BBC
Judy Aleksalza bought her townhouse in the 1970s for just $1
It is an idea of regeneration that originated half a century ago in the United States and has spread to other parts of the world. But can $1 houses reverse urban decay and who are the winners and losers?
Judy Aleksalza's house in Baltimore's Pigtown neighborhood looks like a real-life version of the Tardis, the famous time-traveling police box from Doctor Who. It looks bigger on the inside than on the outside.
It's part of a row of immaculately maintained 19th-century terraced houses – there are freshly watered plant pots in front of many of the steps, and no litter or graffiti.
Ms Aleksalza bought the then derelict and derelict property in 1976 for the same price as her neighbors – $1 (77p).
Since then, she has spent tens of thousands of dollars, and more in sweat and tears, transforming it. Bad weather, contractors failing to get the job done, it was, in Judy's words, “a horror story.”
“I almost declared bankruptcy,” she says. “It’s a bit like giving birth, you know. It was horrible while it was happening.
“But you know, once it was all over, I said, 'It's mine, it's all mine.' And the stability of having your own home is paramount.
Baltimore, 40 miles northeast of Washington, DC, was one of the first cities in the United States to attempt what it calls “urban homesteading.” Vacant properties were sold for as little as a dollar, giving people access to housing who otherwise might not be able to afford it.
The project was led by Jay Brodie, who was a top official in the city's housing department at the time.
“We picked names at random and started meeting them,” he recalls. “When it was finished, it was on the cover of American Express magazine… and we said 'we've got something here.'
“We're talking about something you can see and touch. They were living examples of what could be done with Baltimore's row houses.
The project stopped in 1988 after Mr. Brodie left the department in the early 1980s. But some ideas never really go away and instead spread their wings.
The homes of Judy Aleksalza and her neighbors, to the right of this image, are now in excellent condition
Fast forward to 2013, and three and a half thousand miles away, another port city that had faced similar problems with urban decay decided to try something similar: Liverpool.
Tony Mousedale, from Liverpool City Council's housing department, had heard of the idea of selling derelict properties cheaply. He suggested Liverpool try it.
So they offered properties in the Webster Triangle area of Wavertree for just £1.
“I think we just felt there was an appetite for people wanting to renovate abandoned houses, starting from scratch, putting their own stamp on it,” Mr Mousedale says.
“We launched this kind of concept and received a very positive response. I think it really captured people's imagination.
It may have generated a lot of interest, but some of the more than 100 buyers were brought back to earth with a shock.
“There was a rat infestation and a tree was growing out of the bay window,” says Maxine Sharples, one of those who signed up to the project. “It was back-breaking, back-breaking work. It was dirty.
Despite all the heartache and hard work, Maxine Sharples says it was worth it. “It completely changed my life. I don't take it for granted that I live in my dream house that I renovated and purchased for a sum of money.
Similar programs have also been introduced in other countries, including Italy and Spain.
Maxine Sharples
Maxine Sharples holding a photo of the interior of her house
And in a way, the circle has come full circle. Earlier this year, Baltimore unveiled new plans to help regenerate its blighted neighborhoods.
Part of that? A program called Fixed Price Program that would allow residents to purchase an abandoned property for as little as $1.
Anyone wishing to purchase a home for a dollar must demonstrate that they have $90,000 available for renovation. Additionally, they must already live in town and promise to reside in the renovated property for five years.
Interest in the project is reportedly high. Alice Kennedy, Baltimore's housing commissioner, told me, “I think it definitely got people excited or interested more than we even imagined, I think.”
Yet so far, only a handful of people have met the criteria and actually succeeded.
Meanwhile, nonprofit affordable housing providers, known as “community land trusts,” can also buy Baltimore's buildings for $1, while large real estate developers can apply to buy them for $3,000. $.
Such $1 house projects quickly make headlines, but critics wonder what they can achieve. One such skeptic is David Simon, the creator of the hit television series The Wire, which is set in Baltimore.
The bold show, which aired from 2002 to 2008, was inspired by Mr. Simon's own experience as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper.
He claims that the original Baltimore project did not benefit those who were economically marginalized, as the properties were purchased by people who had enough money to renovate them.
“I mean it brought the tax base back to the city,” says Mr. Simon, who still lives and works in Baltimore. “But it wasn’t socialist in the sense that I don’t think it was successful in distributing wealth. But I don't think that any urban renewal, or any urban rehabilitation, that I know of in the city has ever been egalitarian.
Baltimore Launches New $1 Homes Program
In Liverpool, Tony Mousedale admits that while his project has helped improve the area, problems with anti-social behavior remain and there are still boarded-up properties that have not been renovated a decade later.
“I would say that anti-social incidents are not as frequent as they used to be,” he says. “Generally speaking, the pound house project has been a driving force for the regeneration of the region. There is still a way to go. I think in some ways regeneration never ends, does it? There is always more to do.
Back in Baltimore, David Lidz runs Waterbottle Cooperative, a grassroots organization that buys up dilapidated properties in Baltimore and renovates them to rent to low-income people.
He fears that people buying homes for $1 could lead to gentrification of neighborhoods, which would result in a general “rise” in rent levels and “push out” of people with lower incomes.
“So you wonder where these people are going? Well, they're moving to the next crappy neighborhood. It's not good.
At the Baltimore Housing Commissioner's office, Alice Kennedy says she is aware of the problems created by previous renovation programs and wants to learn lessons from the past.
“A top priority for all of us who work in the city is to address past racist housing policies and socioeconomic segregation,” she says.
“To me, success is really knowing that our communities will be whole again and that they will have the ability to thrive from birth to death as human beings in the city of Baltimore.”
