Description: In 1984 Southwark Council requested £70 million from central government to finance its housing policy. It was awarded £30.5 million, of which £22 million was already committed, leaving only £7 million to be spent on only the most urgent repairs. This film, commissioned by Southwark Council, looks at the effect the cut will have on a council housing, the challenges the council is already experiencing with its existing housing stock, and the changes it proposes to make in order that tenants feel that they are getting a decent and fair service. Southwark has one of the largest housing stocks in the country – 62,000 properties, of which 7/10 are council-owned. A large proportion of these properties are flats that were built pre-war or in 1960s as part of the government’s slum clearance programme. During 60s there was extra subsidy for building high-rise flats and the council got more subsidies for the high-density estates. The Aylesbury estate is the largest single municipal housing scheme ever undertaken in Europe. The problem, according to the film, is that it and the other estates were rushed through because of government incentives and cash help with little regard for the disastrous consequences of coupling architects’ fashionable dreams with cheap industrialized construction schemes. Three women who live on one estate highlight the constant battle to get repairs done; flats are left unoccupied for months, leaving them vulnerable to vandalism, and the local housing office is badly organized. 54% of Southwark’s budget is spent on housing, which comes from rates and other government subsidies. But since 1979 the amount the rate-payer contributes has fallen by £1m. Out of every pound spent at the local rate office over half goes to city banks to pay the debt charges incurred by the housing schemes of 60s. One councillor says that the high-density estates should never have been built as they have destroyed communities; the council should have repaired its pre-war stock, which would have been a lot of work but would have been better socially, and would have saved a lot of money in the long run. People living in high-density estates don’t want to live there and don’t want to mix. It has also created a them-and-us situation with the district housing office. The Leader of the council says that they are addressing the problem with a tenancy agreement that introduces timetables for repairs and enables the tenant to seek financial reimbursement if the work is not done on time. It also introduces an independent arbitration service, whereby a tenant or the council can get a decision on a matter of dispute. The councillor for Housing Allocations admits that the current system is neither fair nor transparent and this is illustrated by the Malligans who were fobbed off by the Housing Department when they tried to get a transfer. The council has decided to change the system so that everyone understands it. Tenants will get points, and properties will be graded so that tenants will know how many points they

need to get upgraded. The Council also aims to decentralize the district area offices into neighbourhood housing units where tenants can get help and advice. In 70s Southwark acquired land from the Port of London Authority to develop low-rise low-density housing but that land has been taken from the Council by a private development corporation to build houses for private developers. According to the former leader of the Council this land could have played a part in the new build programme. The film closes with a councillor saying that the council has a real problem on its hands: it won’t make redundancies or cuts in services; it won’t raise the rents and it can’t raise the rates but it will go bust if it doesn’t get the missing millions back. There has to be a united front.