Council house 253412 225829862 2008-07-15T16:22:47Z Geniac 1839933 Disambiguate [[DWP]] to [[Department for Work and Pensions]] using [[:en:Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation_popups|popups]] {{otheruses}} {{Refimprove|date=June 2007}} [[Image:Councilhousing01.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Council houses at [[Hackenthorpe]], [[South Yorkshire]]]] The '''council house''' is a form of [[public housing|public or social housing]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. Council houses were built and operated by local [[Municipality|councils]] to supply uncrowded, well built homes on secure tenancies at affordable (below market) rents to the local population. As of 2005, approximately 20 per cent of the country's housing stock is owned by local councils or by [[housing association]]s. The [[Republic of Ireland]] has a similar public housing system, [[Local Authority Accommodation]]. ==Origins== ===Almshouses=== [[Image:Dorset sherbone almshouses.jpg|thumb|200px|The Almshouse at [[Sherborne]], [[Dorset]]]] The documented history of social housing in Britain starts with [[Almshouse]]s which were established from the 10th century, to provide a place of residence for "poor, old and distressed folk". The first recorded Almshouse was founded in York by [[King Athelstan]], and the oldest still in existence is the Hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, dating to circa 990. ===Philanthropists=== [[Image:Councilhousing02.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Council houses in [[Chatteris, Cambridgeshire]]]] The pressure for decent housing increased from overcrowding in the large cities during the [[Industrial Revolution]] in the 19th century, and many social commentators (such as [[Octavia Hill]]) reported on the squalour, sickness and perceived immorality that arose. Some [[philanthropist]]s had begun to provide housing in [[Apartment building|tenement blocks]], while some factory owners built entire villages for their workers such as [[Saltaire]] (1853), [[Bournville]] (1879), [[Port Sunlight]], [[Stewartby]], and [[Silver End]] as late as 1925. ===Tax funding=== It was not until 1885, when a [[Royal Commission]] was held, that the state took an interest. This led to the ''[[Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890]]'', which encouraged local authorities to improve the housing in their areas. As a consequence the [[London County Council]] opened the [[Boundary Estate]] in 1900, and many local councils began building flats and houses in the early 20th century. The [[World War I|First World War]] indirectly provided a new impetus, when the poor physical health and condition of many urban recruits to the [[British Army|army]] was noted with shock and alarm. This led to a campaign known as ''Homes fit for heroes'' and in 1919 the Government first required councils to provide housing, helping them to do so through the provision of subsidies, under the ''[[Housing Act 1919]]''. The government was no doubt encouraged by the increasing influence of the Labour party and the widespread strikes and mutinies which characterized Britain in 1919. Many houses were built in ''cottage estates'' as in [[Downham Estate]] as well as in blocks of flats. While new council housing had been built, little had been done to resolve the problem of inner city [[slum]]s. This was to change with the ''[[Housing Act 1930]]'', which required councils to prepare slum clearance plans, and some progress was made before the [[Second World War]] intervened. ==Heyday== [[Image:LondonBombedWWII full.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Some of over a million bombed homes in London during WWII]] [[Image:Councilhousing03.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Council housing in [[Rastrick]], [[Calderdale]]]] During the Second World War, nearly four million British homes were [[The Blitz|destroyed or damaged]], and afterwards there was a major boom in council house construction.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553483_27/United_Kingdom.html "United Kingdom" Section VII (History), J (World War II and Its Aftermath), J2 (Postwar Britain)], ''[[MSN Encarta]] Online Encyclopedia'', 2006</ref><!-- this ref only applies to the 4 million houses, not to the major boom. Still looking for that.