Understanding Victorian back-to-back houses and their communities in 21st century Leeds

Despite their original popularity as a housing type, the back-to-back houses and their communities are considered to be problematic, and in Harehills, where communities are among the most socially deprived in the country, the building form has been stigmatised as a consequence. The housing presents difficulties in relation to regulatory and modern living requirements, and in some cases, prolonged lack of investment has resulted in poor quality living conditions and external environments.

I aim to explore whether engagement, capacity building, and an interactive process, will make a difference to the way in which communities understand and value the significance of their heritage, investigating how the heritage is being passed on, and how decisions are made on which communities can innovate/ adapt and which do not either for cultural heritage or economic/ social reasons. This will be considered alongside analysis and interpretation of the architectural character and use of the houses, as well as external factors (e.g. regulatory) to develop solutions with the communities for balancing heritage conservation and 21st century living. This is particularly relevant in the context of recent legislation such as the Localism Act and national planning policies, and the rise in valuing working class heritage.

My MA dissertation considers the historical development of back-to-back house building in Leeds. A basic architectural analysis of back-to-backs in Harehills will serve as a scoping exercise for understanding the fabric of the housing stock. Qualitative & documentary research will provide an introductory investigation of the heritage and other values associated with the housing type, and the impact this has had on architectural character. It will conclude with an evaluation of whether professionals value the back-to-backs as heritage assets, problematizing the issues that need to be considered when assessing the viability of the back-to-back building form for modern living. A recent conference paper provides additional context by outlining the minimal inclusion of heritage and conservation issues in community engagement programmes that precede regeneration proposals for communities of Victorian terraced housing. Research by others includes historical housing studies, 21st century housing needs, community engagement and the conservation of built heritage, but it appears that there is no specific study of how communities value the heritage significance of back-to-back terraced houses and how the multitude of factors that influence their ongoing viability might be balanced in conservation-led regeneration programmes.

Aims and Objectives:
Research and understand the physical characteristics of the Harehills neighbourhood and back-to-back terraced houses through typological / spatial analysis and architectural survey of houses;
Trace the demographic, functional and spatial history of the housing stock in Harehills and explore contemporary perspectives on use and need using documentary evidence, qualitative research and cross-disciplinary analytical methods;
Evaluate how the heritage and other values of the back-to-back houses in Harehills are understood by the communities using qualitative research, before and after capacity-building, and contextualise the findings by comparison with the scope of heritage protection legislation;
Consider the strategies for updating the back-to-back houses in Harehills to 21st century requirements while respecting their heritage and other significances, with potential for producing options and appraisals for differing levels of intervention in a process that engages the communities.
The largest challenge will be the community engagement work - attracting/ retaining participants (mainly residents but also relevant professionals), designing & facilitating activities (including workshops, exhibitions, visits, planning for real and design games), and analysing the data.