Slum clearance in the United Kingdom
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Slum clearance in the United Kingdom has been used as an
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
strategy to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. Early mass clearances took place in the country's northern cities. Starting from 1930, councils were expected to prepare plans to clear slum dwellings, although progress stalled upon the onset of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Clearance of slum areas resumed and increased after the war, while the 1960s saw the largest number of house renewal schemes pursued by local authorities, particularly in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
where it was reported around 27% 'may' have been unfit for human habitation - Although the majority were well built solid structures which could have been renovated or repurposed; housing, churches, schools and pubs which formed close-knit communities were devastated, with families dispersed across other areas. Towards the end of the decade, a housing act in 1969 provided financial encouragement for authorities and landlords to improve existing housing stock and extend the life of many older properties. By 1985, England and Wales had over 1.5 million houses declared unfit or demolished over a 30-year period, displacing over 3.6 million people. The Labour government in 2002 launched the
Housing Market Renewal Initiative The Housing Market Renewal Initiative (HMRI) or Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Pathfinders programme was a controversial Cole, Ian and Flint, John ''Addressing housing affordability, clearance and relocation issues in the Housing Market Renewal Path ...
scheme, with the primary objective to demolish housing considered undesirable and replace with new developments. Also known as the Pathfinder programme, the scheme ended in 2011, due to the Conservative austerity program.


Context

From the late 19th century up to the 1970s, clearance of slum housing was seen as an expensive undertaking with numerous problems, although generally considered a necessity for the eventual gains of a higher standard of living. In the years following World War II, areas affected by slum clearance were usually replaced by social housing, while many of the newer houses had priority allocation given to those who had lost their previous home through demolition. Throughout Britain and other developed countries, historical housing literature suggests that slum clearance and housing renewal policies have had the opposite effect on the poorest people in society, whom they were aimed to support, than intended: new housing built to replace demolished slum dwellings was often too costly to rent for poorer families, who had lost their homes to make way for newer developments, which typically became occupied instead by the upper working class. In the period following the 1970s, opinions started to change towards the view that clearance was less than effective and too costly, both fiscally and in terms of the break-up of communities. Demolitions programmes throughout the 20th century were successful in removing the worst of the country's housing stock and helped improve the quality of homes available for the poor and working class. Generally, no account of the incident or impact of housing clearance was taken before the year 2000.


Early 20th century

During 1895–1918,
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
engaged in wide-scale slum clearances and in the process constructed more homes than any authority outside of
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. New housing was intended for tenants displaced by demolition of their old home, although not everyone displaced was re-homed and only those capable of rent upkeep were offered a new home. In the city of
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, where many slum clearances were of back-to-back houses, the land they occupied was very small and usually incapable of supporting any new profitable developments which impacted upon site-value compensation. While new
council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
had been built, little had been done to resolve the problem of inner-city
slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...
s. Clearance strategies were used predominantly during the early 20th century for redeveloping urban communities, such as in relation to the
Housing Act 1930 The Housing Act 1930, 20 & 21 George 5 c.39, otherwise known as the Greenwood Act, is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It encouraged mass slum clearance and councils to set to work to demolish poor quality housing and replace it wi ...
(also known as the Greenwood Act), which required councils to prepare
slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
plans and some progress was made before the start of the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Up to February 1932, 394 clearance areas were declared in England and Wales, affecting 64,000 people. Estimates in 1933 by local authorities in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
suggested that nearly 62,000 new homes needed to be built to replace demolished slum housing, of which around 90% were expected to be built within a five-year period.
Godfrey Collins Sir Godfrey Pattison Collins, (26 June 1875 – 13 October 1936) was a Scottish Liberal Party (and later National Liberal Party) politician. He entered the Royal Navy in 1888 and was a midshipman, East Indian Station from 1890 to 1893. He was ...
, then
Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
, believed that it would be possible to visualise the end of Scottish slums by the end of 1938. Towards the end of 1936 throughout the United Kingdom, around 25,000 people living in slum housing were being rehoused each month, which had totalled around 450,000 by August 1936. Upon the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, there were around 1300 proposed slum clearance orders, of which 103 had been confirmed by January 1940 although virtually no clearance of slum housing took place over the 15 years following the war outbreak.