--> As well as this, slum clearance programmes were promoted. In the immediate post-War years, and well into the 1950s, council house provision was shaped by the [[New Towns Act 1946]] and the [[Town and Country Planning Act 1947]]. Houses were typically [[semi-detached]] or in small [[Terraced house|terraces]]. A three-bedroom semi-detached council house was typically built on a square grid 7 yards ({{convert|21|ft|m}}) on the side, with a maximum density of no more than 12 houses per acre (30 houses per hectare; around 337 m² per house), meaning that most houses had generous space around them. The [[new town]]s and many existing towns had countless estates built to this basic model. For many [[working class]] people, this housing model provided the first experience of private [[garden]] space (usually front and rear), as well as the first private ''and'' indoor [[toilet]]s and [[bathroom]]s. The quality of these houses, and in particular the existence of small gardens, compared very favourably with social housing being built on the European continent in this period. Towards the end of the 1950s, the influence of [[modernism|modernist]] architecture and the development of new construction techniques, such as [[system building]] (a form of [[prefabrication]]), led to this model being abandoned in [[United Kingdom|Britain]]'s [[inner city]] areas. Instead, [[tower block]]s became the preferred model. The argument was that more dwellings could be provided this way (a claim on which research at the [[London School of Economics|LSE]] has cast serious doubt).<ref>R. Burdett, T. Travers, D. Czischke, P. Rode and B. Moser, Density and Urban Neighbourhoods in London: Summary Report(Enterprise LSE Cities, 2004), pp. 13-14.</ref> [[Image:BWFE panorama from northwest.JPG|thumb|left|600px|[[Broadwater Farm]] in [[London Borough of Haringey|Haringey]], north London. One of the most ambitious post-war council housing developments, the complex of [[Housing estate|estates]] became a national symbol of perceived failures in the council housing system following the [[Broadwater Farm riot]] in [[1985]]. Today, following massive investment and reconstruction, it has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and is seen as a model council estate.]] {{-}}Central government (under both the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] parties) saw the provision of housing as a major part of its policy, and provided subsidies for local authorities to build such housing. System building proved to have serious flaws and flats - which were initially very popular due to their generous space standards - suffered many problems, especially poor protection from damp and weather ingress, as well as other serious design defects. On [[16 May]] [[1968]], the problems associated with tower blocks were brought into sharp focus after the partial collapse of [[Ronan Point]], a tower block in [[London Borough of Newham|Newham]], east [[London]], as a consequence of a gas explosion. ==Examples== [[Image:SeaG2.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Seacroft]], east [[Leeds]] ]] [[Image:Weston southampton.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Weston]], [[Southampton]] ]] [[Image:yorkplaceflatswetherby.jpg|thumb|250px|York Place Flats, a medium rise development of council flats in [[Wetherby]], [[West Yorkshire]]]] [[Becontree]] in Dagenham is the largest area of council housing in the UK with a population of over 100,000. Building started in the 1920s and took 11 years to finish. There is only a small part of Dagenham that is not Becontree, and some do not consider Becontree to be an estate but really just the bulk of a town. Otherwise, the largest estates are [[Wythenshawe]] in the south of Manchester and [[Bransholme]] in the north-east of Hull. Arron Way in [[Corby]] was a large estate, although the majority of the housing became derelict and the area is now undergoing regeneration. Other large estates across [[London]] include the [[Aylesbury Estate]], [[South Oxhey]], a vast series of estates in [[Gospel Oak]] and the [[Ferrier Estate]]. There are also numerous large council estates in the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]. These include [[Castle Vale]] in [[Birmingham]], [[Low Hill]] in [[Wolverhampton]], [[Hateley Heath]] in [[West Bromwich]], [[Blakenall Heath]] in [[Walsall]], [[Priory Estate]] in [[Dudley]], [[Tanhouse]] in [[Halesowen]] and [[Chapel Street Estate]] in [[Brierley Hill]]. Large estates in [[Scotland]] include [[Drumchapel]], [[Easterhouse]], [[Castlemilk]] and [[Pollok]] in [[Glasgow]]. [[Greater Manchester]] was another city extensively developed for council housing, most notably the [[Hattersley]] overspill housing estate, which was originally part of neighbouring town, [[Hyde, Greater Manchester|Hyde]]. [[Wales]] also has many large council estates. These include [[Caia Park]] in [[Wrexham]], [[Bettws]] in [[Newport]] and [[Ely, Cardiff|Ely]] in [[Cardiff]]. There were also many large council estates in [[Yorkshire]]. These include the village of [[Grimethorpe]] (which at one stage almost entirely consisted of council housing), and the [[Chickenley]] estate in [[Dewsbury]] which was unusually constructed without including a church. Estates in [[Leeds]], [[West Yorkshire]] include [[Seacroft]] and [[Halton Moor]]. [[Bransholme]] in North East [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] is the largest in Yorkshire. The [[Red Road (flats)|Red Road flats]] in [[Glasgow]] were once the tallest residential buildings in [[Europe]], but are now earmarked for demolition in local council regeneration plans. Cottingley Towers and Cottingley Heights in [[Cottingley, Leeds|Cottingley]], [[Leeds]] are also particularly notable in their considerable height. [[New town]]s built across Britain in the 20 or so years following the end of the [[Second World War]] were predominantly made up of council housing, but many of these have since been further developed to see private housing become the most frequent accommodation. Many [[commuter towns]] around [[London]] have large areas of Council Housing. Perhaps (although it is disputed) the earliest council flats were at [[Quarry Hill]] in Leeds. This was a large complex built in the 1930s and demolished throughout most of the 1980s. The flats were apparently modeled on Karl Marx Hof flats in Vienna and built by Leeds City Council.