Managing a Residualised Housing Stock

Abstract

Despite the sale of 1.5 million dwellings under the Right to Buy, local authorities and housing associations continue to manage in excess of 5 million dwellings. Many are of good quality, well designed and maintained to a high standard, proving extremely popular with residents. However, a sizeable number fall short of these standards, causing dissatisfaction amongst tenants and considerable management difficulties for housing staff. These difficulties are often manifested in problems such as high void rates, difficult-to-let dwellings and high levels of nuisance, crime and general unrest on housing estates. Each of these has become a recognisable feature of the residualisation of social housing. This chapter examines the implications of residualisation to the tenants and managers of the estates worst affected, identifying the resulting housing management issues, together with examples of initiatives designed to resolve problems and improve the quality of life.

‘Most “residualised” areas of council housing are large estates of lowincome families, with high numbers of children. They may also be associated with poor location, high building densities, “utopian” design, a bad state of repair and ineffective housing management. But the common ingredients seem to be scale, poverty, a large number of children and an allocation system which places people where they do not want to be.’

(Page, 1993, p. 5)