Building on a legacy

Since its publication more than forty years ago, Michael Young and Peter Willmott's Family and Kinship in East London has found its way onto the reading list of anyone with an interest in housing or social policy. Now a classic of sociology, it put Bethnal Green on the map as a hearty example of a community enriched by extended families, neighbourly good will and "mutual aid". A lot has happened since 1957. Or, rather, a lot hasn't happened to ensure existing communities remained intact as new social housing was provided. Michael Young acknowledged this failure by returning to the themes of Family and Kinship in 1997, when he co-wrote The Communities We Have Lost and Can Regain with me. The report, which argued that community should be the purpose of policy and mutual aid the means, was welcomed by housing minister Hilary Armstrong who urged social landlords to pilot schemes that acknowledged social alongside housing need and asked residents to commit themselves to mutual aid in neighbourhoods. The call to action was first heard by Manningham housing association in Bradford which adopted the main proposal - getting new residents to sign a Mutual Aid Compact - on a new housing estate on Byron Street.

In signing, all tenants agreed to "get to know" their neighbours, offer "practical support" and maintain "respect for other people's different cultures and lifestyles". It's early days yet but residents who recently moved in to their new homes are determined to make a go of the opportunity to retain neighbourliness and community ethos. As one commented: "I've been given a lovely house, a lovely environment and atmosphere to live in, so why shouldn't I keep it that way?".

And now Bethnal Green and Victoria Park housing association, Circle 33 housing trust, Labo housing association, Toynbee HA and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are working to adopt a similar approach.

Following meetings and a survey, the first group of tenants in east London to sign the Mutual Aid Compact did so last week.

The compact is a recognition that what was once informal altruism now needs a little formal help to re-establish the customs that yesterday's generation took for granted. Which is why the community issue cannot be ignored in an ambitious project of housing regeneration. The work has been extensive. Three notorious blocks on the Ocean Estate in Tower Hamlets, among others, have been demolished. These were an extreme example of social housing gone wrong. Most of the flats were oozing damp with nowhere to dry clothes; there were infestations of cockroaches and ants. No amount of Mutual Aid Compacts and earnest pleas for the regeneration of community could touch one of the most disadvantaged places in the country. A new start was needed. But though it was a new start in terms of bricks and mortar, it wasn't a completely new social start in that many tenants in some of the new developments already knew one another from living on the Ocean Estate, or from Limehouse Fields or other demolished areas. Existing social contacts are an essential starting point for any community regeneration scheme.

The ideal is where all four family generations have been present for a long time and where people form networks of support for one another and collective encouragement is strong. In the new developments, there is also a mix of ages, races, household sizes and family types.

The area being redeveloped is close to the City, the Docklands and Stratford, which will assist local employment, and break down the barriers that have existed between old communities and new businesses in the area.

These factors taken together give the area an excellent chance of long-term success. What is needed in addition is the right approach to future allocations and housing management. The main social landlords in the area are working towards a common housing management service. A platform will be needed to build strong ties between local agencies, statutory as well as voluntary, service providers and others - and not just the "usual suspects" of the local authority, housing associations and health authorities. The aim is to reach the emotional heart of the community. Traditionally this has been religious centres and primary schools. They will still be involved but so will youth clubs, youth service, nurseries, clubs for older people and any other local voluntary groups.

The longer-term hope is that the need for sustainable communities will be addressed through community lettings policies. This criterion could be developed to incorporate the social support needs of potential tenants in addition to the usual housing needs criteria of the landlords.

Typical social needs would include the elderly and disabled who may require assistance with daily living or parents needing support in looking after young children. The lettings criteria would be modified to allocate points to both those who wish to give or receive these types of assistance to neighbours. With such structures in place and with all agencies involved focussing energy and resources on meeting community needs, Family and Kinship in East London will not be read in years to come as a nostalgic chronicle of a borough's long-forgotten way of life. Future reports should find Bethnal Green and its surrounding neighbourhoods a revived community, and a worthy heir to a rich legacy.