Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919

Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend the enactments relating to the Housing of the Working Classes, Town Planning, and the acquisition of small dwellings.
Citation	9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 35
Territorial extent	England & Wales
Dates
Royal assent	31 July 1919
Other legislation
Amends	Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890; Housing of the Working Classes Act 1900; Housing of the Working Classes Act 1903; Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1909;
Repealed by	Housing (Consequential Provisions) Act 1985
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 35) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.^[1] It was also known as the Addison Act after Minister of Health, Christopher Addison, who was Minister for Housing.^[2] The Act was passed to allow the building of new houses after the First World War,^[3] and marked the start of a long 20th-century tradition of state-owned housing in planned council estates. A separate Act was passed for Scotland.^[4]

Background

The 1919 Act followed on from the Town Planning Act 1909 and the 1917 Tudor Walters Committee Report into the provision of housing in the United Kingdom; the latter commissioned by Parliament with a view to postwar construction. In part, it was a response to the shocking lack of fitness amongst many recruits during World War I, which was attributed to poor living conditions. That belief summed up in a housing poster of the period that "you cannot expect to get an A1 population out of C3 homes",^[5] in reference to the period's military fitness classifications.

Terms

It provided subsidies to local authorities and aimed to help finance the construction of 500,000 houses within three years.

Section 41 (1) provided that the London County Council could build houses outside the County of London.^[6] The provision was used to build 'out-county' estates, such as Becontree.

Results

Not all of the funding was ultimately made available, as the subsidies were scrapped in 1922 under the Geddes Axe austerity programme. Only 213,000 homes were built under the 1919 Act scheme.^[7]^[8]^[9]

References

^ "Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919". legilslation.gov.uk. 1919. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
^ Geography, Kay's (11 August 2019). "100 years exhibition – the 1919 Act". Newcastle residential areas. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ "How prepared was Britain for peace?". BBC Schools Online. BBC Schools. 2002. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
^ Robb, Steven (19 August 2019). "Housing the Heroes – The 1919 Housing Act | Hist Env Scotland". Historic Environment Scotland Blog. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
^ Oliver, Paul; Davis, Ian; Bentley, Ian (9 November 1981). Dunroamin: The Suburban Semi and its Enemies (1st ed.). London: Barrie & Jenkins. p. 31. ISBN 978-0091459307.
^ "Housing, rfOWTfl Planning, .&c, Act, 1019. [9 & 10 GEO. 5. Cii. 35.]" (PDF). Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
^ "Council housing". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
^ "Council housing". UK Parliament. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ Schifferes, Steve. "Homes Fit for Heroes: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing" (PDF). Gresham College. Retrieved 4 July 2024.