Tony Hird, Principal Housing Officer

Tony was educated at Grammar School in Chesterfield. He left school at 16, ended up by chance working in the office of the Housing Department in Chesterfield, and has continued in in a housing career. His first job taught him that housing departments deal with people and that was what he enjoyed. Two years later, he moved to Stevenage new town. Here, he recalls being given a toilet brush, to teach the new tenants how to clean a toilet bowl (many were not used to interior toilets.); initially he collected rents and dealt with tenants’ problems. He talks of the ‘Octavia Hill’ system of housing management operated in Stevenage, which was concerned with the welfare of tenants rather than just their rents. He recalls the filming of ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’, which painted Stevenage as a bit of a utopia for Londoners. Tony remarks that it was certainly a step up from Chesterfield; the housing quality was high, exceeding the Parker Morris standards. Tony became quite involved in the planning of Stevenage’s development during the ten years he was there; his final role was a principal housing officer, and he had a very good relationship with the general manager Jack Balchin, who was a great friend of his and very supportive when Tony left for Milton Keynes.