{"id":23,"date":"2010-03-01T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-01T11:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singleaspect.org.uk\/?p=23"},"modified":"2025-11-22T12:35:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T12:35:42","slug":"why-sink-estates-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/?p=23","title":{"rendered":"Why sink estates exist"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Not for 70 years, since the Luftwaffe, has there been such a direct threat to the well being of council tenants and their homes”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Right to buy enabled all those council tenants who could afford to, to buy their homes. The most desirable properties went first, the three bedroom houses in the suburbs.\u00a0 The flats on concrete estates last, if at all.\u00a0 Some of those who bought their flats on the concrete estates moved out and let their flats, often to DSS unemployed tenants with the rent paid (at that time) directly to the landlord.\u00a0 This had the effect of reducing the percentage of working people on the estate.\u00a0 Those working people with what these days are known as aspirations and in those days was called\u00a0 ambition moved away, either via right to buy as above or simply to better things.<\/p>\n

Just to be clear, there were estates with a bad reputation before right to buy. I worked as a council employed carpenter in London for a while in the 1970s and visited estates that were less than glamorous then, so it’s not all Maggie’s fault.<\/p>\n

This compounding effect was bad enough then, but has been exacerbated since by the allocations policy that preceded it in the Housing Act of 1977<\/a>. [Link to Guardian letters<\/a> – Ed.]\u00a0<\/del>This is an area of some concern because the 1977 Act was itself prompted by campaigners following on from the documentary Cathy Come Home<\/a> first broadcast in 1967.<\/p>\n

The results of this may be imagined and on some estates, can be seen. This situation is fast becoming a political football with complete disregard (on the right) for the people left behind.\u00a0 Having said that, not all estates are the same and there are those that work.\u00a0 Estates where there are a healthy mixture of people in different situations reflecting wider society and by no means in need of regeneration, the modern word for expelling council tenants and\u00a0<\/del> selling flats to overseas investors.<\/p>\n

You might think that the answer to this problem would be obvious.\u00a0 Build more council houses for (subsidised) rent thus slowly but surely allowing the allocation rules to be relaxed from people in desperate need back to the situation that existed before right to buy<\/a> when anybody could apply for a council house or flat, including single men, and stand a good chance of getting one.<\/p>\n

But no.\u00a0 What the political right seek instead is the end of council housing as we know it<\/a>.\u00a0 They want to rid their immediate neighbourhoods of the “stigma” of council estates and their troubled tenants, and in their place invite owner occupiers.<\/p>\n

Not for 70 years, since the Luftwaffe, has there been such a direct threat to the well being of council tenants and their homes.<\/p>\n

Let’s give the last word to the woman who has it all at her fingertips, the woman whose grip on the subject in London is unparalleled and who was interviewed by Dave Hill for the Guardian.<\/p>\n

Right click link and choose Save Target\/Link As<\/p>\n

Guardian Karen Buck interview mp3<\/a><\/p>\n

A worthy champion for the council tenants of the London boroughs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Postscript from the Guardian<\/p>\n

msenthrop<\/p>\n

06 Jul 09, 12:04pm (about 10 hours ago)<\/p>\n

Here goes Polly: Which party will push for councils to build housing again and put an end to the pernicious evil that was wrought by the “right to buy” policy of the Margaret Thatcher era, branding those who lived in rented housing(in particular council housing) as second class citizens, thereafter known as “social housing”; whereby it becomes necessary to either have a social problem or to cultivate one in order to be allowed to register for it?
\nRegards<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/commentisfree\/2009\/jul\/06\/politics-political-parties<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/money\/2010\/sep\/21\/right-to-buy-coalition-loggerheads<\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> 9\/5\/11 Michael Collins has a different point of view.\u00a0 He thinks that Labour caused the problem with the 1977 Housing Act which changed the criteria on which council housing was let, for the worse.\u00a0 See his recent documentary The Rise and Fall of the Council House<\/a><\/p>\n

