ARCH member councils are beginning to let us know their plans to
celebrate the centenary of the Addison Act and 100 years of council
housing.
Under the Addison Act, Local Authorities were given the task of
developing new housing and rented accommodation where it was needed
by "working people". Backed with Government financial support, this
enabled the construction of council housing at scale in a way that
is still known today.
Government design guidance strongly recommended high quality,
well-proportioned housing, with gardens where possible: a very big
change from most working-class housing at the time.
Sheffield embraced the challenge and the construction of a
number of new estates commenced very quickly.
Prior to the act, the then Corporation in Sheffield had
concentrated its housing delivery at Wincobank, building 617 houses
on the estate by the end of 1916.
As a result of the Addison Act, new housing quickly got underway
on the Norwood estate, followed by the estates at Walkley,
Woodhouse/Handsworth, Wadsley, Brushes, Stubbin and the Manor
estate in the city.
Sheffield Council wishes to mark this important anniversary with
a range of activities and events and has begun by publishing an
article in the latest edition of "Your Home, Your Neighbourhood" -
the newsletter for council tenants and leaseholders in
Sheffield.
A special article in the newsletter asks
residents to share photos and memories about life in this new
council housing and invites applications for a Community Fund Grant
to help celebrate the centenary in local communities.
ARCH is keen to promote local celebrations of the Addison Act,
not only to celebrate the significant contribution that council
housing has made to the lives of ordinary people over the last 100
years, but also to emphasize the continuing role council housing
should play in future.
Working with our colleagues at the National Federation of Almos
(NFA) we are asking all our member councils to let us know what
they are planning to do to celebrate 100 years of council housing
and if you have not already done so, to complete our
survey to let us know your council's plans.
Finally, we are trying to get everyone to use a universal
hashtag for social media comments on the Addison Act -
#100yearsofcouncilhousing and/or #addisonact. Please circulate
these hashtags to any of your staff and residents who are
communicating on Addison Act celebrations.