Introduction

This chapter explores housing quality, as a dimension of estate success and problems, and a potential cause of unpopularity. It covers building design and estate layout, which have been singled out in the literature (see Chapter 3), but also other elements such as amenities, internal space and condition, expert assessments of layout, and expert and resident assessments of aesthetics. It focuses on the period from the start of estate lifetimes to the 1970s, when housing quality, initially high, had fallen or was falling across the estates. The period from the 1970s to date is covered in the next chapter.

Measuring housing quality

The physical quality of housing and the quality of experiences it gives its residents has been an important concern for researchers and policy makers since the 19th century or earlier, particularly due to the link with health (Burnett 1978; Marsh et al 2000; Thomson et al 2009). Statisticians wanted to measure overcrowding as early as 1891 (GRO 1904). From 1935, the ‘room standard’, and from 1960 the ‘bedroom standard’, attempted to take into account different space needs of adults and children (Holmans 2005). In 1949, a set of ‘standard’ housing ‘amenities’ was set down for England and Wales in legislation, due to concern about the effect of their absence on health (Leather and Morrison 1997). The list of ‘amenities’ has changed over time, itself a testimony to rising quality. In 1951, the census asked about a cooking stove with oven, kitchen sink, fixed bath or shower, toilet, hand basin and indoor piped water. In 1961 an indoor toilet was required but sinks only specified in shared homes. In 1981 only a fixed bath and indoor toilet were required, and the other amenities were assumed. In 1991 central heating was added. By 2011, only central heating was asked about (Holmans 2005). From 1999, the Decent Homes programme set a new standard to encourage further improvement, particularly in social housing. A ‘decent’ home met statutory minimum standards, was in reasonable repair, with modern facilities, and provided thermal comfort (DCLG 2004).