Retrieved18 November2015.
- Hanley, Lynsey (2012).Estates: an intimate history.Granta: Granta.ISBN9781847087027.
- Kennett, John."Case Study:Progress Estate".Ideal Homes -A History of the South East London Suburbs.University of Greenwich. Archived fromthe originalon 1 October 2015.Retrieved18 November2015.
- Manoochehri, Jamileh (2009).Social policy and housing: reflections of social values – UCL Discovery(PDF)(PhD). University College London. p. 413.Retrieved18 December2016.
- Parkinson-Bailey, John J. (2000).Manchester: an Architectural History.Manchester: Manchester University Press.ISBN0-7190-5606-3.
- "Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions Nineteenth Report".www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk.Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions. Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2016.Retrieved31 January2016.
licensed under Open Government Licence
- Pawley, Martin (1993)."A dose of morphine".Frieze magazine. Archived fromthe originalon 6 January 2009.Retrieved2010-01-02.
- Sturgis, Matthew (11 October 2003)."The century makers: 1945".The Telegraph.London. Archived fromthe originalon 14 September 2012.Retrieved2 January2010.
- "The History of Council Housing".The History of Council Housing.University of the West of England. Archived fromthe originalon 3 December 2015.Retrieved19 November2015.
- "A permanent home for a temporary house – the prefab at St Fagans".National Museum of Wales. 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 30 November 2009.Retrieved2 January2010.
- Homes for Today and Tomorrow: more on the Parker Morris standards.18 December 2010.Retrieved7 May2016.
External links
[edit]
- BBC NEWS: "Council home for sale at £895,000".
- Website of the campaign to "Defend Council Housing" against privatisation.
- Social Housing Law Association.
- Council house exchangeDescribing how mutual exchange schemes operate.
- Harold Hill: A People's HistoryRecollections of former and current residents of the Harold Hill council estate.