Housing Act 1969

The Housing Act 1969 (c. 33) is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that provided grants to home owners and landlords to improve the quality of their housing and to help finance local authorities to improve the quality of housing stock under their control.

Context
The act gained royal assent in July 1969 and commencing on 25 August 1969. The legislation established the concept of General Improvement Areas which could be declared in regions of derelict or run-down housing to allow for regeneration as opposed to demolition and slum clearance. The act raised the maximum amount available from improvement grants, from £500 to £1200  for each property conversion of three or more storys, or 20% less for any other types of improvement, although the amount was flexible at the discretion of local authorities. A previous condition that restricted owners from selling homes improved with grant funding was removed under the act, with no evidence suggesting that this had created any problems when reported in May 1970. Other previous restrictions, such as a proportion of a grant needing to be repaid if a house was sold for owner-occupation within three years was also removed in the act.

The act made it difficult for local authorities to delay undertaking renewal actions and placed a duty upon them to review the conditions of housing in their districts, with grants available for aesthetic improvements such as to encourage tree planting. In reaction to the act, councils in cities including London, Glasgow and Leeds started to prepare proposals for regenerating run-down housing. Of particular note was Liverpool City Council's response to the act, which invited the housing charity Shelter to rehabilitate run-down housing in the Granby ward of Toxteth. At this time, just 17% of houses in the area where owner-occupied and many where privately owned and rented, often with multiple occupation.

Under part III of the act, landlords were able to obtain a qualification certificate from the local authority for the purposes of obtaining a "fair rent" on properties improved sufficiently enough that they were fit for habitation and in good repair for their age. The act superseded the Housing Subsidies Act 1967, which provided housing associations a contribution towards the cost of acquiring homes to be improved.

Operation
Pamphlets advising people how to modernise their home were distributed in the months following the act becoming legal, totaling 300,000 copies by November 1969. During the first three months of the act's operation, the value of grants paid for improvement and conversion to owners, associations and landlords was £3.4M, although this figure included grants approved under previous legislation. From September 1969 to February 1970, there was a 5,515 increase in grants approved in England and Wales compared to the same period 12 months prior, with an increase of 5,866 grants to private owners, although there were also 351 fewer grants to authorities.

By March 1970, 28 authorities had declared general improvement areas that involved 31 different schemes, which had increased to 40 authorities declaring 49 improvement areas by May 1970. Around a year later in February 1971, 115 improvement areas had been declared in England and Wales by 87 local authorities.