Arthur Oscroft – a personal tribute by CIH president Aileen Evans

Arthur Oscroft FCIH OBE

All of us at the Chartered Institute of Housing were saddened to learn of the recent death of Arthur Oscroft. Arthur was a longstanding member and Fellow of CIH. Across the course of his career Arthur made a major contribution to both CIH and the housing professional more generally, especially during his time as director of housing at Nottingham City Council where he championed the needs of tenants and residents, making the case for some of the early regeneration work.

Arthur was also a pioneer in supporting diversity and inclusion with a particular focus on issues around race and housing, an issue with particular relevance to the work of housing professionals today, chairing the then Institute of Housing’s race and housing working party. Our president Aileen Evans has written a personal tribute to Arthur which you can read below. You can also read a tribute to Arthur from Nottingham City Council.

CIH owes a huge debt of gratitude to Arthur for both his work and his commitment and we send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Arthur took up his post as director of housing at Nottingham City Council in 1979, and later that year I joined the housing department there as a ‘supernumerary trainee’ – I still have my offer letter. My starting salary was £2982 per annum and was signed by Arthur’s deputy director, Malcolm Magee, who had interviewed me for the post.

Nottingham City Council housing department under Arthur’s leadership was a very special place: quite definitely a place ahead of its time.

In this post-Grenfell world, we are rightly focussed on professionalism. How do we know that the people who are making potentially life-changing decisions about where we live know what they are doing? Arthur Oscroft had the answer to that question 40 years ago.

My traineeship in housing, as part of a scheme started by Arthur, was focussed on two key aspects – making sure we got the practical experience and making sure we got the academic training and rigour to support our practical learning. I started at Nottingham in a kind of roving apprenticeship role; I spent time learning about all things housing – slum clearance, improvements, allocations, homelessness, repairs, rents, planned works, housing management and so much more. I learned how to listen and speak to people; I learned technical skills that I still use today. Arthur created those opportunities for me and a host of other trainees who followed me to learn, grow and thrive. His belief in growing young professionals and instilling in them the professional skills and learning provided opportunities for many of us to go on to have successful careers in housing.

When it comes to supporting diversity and inclusion, Arthur was way ahead of his time. Nottingham had a race and housing officer in place in the early eighties, and Arthur was a passionate practitioner in the creation of a diverse workforce.

In my time at Nottingham, I worked at Balloon Woods, Hyson Green and Basford – of all of which Arthur led the regeneration. They were unpopular high-rise estates and they did not provide the best homes for those who were expected to live in them. Arthur took brave and bold decisions, which benefitted the people of Nottingham who had much better homes and lives as a result of his work.

His support for CIH wasn’t just confined to providing it with new members through its trainee programmes. He was an ardent supporter of CIH in itself. A Fellow of the institute, he contributed regionally and nationally to our work; he supported the education and opportunities provided by the CIH and the concept of continuous professional development.

I am personally in Arthur’s debt. His vision led directly to me having a fulfilling and rewarding career in housing supported by both Nottingham City Council and CIH.

Nottingham and we in the CIH owe him a debt of gratitude. I owe him a debt of gratitude.

We send our condolences to his wife Yvonne and his family as well as his colleagues in Nottingham. Rest in peace Arthur – you’ve left the most amazing housing legacy.