It’s gone back to the 19th century in more ways than just housing costs and insecure tenancies.People are now having to turn to charities for food, clothes and furniture. Some of the energy companies are offering help towards energy costs, but require applicants to get advice from a debt advice agency before applying, so only the most needy will receive support - and that only after they have provided a detailed plan of how their money is spent.
Water and energy are in private ownership just as they were during the 19th century - and are being run with the same chaotic inefficiency as they were then. Water was taken into municipal ownership later in the 19th century after repeated cholera outbreaks. Water owners then were just as reluctant as now to sacrifice any of their profits in order to improve the quality of water supply. It seems some lessons are not learned - least of all by the governments that have been in power since 2010.
The 'moonlight flit' was a common occurrence in the 19C , the working classes moved around a lot during this time. Probably due to rent arrears, the occupants would just disappear overnight and start over somewhere else . Little chance of this happening now I expect as we are so traceable these days.
The rented house I grew up in had not changed since it was built 70 years previously . Huge areas were owned by private landlords in Manchester and I remember the rent man calling every week. My Dad made small improvements but no space to put a bathroom in ,the houses were not fit for purpose. They should have been condemned years previously but when the clearances happened the old housing stock was replaced by modern slums that didn't even last as long in many areas i.e Hulme .Thank you Thomas for this very interesting read.
Great article and worrying about rent increases , i have had a 15% and 20% increase in last two years based on the landlords comments of he felt that was good value and felt was acceptable increase for the property , possibly to keep his return on investment at 10%...
Manchester was and, it seems, continues to grow at the behest of property developers and speculators. Our house was built by one such Nottinghamshire man. He was from a mining community, poorly educated but determined to make his own way. He left to look for work in London and went into the building trade. A few years later, married and with a young family, he relocated to Manchester in the 1840s. By 1850 he’d got the financial backing to build his first housing development. All the houses were built to rent but he was targeting the new white collar workers, the emergent lower middle class. His tenant list reads like a compendium of Victorian Manchester industry; merchants, manufacturers, canal and railway engineers, shopkeepers and the like. It’s also clear that the majority were, like the original builder, self-made & from poor backgrounds. Over time the houses were sold off but at least one was still in family ownership until the 1970s.
It’s gone back to the 19th century in more ways than just housing costs and insecure tenancies.People are now having to turn to charities for food, clothes and furniture. Some of the energy companies are offering help towards energy costs, but require applicants to get advice from a debt advice agency before applying, so only the most needy will receive support - and that only after they have provided a detailed plan of how their money is spent.
Water and energy are in private ownership just as they were during the 19th century - and are being run with the same chaotic inefficiency as they were then. Water was taken into municipal ownership later in the 19th century after repeated cholera outbreaks. Water owners then were just as reluctant as now to sacrifice any of their profits in order to improve the quality of water supply. It seems some lessons are not learned - least of all by the governments that have been in power since 2010.
The 'moonlight flit' was a common occurrence in the 19C , the working classes moved around a lot during this time. Probably due to rent arrears, the occupants would just disappear overnight and start over somewhere else . Little chance of this happening now I expect as we are so traceable these days.
The rented house I grew up in had not changed since it was built 70 years previously . Huge areas were owned by private landlords in Manchester and I remember the rent man calling every week. My Dad made small improvements but no space to put a bathroom in ,the houses were not fit for purpose. They should have been condemned years previously but when the clearances happened the old housing stock was replaced by modern slums that didn't even last as long in many areas i.e Hulme .Thank you Thomas for this very interesting read.
As always from Thomas, a very enjoyable read!!
Great article and worrying about rent increases , i have had a 15% and 20% increase in last two years based on the landlords comments of he felt that was good value and felt was acceptable increase for the property , possibly to keep his return on investment at 10%...
Great article thanks
Excellent article! Really enjoyed the historical context.
Manchester was and, it seems, continues to grow at the behest of property developers and speculators. Our house was built by one such Nottinghamshire man. He was from a mining community, poorly educated but determined to make his own way. He left to look for work in London and went into the building trade. A few years later, married and with a young family, he relocated to Manchester in the 1840s. By 1850 he’d got the financial backing to build his first housing development. All the houses were built to rent but he was targeting the new white collar workers, the emergent lower middle class. His tenant list reads like a compendium of Victorian Manchester industry; merchants, manufacturers, canal and railway engineers, shopkeepers and the like. It’s also clear that the majority were, like the original builder, self-made & from poor backgrounds. Over time the houses were sold off but at least one was still in family ownership until the 1970s.
Interesting. Look forward to a follow up article comparing and possibly shaming some of the private landlords of today.
Great piece, well researched and very interesting. I’m worried about the number of buy-to-let properties in Manchester.