Mid-20th century

Following the war, the drive to clear slum houses resumed in 1955, particularly in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
where 68,000 were deemed to be unfit. By 1957, slum clearances were well underway according to Henry Brooke MP, then
Minister of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...
, who stated that houses condemned or demolished had gone up from 20,000 in 1954 to 35,000 by 1956, while rehousing over 200,000 people during the mid-1950s. In 1960, 50 local authority clearance figures suggested long-term problems in addressing slums. Through the period 1955–1960, of the estimated 416,706 dwellings deemed unfit, only 62,372 had been cleared by 1960. The authority with the highest number of unfit homes was Liverpool with around 88,000, closely followed by Manchester. By March 1963, Liverpool had only cleared around 10% of the houses deemed unfit in 1955 and was one of 38 local authorities classes as having clearance problems requiring special attention. During 1964–1969, 385,270 houses in England were demolished or condemned during slum-clearance schemes. Slum clearance accelerated during the 1960s: 10,000 more slum houses were demolished during 1968 than in 1963. During a speech in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
by Alf Morris MP in 1965, it was noted that 20% of the country's poorest dwellings were in the North West region. In Manchester, many dwellings were considered uninhabitable, with an estimated 54,700 dwellings, representing 27.1% of the total, being unfit for habitation. Around three-quarters of the region's poorest residences were located in a belt of land dominated by Manchester and Liverpool. The decline of the region was noted in comparison to comments made by
antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
John Leland, who in 1538 described the town of Manchester as "the fairest, best builded" town he had seen. Morris considered that Manchester had shown "more vigour courage and compassion" than other cities in tacking the slum housing problem, with 4000 houses demolished both in 1963 and 1964, in line with set targets. When comparing slum clearances undertaken by Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield and Bristol, figures suggested that for the five years ending June 1965, Manchester was ahead of the other cities in the number of houses either demolished or compulsory purchased with a view to demolish. Towards the end of the 1960s, slum clearances and the subsequent destruction of communities were causing concerns for the government. The
Housing Act 1969 The Housing Act 1969 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that provided grants to home owners and landlords to improve the quality of their housing and to help finance local authorities to improve the quality of housing stock under thei ...
legislation was introduced to help authorities overcome problems with slum clearances by introducing the concept of General Improvement Areas, where improvement grants were available. It was estimated in 1970 that around 5 million people lived in condemned houses. The criteria to determine the type of house that could be defined as a slum was amended in the 1969 housing act, typically being applied to houses unfit for habitation and those beyond reasonable repair cost. In some cases, a slum clearance area could be declared without swift action, such as in South Kilburn, where 342 unfit houses were identified in 1965 yet only 22 had been demolished by 1970, with local MP
Laurence Pavitt Laurence Anstice Pavitt (1 February 1914 – 14 December 1989) was a Labour and Co-operative Party politician in the United Kingdom. Pavitt was a lifelong pacifist and a conscientious objector in the Second World War. He was secretary of the ...
commenting that the housing problems was of the most importance to his constituents. In September 1971, the National House Condition Survey estimated that around 1.2 million unfit properties in England and Wales, of which 700,000 (58%) fell within existing or proposed areas for clearance. By the early 1970s, new housing estates were mostly occupied by residents who had been displaced by slum clearance, or those allocates homes who were deemed in greatest need. However that was not always the case. The construction of the Byker Wall in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
was intended to provide modern social housing for the residents of
Byker Byker is a district in the east of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series '' Byker Grove'', Byker’s population was recorded at 12,206 in the 2011 census. Byker is borde ...
, an area of run-down back-to-back housing. Although the new development won many awards, fewer than 20% of the original 1700 Byker residents were eventually housed there by 1976. In England and Wales between 1955 and 1985, nearly 1.5 million houses were demolished or deemed unfit for habitation, causing the displacement of over 3.6 million people, with the vast majority affected living in urban areas.


Aftermath

Data from the
Ministry of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...
suggests that clearances which occurred between 1955 and 1985 resulted in around 1.5 million properties demolished and affected about 3.7 million people, although this does not account for people who left the area of their own choice. Few comprehensive studies were conducted at the time on the effect on communities being broken up and resettled.


Pathfinder programme

In 2002, the Labour government launched the
Housing Market Renewal Initiative The Housing Market Renewal Initiative (HMRI) or Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Pathfinders programme was a controversial Cole, Ian and Flint, John ''Addressing housing affordability, clearance and relocation issues in the Housing Market Renewal Path ...
scheme, aiming to demolish, refurbish or construct new housing, which ran until 2011. Known as the Pathfinder programme, areas of housing were demolished and replaced with new houses that were aimed towards aspirational tenants, rather than for residents that had formerly lived in the area. Areas in Liverpool, such as the Welsh Streets and the Granby Streets, were threatened with demolition under the scheme, but were saved and have since been regenerated and modernised.


References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * {{Housing in the United Kingdom Slum clearance Housing in the United Kingdom