Attempts to impose a rent rise for council homes in the 1970s led to a famous rebellion by left-wing councillors in Derbyshire. The issues at stake continue to resonate today, writes Jules Birch
This Saturday (tomorrow) marks the 50th anniversary of legislation that triggered one of the most famous rebellions in the history of housing – and it is a story with a contemporary twist.
1 October 1972 was the date that ‘fair’ rents were imposed on council housing by Edward Heath’s Conservative government. Under the Housing Finance Act 1972, all local authorities were forced to increase their rents by £1 a week (around 50%).
Many in England, Wales and Scotland resisted interference by central government in their right to set their own rents. However, threatened with the appointment of a housing commissioner, all but one eventually complied.
Clay Cross Urban District Council in Derbyshire refused point blank to increase rents that were the lowest in the country at around £1.65 a week.
The Labour-controlled council had a long track record of going its own way and finding loopholes in legislation it did not like. There were rebellions not just over rents, but also over free school milk and pay for council staff.
Led by Dennis Skinner, until he became the MP for nearby Bolsover, Clay Cross Council saw housing as one of its top priorities as it replaced slums that had been built by the mine owners before nationalisation with new council houses at low rents.
As one councillor put it: ‘On this council, we like to think of ourselves as basic socialists. We regard housing here as a social service, not as something the private sector can profit from.’
The council’s policy of subsidising rents from the rates had been overwhelmingly backed by the electorate in a local elections that saw all 11 Labour councillors returned against candidates from the Ratepayers’ Association.
What happened after 1 October is a complex story with lots of twists and turns. For contemporary accounts of what happened, read David Skinner and Julia Langdon’s The Story of Clay Cross or watch the ITV documentary Confrontation at Clay Cross. The Municipal Dreams blog has two good posts on the history of council housing in the town and the rent rebellion itself.
To cut that long story short, the 11 Clay Cross councillors held firm and refused to increase the rent despite legal action by the district auditor.
When a housing commissioner was eventually appointed, the council refused to co-operate, or to give them a desk, a chair or even a pencil. Tenants went on a rent strike and the commissioner left after failing to collect any of the increase.
But the 11 councillors – which included Graham and David Skinner, two of Dennis’ brothers – eventually paid a heavy price for their opposition as they were surcharged and banned from holding public office.
The story of Clay Cross Council itself came to end when it was abolished during the local government reorganisation in 1974 to become part of North East Derbyshire Council.
At a time when we almost take it for granted that central government can use the housing finance system to force councils to do whatever it wants and rents need to be set against business plans, this may seem like a distant world.
The idea of politicians sticking to their principles no matter what makes it seem even more remote and echoes the legendary defiance of Poplar councillors in the rates rebellion of the 1920s. Jules Birch article Inside Housing 1922