We own and manage more than 2,400 homes for social rent and we factor a further 1,400 privately owned properties. Registered in 1974, the Association’s roots lie in Glasgow’s policy of large-scale demolitions of slum housing from the late 1950s/1960s onwards. Some communities, including Govanhill, largely escaped the bulldozers but there was no political, strategic or financial plan in place to de
al with the appalling housing conditions that remained. By 1974, legislation and funding structures finally caught up with the need to deal with sub-tolerable tenement housing. The local authority acquired powers to declare housing action areas for Improvement, and grants became available to buy and refurbish tenement housing. This facilitated a new breed of housing associations – Govanhill among them – which acted as buyers, developers, and managers of tenement housing. Led by local residents, these housing associations were to become renewal agents in working class communities throughout Glasgow and a shining example of people power in action.
