Clifton’s council housing story: From post-war estate to new affordable homes | West Bridgford Wire

More council homes are to be built in Clifton as Nottingham City Council looks to reduce a housing waiting list that has passed 11,000 people.The new developments form part of a wider effort to increase affordable housing on an estate that was once regarded as the largest council estate in Europe, but where thousands of homes have since been sold.“If someone were to ask me; what is the best council estate to live in? I would say Clifton,” says Charlotte Jackson, who has lived on the estate since she was a baby.The 47-year-old was born in Top Valley but moved to Clifton with her family soon afterwards. She has lived in her current council home on Farnborough Road since she was 23.“I did enjoy growing up here,” she said. “It has changed a lot, but I wonder if I am thinking that because I’m now older.- Advertisement -“It is a popular place to live. But I doubt there will be many council homes left on the estate, so it is a good thing they’re building more.”Work on the Clifton estate began in the late 1940s, with the construction of sewers and 25 miles of road starting in September 1950.At the time, modern urban housing was in short supply following the Second World War, and the average wait for a council home in Nottingham was five years.The land was bought by Nottingham Corporation, the predecessor to Nottingham City Council, from the Clifton family for £83,000.The development absorbed the small farming village of Glapton, and the first residents moved in by 1951.By 1953, Clifton’s population had risen to 6,000 people living in 1,838 homes. In 1901, the area had just 383 residents.The population later grew into the tens of thousands, and Clifton became known as the largest council estate in Europe.Today, there are 2,486 council-owned properties remaining on the estate.A total of 5,483 properties have been sold, including around 4,000 since the Housing Act 1980 introduced Right to Buy under Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government. The policy allowed council tenants to buy their homes at a discount, but councils were left with limited ability to replace the homes that were sold.Successive governments also failed to build enough new social housing to meet demand, contributing to the current shortage.Nottingham City Council is now seeking to add more affordable homes in Clifton.An extension off Summerwood Lane, on the cleared site of the former Fairham School, was approved in April.A separate scheme at Laura Chambers Lodge, in Swansdowne Drive, will see the former care home demolished and replaced with 52 council properties.Those plans were approved in May.Homes across both sites will be affordable and available for social rent or shared ownership.Clifton East councillor Kevin Clarke, who led the Nottingham Independents group for many years, moved to Clifton in 1972 when parts of the Meadows were being demolished.Cllr Kevin ClarkeHe moved to the estate with his sister after his parents died young.After serving in the Army for four years as a driver and signaller in West Germany and Northern Ireland, he was given a flat in Southchurch Court, the landmark high-rise block built in 1968.Many people moved to Clifton during the slum clearances in Nottingham.“I met my wife and then we moved into the house on Farnborough Road, which we purchased eventually when we got settled,” he said.“We only paid £12,000. The problem is nowadays the kids haven’t got a chance. You can’t even rent off the council because you can’t even get on the list.”Cllr Clarke welcomed the new affordable homes but criticised the cost of homes being built in Clifton Village, which sits separately from the estate on the other side of Remembrance Way.A total of 265 homes are being built there as an extension to the village.“It is a necessity,” he said.“But they have got to be affordable where the young might have a chance.“They have got more of a chance than getting those at the back of the village. That is dreamland, that is.”Summerwood Lane resident Nathan Treece, 47, attended Fairham School when he was younger.The school has now been demolished to make way for an apartment block forming part of the wider housing scheme.Nathan Treece“The expansion is a good idea, within reason, building more homes for people to live in,” he said.“As long as they don’t make the new development too dense, and it needs recreational space.”Cllr Clarke described Clifton as a place of opportunity.He went on to set up a taxi firm, which is now run from above his other business, the Clifton Cob Shop.“I started my first business when I was about 30,” he said. “I’ve run shops. We have a café now, and above that is the taxi firm.“If I was to describe it in one word? Opportunist, I’d say. The opportunities were there. You just had to grab them and be dedicated enough to see them through.”Clifton is often described as having a strong community spirit, but that was not always the case.The estate was designed by planning officer Bill Dennis, who had grown up in Finkhill Street, a slum area later demolished to make way for Maid Marian Way.His aim was to create a modern neighbourhood in a greener, more open setting, with shops and amenities.But in October 1958, a piece from the Woman’s Mirror was published under the headline: “No Wonder Boys Go Astray in New Towns”.It said: “Thousands of parents fear that their teenage sons and daughters will turn into hooligans unless something is done to stop them getting bored.”At the time, rents were high and there were few shops, no indoor sports facilities and limited amenities for young people.The River Trent also separated Clifton from the city centre until Clifton Bridge opened in 1958.After pressure from residents, the estate gradually gained more facilities and became less of what one news broadcast described before the 1960s as a “heartless dormitory”.Today, Clifton is served by a retail park, a shopping arcade in Southchurch Drive and a library.Nottingham Trent University opened its Clifton Campus in 1959, when it was known as the Nottingham College of Education.Cllr Clarke said the arrival of students has helped the local economy, although parking has become a frequent issue. Several permit schemes have been introduced over the years to manage cars left on nearby streets.The tram extension, which opened in 2015, also improved links between Clifton and the city centre.However, some residents say youth provision has declined sharply in recent years.In 2021, a council document showed incidents of anti-social behaviour had increased by 55.9 per cent.The report said police priorities in Clifton East and Clifton West at the time included reducing anti-social behaviour, including mini-motos, noise, intimidating behaviour and tram-related issues.Cllr Clarke said: “There’s been a massive change, especially in youth provision. When I moved onto the estate I think there were five or six youth clubs, and there are virtually none now.“They are trying to introduce it back. I told [the council] at the time all you are doing is stacking up problems for the future.”One mum-of-three, who moved from the Caribbean to the UK, said she came to Clifton because homes were cheaper than in the south of the country.But she said her early years on the estate were “really, really hard” because of racism experienced by her and her children.After her children were exposed to racist comments at school about their mum and the colour of her skin, they moved to South Wilford School.“It was more multicultural there,” she said.“I tried to find community. I found a play group for my children, they accepted me while I was there, but only if I was associated with the group.“I keep to myself now. So do my children. It is good they have the tram and the buses to get out and go to places.“In comparison to other areas it is okay now, but it was really, really hard when I first moved here.”Some residents in older council homes in Eddleston Drive say they feel they have been neglected.In January 2025, the Regulator of Social Housing said it had found serious quality and management failings in Nottingham City Council’s housing stock. The authority was given the second-lowest standards rating possible.“It would not be half as bad if we hadn’t been neglected,” said one resident, Breda Taylor.The council is now surveying all of its council homes, including those in Clifton, as it prepares to deal with a repairs backlog of almost £1 billion across its stock.Clifton has also been awarded £20 million through the Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods programme.The funding is intended to support a long-term regeneration strategy, including improvements to parks and open spaces, more youth activities and a stronger retail offer through high street improvements.Together with the two new affordable housing schemes, the investment could mark a significant new phase in the development of the estate more than 70 years after the first residents moved in.