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From the archive – bendy buses, rough sleeping and ‘Into the Nineties’
What was happening in the sector this week 10, 20 and 30 years ago
1990
The Housing Corporation was at loggerheads with the National Federation of Housing Associations (a forerunner to today’s National Housing Federation) due to a planned overhaul of the way it targeted grant funding.
In a policy document, Into the Nineties, the Housing Corporation had suggested directing housing grant away from the most expensive areas – such as London – in order to provide higher volumes of homes in cheaper areas.
Jim Coulter, director of the National Federation of Housing Associations, said: “This represents a serious policy shift that needs major public debate. We cannot simply shift people around who want to live in and are needed to sustain the workforce in high-cost areas.”
2000
The front page of Inside Housing 20 years ago (above) focused on the sudden departure of Anthony Mayer, chief executive of the Housing Corporation.
Mr Mayer, who had led the quango since 1991, left to become temporary chief executive of Transport for London, with Simon Dow, deputy chief executive of the corporation, stepping into his shoes.
Mr Mayer was headhunted for his role, having helped the corporation implement a new regulatory regime which placed “best value” at the heart of the system.
Mr Dow would go on to become chief executive of Guinness and later interim chair of the Regulator of Social Housing – a role he continues to occupy.
2010
The government was accused of rewriting the definition for rough sleeping in a bid to help London hit its challenging target for the Olympic Games in 2012. The agency responsible for delivering the target had realised it may be possible to end entrenched rough sleeping in the capital by 2012, but it would be impossible to stop new rough sleepers bedding down.
The story also revealed that an increasing number of rough sleepers in the capital were bedding down on the ‘bendy buses’ which served a number of bus routes in the capital. A specific outreach team had found 44 rough sleepers on the vehicles.
Ten years on, the government has a new target to eradicate rough sleeping by 2025 and bendy buses have been scrapped.
