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1/ THREAD: UK Housing Crisis
AQA’s GCSE spec requires the study of how "urban change" leads to inequalities in housing. As this is often taught alongside “impacts of national & international migration on the growth and character of the city”, usually framed as "challenges & ...
AQA’s GCSE spec requires the study of how "urban change" leads to inequalities in housing. As this is often taught alongside “impacts of national & international migration on the growth and character of the city”, usually framed as "challenges & ...
2/ ... opportunities", without careful teaching, the implication may be that these are causally linked. However, despite the relevance for this topic, there is no explicit requirement to study the impacts of austerity and government policy on housing inequalities.
3/ This thread explores the impacts of the Right to Buy scheme and current housing challenges that can be explored in the classroom.
During the 20th century, there were huge state efforts to provide council homes.
During the 20th century, there were huge state efforts to provide council homes.
4/ By the late 1970s, some Labour local authorities were “buying up whole streets of decaying inner-city properties from private landlords and turning them into council homes”.
5/ Considered a basic right, council tenants have been buying their properties since the 1920s, albeit on a small scale; this was considerably scaled-up in 1980 with the introduction of the Housing Act by the Thatcher government.
6/ The national average discount obtained on these properties was 44% by 1988, making the scheme very attractive to tenants. A considerable number of homes were sold: 66,321 in 1981; and 174,697 in 1982, with similar subsequent annual figures throughout the rest of the 1980s.
7/ In England, sales were fastest in London, the south-east and the south-west, and slowest in the industrial/post-industrial north.
Semi-detached houses with gardens, low-rise flats and homes in rural or suburban areas sold better than high-rise flats in urban areas.
Semi-detached houses with gardens, low-rise flats and homes in rural or suburban areas sold better than high-rise flats in urban areas.
8/ This left those least able to purchase their home to live in the worst council properties. Rents had also increased by 55% by 1991 as a result of local authorities losing revenue from rental income as their housing stocks depleted. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/26/right-to-buy-margaret-thatcher-david-cameron-housing-crisis
9/ Exacerbating the situation was Thatcher’s policy that denied local authorities the right to use money from the sales to build new council houses, contributing to the severe shortage of affordable, good quality housing to those on low incomes today. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/23/the-sad-demise-of-social-housing-since-thatcher
10/ Local authorities are tasked with increasing and improving the housing stock whilst facing substantial cuts in government funding, compounded by the loss in rental income. As of 2018, there were 1.1 million households on local authority housing waiting lists.
11/ Some will be on the waiting list for years. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/773079/Local_Authority_Housing_Statistics_England_year_ending_March_2018.pdf
There are also 253,000 people, half of which are children, in temporary accommodation in England.
There are also 253,000 people, half of which are children, in temporary accommodation in England.
12/ Often, temporary accommodation is not temporary at all and the living conditions are not suitable for families and vulnerable people. Those using London as a HIC city case study should note that 68% of all homeless people living in temporary accommodation are in the capital.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55332947
13/ Due to the lack of available temporary accommodation, budget cuts & an “overwhelming number of homeless families coming to them for help”, local authorities are sometimes forced to resettle homeless families in temporary housing far away from their...
13/ Due to the lack of available temporary accommodation, budget cuts & an “overwhelming number of homeless families coming to them for help”, local authorities are sometimes forced to resettle homeless families in temporary housing far away from their...
14/ ...local area, which is unlawful. This situation has been further exacerbated by the 2016 freeze on benefit rates & the introduction of Universal Credit, often meaning that families in areas with high rental prices cannot afford to live there. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/22/councils-forcing-homeless-families-to-relocate-miles-away.
15/ Many families have felt pressured into accepting unsuitable temporary accommodation outside of their local area; refusal of a temporary accommodation offer can result in being considered ‘intentionally homeless’ and therefore no longer eligible for housing support
16/ It is also worth noting that in the UK, there are 530,960 homes not in use, many of which are second homes . When local authorities make efforts to put these homes into use, this can be difficult to achieve.
https://www.actiononemptyhomes.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=2215aedf-0a7b-4b9f-83ba-a079da93941e
https://www.actiononemptyhomes.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=2215aedf-0a7b-4b9f-83ba-a079da93941e
17/ It is therefore important that we mention government policies and austerity when exploring housing inequalities, to ensure that we are actively challenging the narrative that immigration is responsible for housing deficits.
