ESTATE ANATOMIES
a survey of rhythms and layers
Experimental mapping for multiple scales and temporalities
Swiss Cottage // Camden // London
Estate Anatomies invites you to walk (or click) through North Camden to explore the inner layers of how we live together.
You can follow this map to walk the site along the routes of buried rivers, railway tracks and obscured histories yourself or use this platform to uncover how extraction and enslavement can shape the homes we live in. We hope you enjoy going underground, looking up and looking back with us
You can follow this map to walk the site along the routes of buried rivers, railway tracks and obscured histories yourself or use this platform to uncover how extraction and enslavement can shape the homes we live in. We hope you enjoy going underground, looking up and looking back with us
We begin with a brief introduction to London’s social housing history to guide you on this journey.
Social Housing Context
Safe, secure and affordable housing is a right. However, in London and elsewhere, access to housing is becoming ever more challenging. Deregulation and privatisation have led to increased precarity for many. Those on waiting lists for social housing can wait decades to be housed; private tenants are often faced with short term tenancies in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs); buying a home is impossible for many; and right to rent checks mean that access to housing is highly racialised. Alongside this, we know that far too many people are living in dangerous or uninhabitable homes with overcrowding, mould, or even flammable cladding.
London has a rich history of providing housing. Camden in particular is famous for its social housing history, heritage and architecture. Some of Camden’s estates are world renowned. Others, however, remain unsung. On the estates we have worked on, we have heard of challenges, fierce complaints and celebrations whether the buildings are adored by the architectural community or not.
To guide you through this platform, we provide you with a very brief history of social housing in London.
The first municipal social housing in London was built by the then brand new London County Council just a few miles to the east of Camden in Tower Hamlets in 1889. The London County Council built housing all across London until it was replaced by the Greater London Council in 1965. The Greater London Council also continued to build social housing outside of London and manage existing properties within London until its abolition under Thatcher in 1986.
Individual London Boroughs also built social housing for their residents. Camden Council was created in 1965 when three former boroughs: Hampstead, St Pancras and Holborn were merged. The chief architect for Camden between 1965-1973, Sydney Cook, is famous for building distinctive modernist estates across the borough. Less well known, however, are the histories of Camden’s LCC estates and how private interests have shaped social housing in the borough. The three estates we explore here reflect these histories. Hilgrove was built by the LCC, Chalcots was a concession to Hampstead Borough Council, and Alexandra Road Estate was built by Camden Council under Cook.
In London, it was possible to apply for social housing either through a borough or the GLC until 1986. There were also a number of registered social landlords such as housing associations that people could be referred to or apply to directly. Social housing policy changed drastically with the introduction of Right to Buy in 1980. Right to Buy radically reduced the amount of social housing stock. Successive acts reduced the capacity for councils to build new social housing.
Today, it is possible to apply for social housing through a registered social landlord such as a housing association or through a borough (local council). The coalition government of 2010-2015 introduced shorter term council tenancies - meaning that not everyone is automatically guaranteed a secure tenancy. As a result of Right to Buy, social housing waiting lists are very long and many formerly publicly owned properties are now in the private rented sector, often rented out as Houses of Multiple Occupation.
The three estates we explore here have very different tenant compositions: council owned, owner occupied, privately rented. These are closely linked to the desirability of certain types of building and whether mortgage providers will lend against certain types of construction. The concrete construction at Alexandra Road Estate means that it is only possible to buy a property there in cash. The more traditional construction on Hilgrove means that many more properties are now in private ownership. On Chalcots, the unresolved cladding issue means that it is almost impossible for private owners to remortgage or sell their properties.
In 2013, the coalition government introduced the bedroom tax which reduces welfare benefits paid to social housing tenants deemed to be living in too large a home. The majority of properties on Hilgrove, Chalcots and Alexandra have two bedrooms which means single tenants and couples in these properties are more likely to have their benefits cut. There are fewer one bed and bedsit properties.
As you click or walk through the estates, it is worth thinking about how different forms of local governance and social policy have shaped the way the three estates look, feel, and shape lives.
Safe, secure and affordable housing is a right. However, in London and elsewhere, access to housing is becoming ever more challenging. Deregulation and privatisation have led to increased precarity for many. Those on waiting lists for social housing can wait decades to be housed; private tenants are often faced with short term tenancies in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs); buying a home is impossible for many; and right to rent checks mean that access to housing is highly racialised. Alongside this, we know that far too many people are living in dangerous or uninhabitable homes with overcrowding, mould, or even flammable cladding.
London has a rich history of providing housing. Camden in particular is famous for its social housing history, heritage and architecture. Some of Camden’s estates are world renowned. Others, however, remain unsung. On the estates we have worked on, we have heard of challenges, fierce complaints and celebrations whether the buildings are adored by the architectural community or not.
To guide you through this platform, we provide you with a very brief history of social housing in London.
The first municipal social housing in London was built by the then brand new London County Council just a few miles to the east of Camden in Tower Hamlets in 1889. The London County Council built housing all across London until it was replaced by the Greater London Council in 1965. The Greater London Council also continued to build social housing outside of London and manage existing properties within London until its abolition under Thatcher in 1986.
Individual London Boroughs also built social housing for their residents. Camden Council was created in 1965 when three former boroughs: Hampstead, St Pancras and Holborn were merged. The chief architect for Camden between 1965-1973, Sydney Cook, is famous for building distinctive modernist estates across the borough. Less well known, however, are the histories of Camden’s LCC estates and how private interests have shaped social housing in the borough. The three estates we explore here reflect these histories. Hilgrove was built by the LCC, Chalcots was a concession to Hampstead Borough Council, and Alexandra Road Estate was built by Camden Council under Cook.
In London, it was possible to apply for social housing either through a borough or the GLC until 1986. There were also a number of registered social landlords such as housing associations that people could be referred to or apply to directly. Social housing policy changed drastically with the introduction of Right to Buy in 1980. Right to Buy radically reduced the amount of social housing stock. Successive acts reduced the capacity for councils to build new social housing.
Today, it is possible to apply for social housing through a registered social landlord such as a housing association or through a borough (local council). The coalition government of 2010-2015 introduced shorter term council tenancies - meaning that not everyone is automatically guaranteed a secure tenancy. As a result of Right to Buy, social housing waiting lists are very long and many formerly publicly owned properties are now in the private rented sector, often rented out as Houses of Multiple Occupation.
The three estates we explore here have very different tenant compositions: council owned, owner occupied, privately rented. These are closely linked to the desirability of certain types of building and whether mortgage providers will lend against certain types of construction. The concrete construction at Alexandra Road Estate means that it is only possible to buy a property there in cash. The more traditional construction on Hilgrove means that many more properties are now in private ownership. On Chalcots, the unresolved cladding issue means that it is almost impossible for private owners to remortgage or sell their properties.
In 2013, the coalition government introduced the bedroom tax which reduces welfare benefits paid to social housing tenants deemed to be living in too large a home. The majority of properties on Hilgrove, Chalcots and Alexandra have two bedrooms which means single tenants and couples in these properties are more likely to have their benefits cut. There are fewer one bed and bedsit properties.
As you click or walk through the estates, it is worth thinking about how different forms of local governance and social policy have shaped the way the three estates look, feel, and shape lives.
