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National treasures
English Heritage claims many social housing estates deserve to be recognised. But does
listing an estate merely bring extra hassle, as well as expectations which can never be
fulfilled? Sarah Brownlee investigates
esidents were said to be proud but
bemused when their home, a
block of Newcastle Council flats,
was granted listed building status
recently because they had always
considered it to be a ‘a bit dull’.
Not perhaps the euphoric response English
Heritage would hope for but it knows by now
that when it comes to listing social housing,
reactions are generally muted.
Peter Beacham, head of urban strategies and
listing at English Heritage, has noted a marked
difference between his visits to different
schemes.
‘When I went to a public meeting at the
Barbican [a private estate in London] I was
carried practically shoulder high by residents
saying “Yes, why didn’t you list us years ago”?
‘That’s not the experience I had when I went
to Newcastle to visit the Byker Wall’
Designed in the 1970s by architect Ralph
Erskine, the Byker Wall was revolutionary not
R
only because it was completely unlike
anything that had gone before but because
tenants had a significant input in its
development.
While it has remained popular with
residents, the estate’s reputation has
plummeted. Some parts of the estate enjoy
relative peace but other areas suffer from
extraordinarily high levels of crime.
Nevertheless it is scheduled for grade II listing.
It begs the question: What does listing mean
for the future of estates and their tenants?
Speakers at a recent debate on the subject
were brought down to earth with a bump
when a resident from the listed Park Hill estate
in Sheffield piped up: ‘You are talking about
something that was a disaster and built for a
Mediterranean climate’.
Mr Beacham himself admits that listing will
not be appropriate for all housing estates of
architectural significance, conceding: ‘It can
work for good or ill’.
He agrees that is time for English Heritage
to take stock of the situation and consider how
it can make a more practical contribution to
the regeneration of the estates in question.
English Heritage is keen to shed its fusty
image and move with the times, he adds.
‘We don’t want to give the impression that it
comes along out of the blue and simply picks
something and says in its high-falutin way
“well you didn’t know it was nationally
significant but I’ll tell you it is” and then walk
way from it.’
The decision to list some parts of the Alton
estate in Roehampton, a Le Corbusier style
scheme built in the 1950s and praised by Lord
Rogers as being the perfect example of a
modern utopia, has not been popular with the
local council. Its biggest concern was always
that listing would stop it from carrying out
vital repairs. These concerns remain.
As a spokesperson for Wandsworth Council
says: ‘We have not found [listing] to be
PICTURES: ENGLISH HERITAGE AND JIM VARNEY
Status symbols: The Alton
Estate’s Danebury Avenue
(below) Park Hill (right) and
the Barbican (top right).
14 inside housing 31 August 2001
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particularly helpful. There’s a whole load of
bureaucracy to go through just to do even
minor changes.
‘Simple repairs and renovation like new
windows or a change of colour scheme
become extremely difficult and we’re talking
about increasing costs many times over’. For
Wandsworth the option of conservation area
status is far more appealing. This would give
the estate the protection and recognition that
it needs without going the whole hog of
listing.
Keith Knight, historic buildings architect
with English Heritage, concedes that in many
cases conservation area status is more
appropriate but does not agree that listing is as
restrictive as some councils fear.‘They can
modernise them, of course they can, they just
can’t do major alterations.’ He points out that
there can be some financial benefits as once a
building is listed it can be eligible for grants.
Mr Knight believes that out-dated
legislation is to blame for current problems.
‘When the legislation was created they didn’t
have these estates in mind. You have to have
new legislation to fit into a contemporary
scenario. But this just isn’t a government
priority,’ he argues.
Difficulties aside, Mr Knight insists that the
estates in question must be listed if only
because they represent a period in history
where there was a genuine passion for urban
planning and social housing design. As he
says: ‘It was one of the most intellectual
characteristics of the movement. For the first
time in the history of architecture the housing
of the ordinary man and woman became the
term from which it was thought a great
architecture could be generated.’
Joanne Roney, executive director of housing
and direct services at Sheffield Council, does
not dispute the worth of listing post-war
housing estates. She was immensely proud
when the city’s Park Hill was listed in 1998.
Ms Roney, along with many residents, has
an emotional attachment to the estate and
feels it deserves recognition. The gargantuan
scheme, built in 1965, involved re-housing
whole rows of slum tenements in sky high
brutalist blocks. It was considered vitally
important to keep established communities
together.
But Ms Roney’s argument is simply that the
support is not available to fulfil the
expectations that listing brings. It will cost
millions of pounds to bring the estate up to
conservation standard, way beyond the means
of the council.‘We thought it (listing) would
mean the start of regeneration. We are
disappointed’, says Ms Roney.
While English Heritage is making a
concerted effort to get involved in the
regeneration of the estate and representatives
from the organisation will form part of the
steering group set up to establish its longterm future, ultimately the council is on its
own.
For the time being English Heritage is
unable to answer Ms Roney’s question: ‘Will
Park Hill simply become a monument or will
it remain as it was intended, a living
community?’
31 August 2001 inside housing 15