tower blocks - the challenge
The problems of tower blocks
Many high-rise estates have become concentrated cases of urban decay
and social exclusion. They present a messy knot into which are tied the
strands of poor health, bad housing conditions, lack of facilities and
services, isolation, crime, a depressing environment, and economic inactivity.
Any efforts to make them better places to live must address the wider
social, environmental and economic context. Policies and projects aimed
at tower blocks must link in with local regeneration programmes.
With some blocks, there are fundamental problems which cannot be put right - they may be structurally unsound or unfit for habitation; or the way that the block and the surrounding estate were planned may have failed to work.
These are the blocks which are beyond salvaging. They need to be identified and demolished. Demolition may also be the best option if there is little or no housing demand in the area, or if the block has such deep social problems that the best hope lies in giving the residents a new start elsewhere. Yet that leaves the majority of tower blocks. Many may have serious problems but they can be turned around and made decent places to live.
Knocking the blocks?
The majority of tower blocks are owned by local authorities. Others are now owned or managed by housing associations, and this will increase markedly in the next few years, although many associations have no experience of the specific problems related to high-rise.
For landlords, demolition often appears to be the simple solution. It's cheap, quick, and can free up small amounts of land for new development. However, to get anything like the same housing density with low-rise involves packing in a lot of small homes with very little green space.
If the full 'joined-up' cost implications are considered, including the need for new house building, demolition is inefficient and expensive. But as is all too often the case, the real costs of a policy choice are not reflected in the price tag picked up by one agency. This is compounded by the funding regime in the social housing sector. Finance is easier to come by for housing association new-build than for the refurbishment of local authority stock.
There have been many innovative approaches to refurbishment, but the costs remain a problem, partly due to taxation policy, and partly due to lack of funds. The result is that local authorities cannot afford to upgrade more than a fraction of their high-rise stock, and demolition is made to appear the only option. In this situation government action is required to ensure that desirable policy objectives are not being undermined by inappropriate financial incentives.
While many blocks have been demolished, most remain. They suffer from
a wide range of problems:
- Some relate to the physical conditions of the blocks;
- Others are related to management and lettings policy issues;
- The image of tower blocks locally and nationally is often seen as
a draw-back;
- Service provision, usually through the landlord, is often unsatisfactory.
Due to these problems tower blocks themselves have come to be seen as problems rather than resources.
Towers for people?
As things stand, tower blocks are often unpopular. This means that they are low on housing priority lists, and are used as short-term accommodation for those waiting to move into houses or low-rise flats. One reason why tower blocks so often fail is that they are not used appropriately. For any tower block to sustain a sense of community, flats need to be let to people who are happy to be there. The importance of giving people more say in choosing a home that is right for them is recognised by Government housing policies.
It is clear that tower blocks are not suitable for a particular section of the population - families with children. Broadly speaking this leaves two other main types of household: young people without children, and middle-aged to elderly people without children. In general terms it is possible to make tower blocks cater successfully for these groups. Tower blocks can be particularly popular with elderly people, providing that a high standard of security is maintained.
As well as the people, the key ingredients are a combination of better services, physical improvements to the building, attention to the underlying structural problems of the wider neighbourhood, and long-term community development. This package can seem expensive, but only because the costs are not being off-loaded elsewhere. None of these ingredients can be left out if neighbourhood renewal is to work for tower block communities. The investment will be worthwhile if landlords and residents then benefit from the built-in advantages of tower blocks, as described below.
