DOCTOR ADDISON`S ACT OF TRANSFORMATION

City that led the way is proud no longer

This month is the 100^th anniversary of the Addison Act  that gave the go ahead to council housing which has transformed every town and city in the country.

Nowhere was that transformation greater than in Carlisle.The city led Britain in the provision of council houses in the years between the two world wars

The anniversary is being celebrated in many places and the leading social housing magazine Inside Housing plans a series of articles looking at how the act transformed the social fabric of the country and created the housing sector we know today.

  The  act – the very first housing act passed in this country –is named after its sponsor Dr  Christopher Addison(above) a doctor and surgeon and a Liberal MP for Shoreditch in London, one of the most overcrowded districts of the capital.  He brought that expertise and experience to his vision and drive for housing as the first Minister of Health and Housing.

Playing a leading part in the 100th anniversary celebrations is  the acclaimed  social historian John Boughton who has told the full story of  council housing in his recently-published book : Municipal Dreams- the Rise and Fall of Council Housing.

Sadly, there is to be no anniversary celebrations in Carlisle despite the city`s proud inter-war record.John Boughton`s book has this to say about that record:

"Carlisle with its self-defined anti-socialist  council has a good claim to have built the most council houses per head of the population: 4,702, meaning that 27 per cent of the town`s population lived in council homes by 1939".

                                                                    Inter-war Carlisle council houses at Raffles

 Perhaps  there would have been celebrations in Carlisle if Labour had retained control of the city council at the recent May elections.But the city  is now Conservative controlled and few people expect support for council housing from the Tories.

Hopefully that position can be reversed, particularly as more and more city tenants are becoming dissatisfied with the bossy and inefficient  Riverside Housing Association of Liverpool which took over the city`s 6,000 council houses 17 years ago.
    Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 52227