Housing in Glasgow

A typical Glasgow tenement block

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom is known for its tenements.^[1] These were the most popular form of housing in 19th and 20th century Glasgow and remain the most common form of dwelling in Glasgow today. Tenements are commonly bought by a wide range of social types and are favoured for their large rooms, high ceilings and original period features.^[2] The Hyndland area of Glasgow is the only tenement conservation area in the UK^[3] and includes some tenement houses with as many as six bedrooms.

Like many cities in the UK, Glasgow witnessed the construction of high-rise housing in tower blocks in the 1960s.^[4] These were built to replace the decaying tenement buildings originally built for workers who migrated from the surrounding countryside, the Highlands, and the rest of the United Kingdom, particularly Ireland, in order to feed the local demand for labour.^[5] The massive demand outstripped new building and many, originally fine, tenements often became overcrowded and unsanitary. ^[6] Many developed into the infamous Glasgow slums, such as the Gorbals. Efforts to improve this housing situation, most successfully with the City Improvement Trust, cleared the slums of the old town. Subsequent urban renewal initiatives, such as those motivated by the Bruce Report, entailed the demolition of slum tenement areas, the development of new towns on the periphery of the city, and the construction of tower blocks. The areas surrounding these tower blocks lacked basic amenities, were poorly designed and cheaply built. Many struggled with the lack of provision made for child welfare and social needs such as hair dressing and clothing shops, there were also issues arising from the lack of help given to older members of the community in adjusting to the new buildings and amenities. As demonstrated elsewhere in the UK, such buildings gradually deteriorated, attracting crime and fostering a reputation for being undesirable low cost housing.

The infamous (and now condemned) Red Road estate came to symbolise the mistakes of the city's 1960s housing policy.

The policy of tenement demolition is now considered to have been short-sighted, wasteful and largely unsuccessful. Many of Glasgow's worst tenements were refurbished into desirable accommodation in the 1970s and 1980s^[7] and the policy of demolition is considered to have destroyed many fine examples of a "universally admired architectural" style.^[2] The Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council on 7 March 2003, and has begun a £96 million clearance and demolition programme to clear and demolish many of the high-rise flats.^[8]

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