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/image_galleries/image_gallery_quarry_hill_gallery.shtml?9 BBC - Leeds - In Pictures - Quarry Hill's history<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> It was in these flats where sitcom [[Queenie's Castle]] was filmed. At the time they were considered revolutionary, each flat had a motorized rubbish shoot which lead to a central incinerator. The complex had its own offices, shops and [[gas works]]. There is now no evidence of their existence. The [[Department for Work and Pensions|DWP]] and [[BBC]] now have their regional headquarters on the site, alongside the [[West Yorkshire Playhouse]]. ==Design== [[Image:Ferry Lane Estate.JPG|thumb|right|200px|1970s council housing in [[Haringey]], North London]] Council housing was generally typified by houses with generously sized rooms (compared to the bottom end of the private sector), particularly those built in the 1970s after the [[Parker Morris Committee|Parker Morris]] standards were introduced. However they also tended to be unimaginatively designed, and rigid council rules often forbade tenants "personalising" their houses. Council tenants also faced problems of mobility, finding it hard to move from one property to another as their families grew or shrank, or to seek work. Despite the building there was a constant demand for housing, and 'waiting lists' are maintained with preference being given to those in greatest need. The original council houses from the early 1920s were among the first houses in the country to feature electricity, running water, bathrooms, indoor toilets and front/rear gardens. Many of these houses were built on estates with an open spaced layout that gave a pleasant environment to residents who had previously lived in dilapidated inner city slums. These new houses had two, three, four or five bedrooms. Flats and bungalows were first built by local councils during the interwar years, but in relatively low volumes. It was not until the 1950s that this type of property became a common sight. It was also around this time that councils started building garages on new housing developments, although these were usually in separate blocks to houses. The first tower block flats in Britain were built during the early 1950s, reaching a peak in the 1960s. But these flats quickly became unpopular due to poor insulation and structural defects, with construction of high-rise flats being effectively ended during the 1970s. The first few tower blocks were demolished during the later part of the 1980s, but clearance programmes accelerated during the 1990s and are still ongoing in the 2000s. The most notable regeneration programme featuring tower blocks was that of the [[Castle Vale]] estate in [[Birmingham]]. 32 of the estate's 34 tower blocks were cleared between 1995 and 2003, with the remaining two being refurbished and re-opened as "vertical warden-controlled schemes". All of the estate's 27 maisonette blocks were also cleared, as were more than 100 bungalows. The remaining low-rise stock, however, was retained. A similar regeneration had taken place around the end of the 1980s and start of the 1990s on [[Smethwick|Smethwick's]] [[Galton Village]] estate, known locally as the '''Concrete Jungle'''. Many of the older interwar council houses have been demolished, mostly due to subsidence or decay. Much of this regeneration has been concentrated in the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] since the early 1990s. Areas that have been regenerated include [[Pype Hayes]] and [[Stockfield Estate|Stockfield]] in [[Birmingham]], parts of [[The Lunt]] estate in [[Bilston]], the Poet's Estate at [[Harden, West Midlands|Harden]] in [[Walsall]] and the '''Harrowby Road Estate''' in [[Darlaston]]. Several other estates are currently earmarked for a similar regeneration in the future. These include the [[Goscote, West Midlands|Goscote Estate]] in [[Walsall]], parts of the [[Priory Estate]] in [[Dudley]] and parts of the [[Tibbington]] Estate in [[Tipton]]. ==Criticisms== [[Image:Seacroft2.