Scottish Home Improvement Policy, 1945-75: Coming to Terms with the Tenement

The paper traces the development of home improvement policy in Scotland, illustrating how the traditional tenemental housing form for a long time hindered, then eventually distinctively shaped, this policy. Tenement housing was a constraint on the promotion of home improvement policy due to a variety of technical and administrative factors. It was, however, the political prejudice against landlords and the social attitudes about tenement housing that proved to be the most difficult to overcome. Reference is also made to the policy-making process within a Scottish context through the examination of a number of influential policy reports, advocating the adoption of home improvement, and how they eventually worked themselves into legislation. The central significance of Glasgow in framing this policy approach is clearly illustrated.