===========================================================<\/p>\n

Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Priority need\u00a0 for accommodation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1)\u00a0 For\u00a0 the\u00a0 purposes\u00a0 of\u00a0 this\u00a0 Act\u00a0 a\u00a0 homeless\u00a0 person\u00a0 or\u00a0 a person\u00a0 threatened\u00a0 with\u00a0 homelessness\u00a0 has\u00a0 a\u00a0 priority\u00a0 need\u00a0 for accommodation\u00a0 when\u00a0 the\u00a0 housing\u00a0 authority\u00a0 are\u00a0 satisfied\u00a0 that he\u00a0 is within\u00a0 one of\u00a0 the\u00a0 following\u00a0 categories: \u2014
\n(a)\u00a0 he\u00a0 has\u00a0 dependent\u00a0 children\u00a0 who\u00a0 are\u00a0 residing\u00a0 with\u00a0 him or-who\u00a0 might\u00a0 reasonably\u00a0 be\u00a0 expected\u00a0 to\u00a0 reside\u00a0 with him;
\n(b)\u00a0 he\u00a0 is\u00a0 homeless\u00a0 or\u00a0 threatened\u00a0 with\u00a0 homelessness\u00a0 as\u00a0 a result\u00a0 of\u00a0 any\u00a0 emergency\u00a0 such\u00a0 as\u00a0 flood,\u00a0 fire\u00a0 or\u00a0 any other disaster;
\n(c)\u00a0 he\u00a0 or\u00a0 any\u00a0 person\u00a0 who\u00a0 resides\u00a0 or\u00a0 might\u00a0 reasonably\u00a0 be expected\u00a0 to\u00a0 reside\u00a0 with\u00a0 him\u00a0 is\u00a0 vulnerable\u00a0 as\u00a0 a\u00a0 result of\u00a0 old\u00a0 age,\u00a0 mental\u00a0 illness\u00a0 or\u00a0 handicap\u00a0 or\u00a0 physical disability\u00a0 or\u00a0 other\u00a0 special\u00a0 reason.<\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0 For the\u00a0 purposes of\u00a0 this Act a homeless person or a person threatened with homelessness who\u00a0 is\u00a0 a pregnant woman or resides or\u00a0 might\u00a0 reasonably\u00a0 be\u00a0 expected\u00a0 to\u00a0 reside\u00a0 with\u00a0 a\u00a0 pregnant woman has\u00a0 a\u00a0 priority need\u00a0 for accommodation.<\/p>\n

(3)\u00a0 The\u00a0 Secretary\u00a0 of\u00a0 State\u00a0 may\u00a0 by\u00a0 order,\u00a0 made\u00a0 after appropriate\u00a0 consultations,\u2014
\n(a)\u00a0 specify\u00a0 further\u00a0 categories\u00a0 of\u00a0 persons, as\u00a0 having a\u00a0 priority need for\u00a0 accommodation, and
\n(b)\u00a0 amend\u00a0 or\u00a0 repeal\u00a0 any\u00a0 part of subsection\u00a0 (1)\u00a0 or\u00a0 (2)\u00a0 above.<\/p>\n

(4)\u00a0 No\u00a0 order\u00a0 under\u00a0 subsection\u00a0 (3)\u00a0 above\u00a0 shall\u00a0 be made\u00a0 unless a\u00a0 draft\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 order\u00a0 has\u00a0 been\u00a0 approved\u00a0 by\u00a0 resolution\u00a0 of\u00a0 each House of\u00a0 Parliament.<\/p>\n

(5)\u00a0 Any\u00a0 reference\u00a0 in\u00a0 this\u00a0 Act\u00a0 to\u00a0 a\u00a0 person\u00a0 having\u00a0 a\u00a0 priority need\u00a0 is\u00a0 a\u00a0 reference\u00a0 to his\u00a0 having\u00a0 a\u00a0 priority need\u00a0 for accommodation within the meaning of\u00a0 this\u00a0 section\u00a0 or any order\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 time being\u00a0 in\u00a0 force\u00a0 under\u00a0 subsection\u00a0 (3)\u00a0 above.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

===========================================================<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> 16\/6\/11 Dave Hill has an interesting article today in the Guardian on the same theme, that needs based allocations are a disaster for council housing allocation:-<\/p>\n

Newham-mayor-plans-olympic-regeneration<\/a><\/p>\n

Charities condemn plans to let councils house locals before immigrants<\/a><\/p>\n

US inspired plan to break up sink estates gets green light<\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> Deborah Orr writing in today’s Guardian, a wonderful piece, beautifully written<\/p>\n

\n

The most astounding thing about this mess is that there is still a widespread failure to understand that a flagship ideological experiment in self-regulation by the market is in tatters. The deregulation of banks and building societies, combined with draconian restrictions on the provision of new council housing, which could have replaced stock diminished by the right to buy, was supposed to transform “sink estates” into privately owned and lovingly cared-for communities<\/a>. Instead, the social demographic of people living in council flats has narrowed massively. The people with the greatest problems are herded together, sometimes seeking a dark kind of identity in their blighted postcode, to the point at which the threat of eviction from council housing is seriously touted as a way of encouraging people to think twice before they take part in riots. God help us.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/commentisfree\/2011\/aug\/31\/tory-housing-idea-in-tatters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not for 70 years, since the Luftwaffe, has there been such a direct threat to the well being of council tenants and their homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estates-under-threat","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30018,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/30018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}