Slum clearance in the United Kingdom
Slum clearance in the United Kingdom has been used as an urban renewal 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.
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 where it was reported around 27% 'may' have been unfit for human habitation, although the majority were well built solid structures that could have been renovated or repurposed. Housing, churches, schools and pubs that 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 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.
Background[edit]
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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[1] Demolition 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.[4] Generally, no account of the incident or impact of housing clearance was taken before the 2000s.[1]
Pathfinder programme[edit]
In 2002, the Labour government launched the Housing Market Renewal Initiative 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.[28] 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.