The Empty Homes Agency is an

independent campaigning charity, which

exists to highlight the waste of empty
property in England and works with others
to devise and promote sustainable
solutions to bring empty property back
into use.

Low Demand Update

Social Housing—To BeOr NotTo rented accommodation(3.8 milliondwellings as at 2002)
is very much soughtafter and respectedbytenants.
Be? So the point I ammaking, in this debate, is that we need
to go back to basics or square one, re-brand/re-name
After reading the two followup letters in this weeks In- our public housingaccommodation (without spending
side Housing (22nd October 2004) - 'Sustainabilitya millions of £'s either) andget rid of the outdated buzz-
fairy tale withoutradical rethink' - Inger Collingridge word - 'Social Housing'.
and 'Playground forpoliticians andhousing profes-
sionals' - Roger Farnell - in response to TimDwelly's We thenall (landlords and tenants) needto look where
column on1st October 2004, I feel it is time for me to there are lowdemand housing problems across the UK
join the debate and have mysayon the subject. and jointly(public and private sector) get our heads to-
gether andcome up with the solutions, after all it's not
I've beena housing professional for over 40 years now rocket science why people do not want to live incertain
and boyhave I seen some changes in my time. But the parts of the country! Witha little bit of enthusiasm,
first thing I would like to ask is verysimple indeed- who imagination and finding out what your tenants want on
created the 'buzzword' Social Housing andwhy? In my 'their' estates, it wouldnot be too longbefore some of
opinion, that was the start of the manyproblems we now our undesirable lowdemand housing areas, couldbe-
find in that sector, as in doing so it createda two tier (or come highly desirable!
even three tier) systemof housing in the UK. What is
wrong witha simple brand name of 'rentedaccommoda- If youneed anyfurther information or practical advice on
tion?' Do we have a two/three tier systemin the owner advertising, lettingand marketing rentedaccommoda-
occupiers sector? No, just one, so whydo we have one tion andsustaining your/their communities (no buzz-
in the rented accommodation sector? Anyone have the words here onlycommonsense phrases and terms),
answers? Then I'd love to hear fromyou. then visit www.emptyhomes.com/whatsnew.htmand
click on 'Low Demand Project' orwrite to me at The
Fromnowon, let's call all rented housingaccommoda- Empty Homes Agency, Northern Office, PO Box3609,
tion in the UK (private andpublic sector alike), 'Rented Barnsley, S75 1WWand I will be pleasedto answer
Accommodation', then we are not creatinga fundamen- your questions or visit you personally.
tal 'divide' inour society, which is what has happened
over the past 20or 30 years or so. If that's not accept- Yours sincerely
able, then lets have a national competition, (witha really J ohn Earnshaw
goodprize), for our tenants to come up with a new
'brand' name that is acceptable. No needto spend mil-
lions of £'s. EVENTS

I was fortunate to go on holidayto Austria in the sum- • UNECE Social Housing Conference in
mer and whilst I was there, I was invited to Innsbruck Vienna on 28th - 30th November
by Dr Professor Klaus Lugger (Head of Housing) to
have a guided tour of their rentedhousing stock. After SUMMI T 2005
the magnificent tour of Innsbruck he gave me a book
that he had written called 'Handbook of Housing in • ODPM - Delivering Sustainable
Austria 2004' and I would like to take one or two quotes Communities
fromthat book, which might prove to be of some use to
us in the UK and perhaps we could learn something on • Summit - G-MEX Manchester 31
housing fromour EU neighbours - J anuary to 2 February 2005

• "On average 17% of all households in the EU

registered delinquencyand vandalismin their J ohn will be speaking at:
neighbourhoods. In Austria, there were only DEC—2004
7% ! Our Trek: The Next Regeneration
• Even more revealingare the results for low Our J ourney to Sustainable
income groups: here, the average EU value Communities— 19-11-04
is 21%, in Austria only6%". Urban Forum Annual Conference,
Gateshead Hilton
Dr Lugger goes on to say- "thanks to the public promo- 6th & 7th December 2004
tion of housing, Austria has practicallyno slums and no
Northern Office:
remarkable ghettos". CI H Southern Housing Management The Empty Homes Agency
Conference - workshop on Marketing Low PO Box 3609
In Austria, theycall their public housing 'rentedaccom- Demand - 25th & 26th J anuary 2005 Barnsley
modation', no mention of the word 'social' and their S75 1WW
Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
Mobile: 07719 798 033