The continuing success and popularity of Birmingham’s 100-year-old Bournville Village Trust estate holds important lessons for policy makers and practitioners struggling to improve the quality of life for less popular neighbourhoods and estates, according to research published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The study, by a team from the Universities of Birmingham and Central England, argues that the six neighbourhoods that make up Bournville provide an impressive example of the way that estates can succeed when homeowners and tenants live side by side.

It concludes that the popularity and long-term sustainability of the Bournville neighbourhood are due to the high quality of the residential environment, including:

• A pleasant natural environment.
• An imaginative and coherent planning framework from the time the neighbourhoods were first designed.
• High quality architecture, including a variety of house types.
• Accessible, responsive estate management.
• Active community involvement in managing the estate.

As a charity, the Bournville Village Trust (BVT) has not been obliged to sell properties under the Right to Buy, enabling it to retain homes for rent and achieve a significant mix of tenures.

The survival of 40 per cent ‘social’ housing as part of an attractive, high-demand estate makes it unusual. However, the authors stress that the integrated mix of tenures is not sufficient on its own to ensure the continued popularity of the estate.

Rick Groves, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Urban and Regional Studies and a co-author of the report, said:

“There have been a plethora of studies about hard-to-let, run-down neighbourhoods in Britain to discover why they do not work. Yet we can learn as much by looking at places like Bournville that, even though they are not free from problems, can plainly be viewed as success stories.”

“Bournville has forty per cent of its housing in the social rented sector, and yet it is an area of high design and environmental standards, with a very stable community and high levels of satisfaction with local services. It ‘works’ because it offers a high-quality residential environment and housing choice.”

Ironically, the report finds the stability of the Bournville community is also contributing to some current difficulties.

Low turnover has made it harder for younger families and people from Birmingham’s diverse ethnic mix to move into the area. From interviews with residents, the authors also identified problems associated with antisocial behaviour, crime and fear of crime. They highlighted a lack of facilities for young people, who tended to consider the area as ‘boring’.

Alan Middleton, Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Central England, said:

“A stable but ageing population means that Bournville can expect a faster rate of demographic change in future following death and household dissolution.”

“This could add to tensions between younger and older people in the neighbourhood, but at present there are no problems that residents see as outweighing the advantages of living there.”

Peter Roach, chief executive of the Bournville Village Trust, commented, "It is fascinating that Bournville has suddenly become fashionable again and that the principles expressed in the nineteenth century by its founder, George Cadbury, can still make such a significant contribution to stable, popular neighbourhoods in 2003."

The study, published for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and called ‘Neighbourhoods that work: A study of the Bournville estate, Birmingham’, is available from Marston Book Services 01235 465500.