Memorandum-to-the-Prime-Minister-on-Unaffordable-Housing

decline in Federal support for housing. Prices and rents have moved up much faster than incomes and an
‘affordability gap’ has been <strong>the</strong> result. Demand side subsidies have been applied <strong>to</strong> plug <strong>the</strong> gap between what
people can afford and what <strong>the</strong>y need <strong>to</strong> pay for housing. But city governments are among those that have
realised that <strong>the</strong> subsidy necessary <strong>to</strong> fill <strong>the</strong> gap is getting larger and consequently more expensive on public
finances. By promoting CLTs, which effectively take <strong>the</strong> land costs out of housing, <strong>the</strong> subsidy has a permanent
ra<strong>the</strong>r than a self-defeating transi<strong>to</strong>ry effect.
Future forms of social organisation and ownership - Walter<strong>to</strong>n and Elgin Community Homes (WECH)
In 2000,WECH was judged by <strong>the</strong> World Health Organisation <strong>to</strong> be among <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>p three projects in <strong>the</strong> world
for successfully empowering residents and improving <strong>the</strong>ir health.WECH is acknowledged by <strong>the</strong> leading UK
experts <strong>to</strong> be at <strong>the</strong> cutting edge of resident controlled housing and <strong>to</strong> be a model for delivering both
affordability and social capital.
The WECH initiative began in 1985 among a number of residents in an area of Padding<strong>to</strong>n. Most of <strong>the</strong> housing
s<strong>to</strong>ck was over 100 years old, but it also included two 1960s <strong>to</strong>wer blocks.The Vic<strong>to</strong>rian houses had few
amenities, leaked and were damp.The <strong>to</strong>wer blocks were riddled with asbes<strong>to</strong>s.The landlords,Westminster City
Council, were seeking <strong>to</strong> evict residents and sell <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ck for conversion in<strong>to</strong> luxury premises.
The residents campaigned <strong>to</strong> save <strong>the</strong>ir homes and formed a Trust <strong>to</strong> buy <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ck. In 1992 <strong>the</strong>y assumed
ownership under <strong>the</strong> law obliging local authorities <strong>to</strong> dispose of tenanted s<strong>to</strong>ck if a buyer, approved by <strong>the</strong>
Housing Corporation, made an application.WECH was founded as a Community Based Housing Association
and registered with <strong>the</strong> Housing Corporation. It began <strong>to</strong> renovate and manage <strong>the</strong> 660 homes in a fully
participative way.While 23% of <strong>the</strong> properties are leasehold,WECH retains <strong>the</strong> freehold.
The Board is almost entirely resident-based, with expert input, and rents are set so as <strong>to</strong> cover management and
maintenance and <strong>to</strong> safeguard <strong>the</strong> future of <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ck.There is no relationship at all between rent setting and <strong>the</strong>
capital values of <strong>the</strong> properties.This produces some of <strong>the</strong> lowest rents in <strong>the</strong> South East (ranging from £53 per
week for a one bed flat <strong>to</strong> £111 per week for a five bedroom house) and delivers <strong>the</strong> highest quality homes,
management and maintenance.WECH uses around thirty homes <strong>to</strong> house homeless households in a high quality
social and housing environment and it is this income which is expected <strong>to</strong> provide for expansion.
A key element in <strong>the</strong> organisation is <strong>the</strong> highly participative management style and <strong>the</strong> provision of supportive
services.This produces social conditions with demonstrably effective health promotional effects (evidenced in
Ambrose 1996).There is evidence of dramatic extensions <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> longevity of older and at risk individuals.The
explanation for this appears <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> organisation’s emphasis on an asset-based, internally-focused, relationshipdriven
model of management.
The residents now view <strong>the</strong>mselves as a family ra<strong>the</strong>r than a community. In a sense everyone lives under one
roof owned collectively by WECH and 12% of <strong>the</strong> households are related <strong>to</strong> one o<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> form of co-located
family networks.
The emergence of a large family from a community based housing association is a remarkable and challenging
sociological development. It offers exciting possibilities for public policy – a mechanism for improvement that
is older than s<strong>to</strong>ne <strong>to</strong>ols. It also suggests that humankind’s most resilient, yet sorely tested, form of social
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Zacchaeus 2000 Trust - <strong>Memorandum</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Prime</strong> <strong>Minister</strong> - May 2005