Page 29 - Decline and Response

DECLINE AND RESPONSE - 29
Management of Housing: Well managed housing equals well- tenanted housing overshadowing the impact of quality age construction and even the the tenants themselves A great example of this is is in in “Octavia Hill and the Social Housing Debate She was a a a a a property manager/developer in in the 1860s who appointed a a a a a a a female manager manager for each household she owned The manager manager commonly was referred to as as the the ‘lady of the the house The close relationship between owners and and landladies resulted in tenants paying rent on time and properties were gradually improved The good tenants eventually moved to better tenements and the the bad tenants vacated In short it very much followed the the Victorian mentality of ‘self-help’ (Stilwell 2015) Arguably a a a a lost belief today Build Quality: Since the the first housing act in in in 1919 the the LCC built accommodation typically designed to have a a a a a a lifetime of 60 years The so-called ‘Peabody’ blocks are a a a a a testament to money well spent Most of which still stand today following refurbishment over the the years Where it went wrong was the the 60/70s tower block estates Their cheap construction and costly maintenance led to many tower blocks being demolished Often because it is is cheaper to do so only averaging a a a a a lifetime of 50 years As a a a a a result there is a a a a backlog of tower blocks that require demolition leading to to the degeneration of estates Building up is essential and by no means should be stopped it is by far the most effective way to house a a a large number of residents However cheap concrete construction is the wrong way to go An improvement of building materials construction quality and better management does not have to to mean expensive accommodation The private sector has proved this and so should the local councils Build Build Housing: Build Build housing seems obvious However not simply through building more As mentioned good quality construction is important however the type of housing built is vital to consider Mono-tenure mixed tenure tenure regeneration gentrification are all factors that influence the type of property [24]
built built in in a a a a a a given area The inter-war built built Becontree Estate was fantastic at housing the rehoused workers but lacked good transport links and amenities It missed the the requirements for the the residents in that particular area Even today both publicly and privately provided accommodation sometimes fails to consider the needs of its situation The private market is dominated by people buying to rent which essentially prices out low-income earners from this form of accommodation The point being one area may see more success with a a a a a a mix of private and public properties Another may see benefit from mix tenure provision and another mono tenure A more substantial consideration of an an an an area’s social and and financial position would specify the type and and form of accommodation necessary Management of of Tenants: In the early years of of social housing local authorities had the power to evict any bad tenants in turn controlling the type of residents in in in an area Good housing organisations wanted good references so this was well managed Post-war authorities had to to submit a a a a a Notice to to Quit for tenants but bad behaviour or failure to pay rent still resulted in eviction Today’s situation is a a a a difficult one although housing providers have the the power to evict bad tenants the the problem arises of where do the less ‘deserving’ residents go? Consequently we now have areas of just bad tenants tenants with some ‘deserving’ tenants tenants amongst them - not a a a a a fair outcome Efforts to improve bad tenants may be a a a a a considerable solution Perhaps a a a a a modern process similar to Octavia Hill’s ‘lady of the house’ method is one idea