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Rundown streets in [[Seacroft]], [[Leeds]]]] Social policy economists, such as Culyer and Barr, have been critical of the role that council housing plays in attempts to help the poor. One large criticism is that it hurts labour mobility with its system of allocating housing to those in the local area. Working-class people thus face a disincentive for moving across district lines, when they would be further down the waiting list for council housing in the new districts. When Britain witnessed mass immigration after the Second World War, new immigrants did not initially qualify for council houses and this led to racial segregation in housing. This has changed over time; most large cities have council estates with large Asian and Black communities. The division remains most marked in [[Dewsbury]] and [[Bradford]], which both have large Asian communities that remain concentrated outside the council estates. Another criticism is that the system favours those who have already secured tenancy, even after they are no longer in dire need. The combination of security of tenure and affordable rent gives little incentive to tenants to downsize from family accommodation after their children have moved out. Meanwhile, those who are on the waiting list are often in much greater need of this welfare, yet they cannot have it; once a council house has been granted to a tenant, they cannot be evicted except for anti-social behaviour or serious breach of the tenancy conditions, such as rent arrears. ==Decline== {{Original research|section|date=September 2007}} [[Image:Ackworth.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Ackworth Court, [[Hockwell Ring]], [[Luton]] ]] Council housing declined sharply in the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] era, as the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government encouraged aspiration toward home ownership{{Fact|date=May 2007}}. Laws restricted councils' investment in housing, preventing them subsidising it from local taxes, but more importantly, council tenants were given the "right to buy" in the 1980s Housing Act offering a discount price on their council house. The [[Right to Buy Scheme]] allowed tenants to buy their home with a discount of up to 60% of the market price for houses and 70% for flats, depending on the time they had lived there. Councils were prevented from reinvesting the proceeds of these sales in new housing, and the total available stock, particularly of more desirable homes, declined. The "right-to-buy" was popular with many former [[The Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] voters and, although the Labour government of [[Tony Blair]] tightened the rules (reducing the maximum discount in areas of most housing need), it did not end the right-to-buy. Labour did relax the policy forbidding reinvestment of sales proceeds{{Fact|date=May 2007}}. Some councils have now transferred their housing stock to not-for-profit housing associations, who are now also the providers of most new public sector housing. Elsewhere, [[referendum]]s on changing ownership, in Birmingham for example, have been won by opponents of government policy. The current position is that council housing is a more and more residualised and stigmatised sector, with the term 'council' increasingly used as a pejorative. Whereas in its early years, council housing was an acceptable option for much of the population, it is now increasingly an option only for those reliant on [[social security]]. In some parts of the country, especially northern Britain, some council housing is virtually unlettable. Council housing stock has sometimes been used to house those seeking [[refugee]] status ('asylum seekers'), who have no choice in their accommodation. In the south and in London in particular, demand still massively outstrips supply. The [[Wakefield]] district council found itself unable to maintain its supply of council housing and transferred it all to a housing association, in 2004; this represented the second largest stock transfer in British history. Housing rented from the council accounted for about 28% of the district and around 40% of the actual city of Wakefield. Other than Wakefield, districts that maintain large amounts of council housing include most [[inner London]] boroughs with [[Southwark]], [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]] and [[Lambeth]] having the highest proportions/amounts. Also, [[Barnsley]], [[Corby]], [[Easington (district)|Easington]], [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], [[Leeds]], [[Manchester]], [[Nottingham]] and [[Sheffield]]. Many districts of the country have less than 10% of housing rented from the council; the national average stands at 14%. - more statistics are available as of the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 census]][http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=6579&More=Y] although some have transferred to housing associations since then. Council estate have often been stereotyped as a source of high crime rates, though similar problems can occur in areas of private housing. As mentioned earlier, many council housing