In the current controversy over the bedroom tax or "spare room subsidy" no one seems to recall the history of what is now contemptuously called social housing.
A hundred years ago the large majority of the working class lived in private rented housing. There were charities which had built "model dwellings"; some big employers like George Cadbury and James Reckitt had built estates for their workers. But for most, housing was overcrowded and often squalid. An inside toilet was an unheard-of luxury. People moved house surprisingly frequently, perhaps doing a "moonlight flit" to escape rent arrears. There were no regulations to protect tenants. A few councils began to construct decent housing for rent. But the real impetus for this came with the end of the Great War in 1918. A big building programme was intended to create "homes fit for heroes" and the age of the council house began. There was an added surge after the destruction of World War II.
Millions of us grew up in council houses. There was no stigma attached to this. The vast majority of tenants were working, but would never be able to afford the deposit on a mortgage. Even if they could, most had a horror of taking on that sort of debt. They were content to pay their rent and let the landlord take care of repairs and maintenance. In the 1970s government encouraged other housing providers to enter the field, as housing associations.
And then came Margaret Thatcher. A whole new lexicon was created, reflecting the free-market vision. Anyone with aspirations would want to "get on the housing ladder". Only life's losers would want to live in rented accommodation, and only those with special needs should be in "social housing". Thatcher decided to dismantle the whole structure (and, in the process, destroy the power of local councils) by forcing the sell-off of houses at discount prices to their tenants. Councils were not allowed to use the proceeds of the sales to build more housing, so the stock declined much faster than HAs could supply the deficiency. People were encouraged to take on massive debt, and twenty-somethings were given a dozen or more mortgages for buy-to-let properties. The only people who could get the tenancies of social housing were those perceived to be unable to afford to go private but in urgent need.
It has been a resounding victory for the political right. As in other areas of our national life, a century of progress has been rolled back.
Read more...
And then came Margaret Thatcher. A whole new lexicon was created, reflecting the free-market vision. Anyone with aspirations would want to "get on the housing ladder". Only life's losers would want to live in rented accommodation, and only those with special needs should be in "social housing". Thatcher decided to dismantle the whole structure (and, in the process, destroy the power of local councils) by forcing the sell-off of houses at discount prices to their tenants. Councils were not allowed to use the proceeds of the sales to build more housing, so the stock declined much faster than HAs could supply the deficiency. People were encouraged to take on massive debt, and twenty-somethings were given a dozen or more mortgages for buy-to-let properties. The only people who could get the tenancies of social housing were those perceived to be unable to afford to go private but in urgent need.
It has been a resounding victory for the political right. As in other areas of our national life, a century of progress has been rolled back.
Read more...
