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Commenting on the fire at the Grenfell Tower in West London, the University’s Professor Helen Carr, an expert in housing law, says ‘we should all be alert to, and resist, the tendency of both local and central government to blame the governed for its own failings’.
She comments: ‘I am not an apologist for Kensington and Chelsea. Far from it. What I am asking for is for Kensington and Chelsea to put up its hands and admit that it was in an impossible situation and to make explicit central government’s responsibility for the mess of contemporary housing policy.
‘The council is most unlikely to do this and much more likely to blame the residents, whether because of unapproved alterations, disabling of fire proof doors or whatever else might emerge, for its own failings.
‘Some argue that the collapse of Ronan Point which killed four people in 1968 following a gas explosion within the tower block marked the beginning of the end of the welfare state.
‘Grenfell Tower may well have a similar place in history, the moment when the contradictions and impossibilities of contemporary housing policy were revealed to everyone in a tragedy that is a national shame.
‘In 1974, when Grenfell Tower was built, it all seemed so much simpler. The council was the proud landlord of a brand new building allocated to tenants selected from its waiting list, all of whom had the same tenancy agreement, one written by the council, and reserving to it all sorts of powers to ensure it could manage the building, and the people living in it.
‘It made economic sense to employ caretakers and rent collectors, so there was personal contact between the tenants and the council. However the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 triggered a process which made the management of tower blocks so much more complicated, if not impossible.
‘As is well known, the Housing Act of 1980 gave statutory force to the Right to Buy. Many tenants, tempted by substantial discounts, bought their homes and over the years 1.87 million homes were sold.
‘Tenants were also given, for the first time, security of tenure and other rights such as the right to improve their homes or take in lodgers, reducing what many believed to be the excessive powers of their landlord, local authorities.
‘The Right to Buy, however, was only one of a series of reforms which impacted upon housing policy. The Homeless Persons Act 1977 imposed statutory duties upon local authorities to house homeless families and vulnerable individuals, disrupting the waiting list system.
‘This led to more people, with greater housing and other needs, being housed in a declining number of properties. Policies, such as only housing families on the first five floors of a tower block, had to be abandoned.
‘In addition, the close and often personal contact between councils and their tenants could no longer be sustained as public management reforms subjected council services to the rigours of the market.
‘Welfare reforms such as the ‘bedroom’ tax and the benefit cap have also impacted upon housing management, with an added twist, the government has actively encouraged tenants to take in lodgers so as to be able to afford their rent, adding to the dense mix of residents.
‘Following the introduction of buy-to-let mortgages in 1995, an increasing number of home owners bought second homes and became landlords.
‘Flats in tower blocks were particularly attractive to investors. Particular inducements were offered to the tenants of tower blocks to purchase their flats. From 1983 the price discounts were considerably higher than on houses.
‘But the reluctance of lenders to offer mortgages for this sort of property meant that cash buyers were privileged, and they were most likely to buy the flats for renting out. At the time of the fire, rents were around £2000 per month for a two-bedroom flat in Grenfell Tower.
‘The result is that a whole variety of occupiers – from long lessees, to short term tenants, to undocumented informal occupiers – live in London’s tower blocks. The resources available to the landlord to manage the impossible situation into which it has been placed are increasingly constrained, and it is constantly asking its Tenants Management Organisation to do more for less.
‘The complexity of the task facing the TMO, and ultimately Kensington and Chelsea, is a significant factor in the tragedy, and one which must not be overlooked by any inquiry.’
Professor Helen Carr, of Kent Law School, is an expert in the fields of housing, social welfare and public law. She co-authored a report ‘Reconciling owning and renting in shared ownership housing: Moving forward’ in 2015 that examined the practices of shared ownership in the UK.