estates have already undergone partial or total redevelopment, while more schemes are in the pipeline. These include [[North Peckham]] in [[London]], [[Castle Vale]] in [[Birmingham]], [[Cantril Farm]] in [[Liverpool]], [[Blakenhall|Blakenhall Gardens]] in [[Wolverhampton]], [[Harden, West Midlands|Harden]] in [[Walsall]], [[Galton Village]] in [[Smethwick]] and [[Hateley Heath]] in [[West Bromwich]]. ==Law== [[Image:De beauvoir estate 1.jpg|thumb|De Beauvoir Estate, [[De Beauvoir Town]], [[East London, England|East London]] ]] The legal status and management of council houses, and the social housing sector, has been subject to lobbying and change in recent years. [[Local Authorities]] now have new legal powers to enable them to deal with anti-social behaviour and the misuse of council houses by organised gangs. An example is when a gang turns a council house into a crack house. [[Anti-social behaviour order]]s (ASBOs) were created by the [[Crime and Disorder Act 1998]], ASBOs were created by amendments to the [[Housing Act 1996]], enacted by the [[Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003]]. The proposed [[Housing Act 2006]] will radically alter the way that all social housing is managed. Tony Blair launched the [[Respect Agenda]] in 2005<ref>http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page7459.asp Blair's Speech outlining 'Respect' agenda (2005-05-06)</ref>, aimed at instilling core values in the tenants of council houses. Recently bodies such as the Social Housing Law Association - [http://www.shla.org.uk] have been formed to discuss the impact of legislation in the social housing sector and to provide training and lobbying facilities for those who work in that area. ==Media== *The song [[Get 'Em Out by Friday]], by [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], is a social criticism of the United Kingdom's council housing system. *The band [[The Jam]] criticizes council housing (specifically [[tower blocks]] such as [[Ronan Point]]) with their song "The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong," written by [[Paul Weller (singer)|Paul Weller]], and released on the 1982 album "[[The Gift (The Jam album)|The Gift]]." *The classic British comedy ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' followed the lives of would-be entrepreneur Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and his less enthusiastic younger brother Rodney. The series was set in Nelson Mandela House in a Peckham housing estate. *The British soap opera ''[[EastEnders]]'' features council house dwellers. *The 1986 film ''[[Rita, Sue and Bob Too]]'' was set in the [[Buttershaw]] estate in the south of Bradford. Its portrayal was fairly stereotypical of council estates during the era. *Some exterior scenes in the [[Great Britain|British]] [[comedy]] [[television series]] ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]'' were shot in a council estate in the early 1990s in the Stoke Aldermoor area of [[Coventry]]. In several episodes, views of a council estate are shown. *In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a series of television adverts encouraged Council tenants to borrow money and exercise their '''right to buy'' their homes with the catchphrase "I've got the right!" *The award winning [[Mancunian]] drama series, ''[[Shameless (UK TV series)|Shameless]]'' was set on a large council estate in the suburbs of [[Manchester]]. *1970s Sitcom [[Queenie's Castle]] was set in the now demolished Quarry Hill Flats in [[Leeds]]. *In the 2005 and 2006 seasons of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]]'s companion [[Rose Tyler]] is from the Powell Estate, a fictional early twenty-first century council estate. The show occasionally goes back to visit [[Jackie Tyler|her mother]] and [[Mickey Smith|estranged boyfriend]] who live on the estate. *The band [[Doves]] made a music video to their song "[[Black and White Town]]" filmed in Council Housing in Glasgow. ==See also== *[[Almshouses]] *[[New town]]s *[[Prefabrication]] *[[Privatization|Privatisation]] *[[Public housing|Public housing ("projects")]] *[[HLM]] *[[Pruitt-Igoe]] *[[Cabrini-Green]] ==External links== * [http://www.tls.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25351-2576778,00.html "Bleak Housing",] by David Kynaston, [http://www.the-tls.co.uk TLS] February 2, 2007 * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4444731.stm BBC NEWS: 'Council home for sale at £895,000'] * [http://www.defendcouncilhousing.org.uk/dch/ Website of the campaign to 'Defend Council Housing' against privatisation] * [http://www.shla.org.uk Social Housing Law Association] *[http://www.haroldhill.org/memories/guestbook.htm Harold Hill: A People's History] Recollections of former and current residents of the Harold Hill council estate ==References== <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> <references /></div> [[Category:House types]] [[Category:Public housing in the United Kingdom]] [[simple:Council house]]