From the archive - week of 1 May

30 years ago

The government was putting forward for consultation a proposal to set up a new housing agency for Scotland, called Scottish Homes, to oversee the transfer of housing from traditional public sector landlords.

The proposed agency was to be created by the merger of the Scottish Special Housing Association (SSHA) and the Housing Corporation in Scotland, but would have wider powers than either organisation.

Its brief was to stimulate a change of tenure on local authority peripheral estates to co-ops, housing associations and private owners.

The new agency was expected to disperse SSHA stock as quickly as possible and privatise its direct labour organisation.

The proposals were to require legislation after the general election, with the aim to establish Scottish Homes by April 1990.

20 years ago

Housing benefit curbs, which began with the introduction of local reference rents in January 1996, were being blamed for halted growth in the private rented sector. This was accompanied by warnings that private lets would no longer be able to compensate for failings in public sector housing.

In the first half of the 1990s, the private sector made up for shortfalls caused by government cuts to the social housing programme. “This is the first clear evidence that it will no longer be the case,” said academic Steve Wilcox.

Meanwhile, Lambeth Council had no objections to its tenant Peter Gurney, 59, keeping more than 50 guinea pigs in his Clapham flat. Mr Gurney (left) was due to publish his third book, What’s My Guinea Pig?.

10 years ago

Inside Housing had learned that empty sheltered homes were being given to healthy people in their 50s, drug addicts and, potentially, low-paid key workers. A trend to fill hard-to-let sheltered bedsits in areas with an acute affordable housing shortage was identified in Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey.

“To let empty properties to people with support needs who may suffer from serious mental health or drug and alcohol issues, or at times both, has led to a situation where older people in sheltered housing find themselves in a very vulnerable situation,” said one housing professional.

The Audit Commission said progress to address hard-to-let sheltered housing had been slow since a 1998 report found 87% of local authorities were affected by the problem.

Separately, the former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke was setting out a vision for councils to take the lead in housing development and suggesting that the government should relax the borrowing rules that were preventing local authorities from building more homes.