| AdminHistory | The Housing Department's management of tenants varied through the decades of its existence. In the 1960s and early 1970s, when the population of Livingston was still relatively low, there was an informal emphasis on creating a community. As the population continued to grow and as attitudes changed, by the 1990s the Corporation had adapted a corporate attitude with the implementation of customer care plans and standardised procedures.
Whilst the senior management set policy, the Housing Development section was responsible for the Department's standard procedures for dealing with tenants, and with providing an informational service - either through face to face contact or through a variety of media.
The majority of contact with tenants, and of the management of tenancies, was through the Housing Management Section which were based around Area Housing Offices. Teams consisting of Area Housing Officers, and their assistants and housing visitors, were each assigned an area of the town. The areas varied through the lifetime of the Corporation, but in 1988 there were three Area Housing Officers, each responsible for an area that contained 2500-4500 houses. The area teams were responsible for visiting tenants who fell into arrears on their debt, offering advice, inspecting property to make sure that it was being maintained, liaising with the relevant department to organise repairs, and nearly all aspects of the tenant-landlord relationship. |
| ScopeandContent | 14 subseries comprising:
1. Papers relating to standardised policy and procedures of the Housing Department for managing housing stock and tenants, 1973-1996.
2. Papers relating to the Housing Department's policies regarding the allocation of tenancies to applicants, and papers regarding the implementation of these policies, 1975-1997.
3. Papers concerning the setting of rent levels and rent structures, and some leaflets for tenants about rent, 1967-1994.
4. Papers concerning the development and implementation of procedures for the recovery of rent arrears from tenants, 1982-1994.
5. A sample of papers concerning the eviction of tenants from Corporation housing, 1970-1987.
6. Papers concerning the transfer of existing tenants between Corporation houses, 1983-1992.
7. Reports of Housing Visitors, who had a number of duties in the Housing Department, and assumed a quasi-social worker role in Livingston in the 1970s, 1970-1979.
8. Papers concerning the adminstration and provision of housing for the elderly, the disabled, and other groups in need of specialized help, 1977-1994.
9. Papers concerning the development of performance indicators and a customer care plan for the Housing Department, 1989-1994. 10. Correspondence to and from local Councillors and Robin Cook MP for Livingston, concerning tenants of the Development Corporation, 1989-1996.
11.Circulation files, which consist of newspaper cuttings, 1990-1991.
12. Papers concerning the provision of housing for young, single people, who were moving away from home earlier than in previous generations, 1986-1988.
13. Samples of forms, letters, and leaflets, used by the Housing Department, 1983-1996.
14. General files on the Knightsridge area of Livingston.
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