Art Deco House Styles by Trevor Yorke

Author:Trevor Yorke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Art Deco House Styles
ISBN: 9781846742477
Publisher: Countryside Books
Published: 2012-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

FIG 3.3: These houses built in 1935 were designed by Douglas Wood Architects and were part of an exclusive development laid out to the north of the new underground station at Stanmore, North London.

The demand for housing immediately after the First World War had been created by returning soldiers expecting an improved standard of living after risking their lives for their country. Fearful of the sort of revolution that had gripped Russia, the Government sought to provide ‘Homes Fit For Heroes’. This short-lived scheme was economically impossible and was wound up after a few years with the Government looking to the private sector to drive the house-building boom by offering them fixed subsidies. Previously, most housing had been erected by small-scale builders usually constructing a short row of homes, and selling or renting them out, before moving on to the next part of the road. After the First World War, however, the boom in housing created the opportunity for builders to expand and establish some of the large-scale construction companies with which we are familiar today.

Although land was cheap and there were few restrictions that would cost the builder much money, the price of materials was still high due to post-war shortages. Despite attempts at state ownership of brickworks and timber yards, the cost of building a house actually increased during the 1920s, while experiments with more economic forms of housing and the use of concrete, iron and steel had little effect on buyers who still preferred traditional brick structures. It was only when the timber, bricks and fittings were able to be bought en masse by the new larger private building companies and local authorities that the price of a house was reduced. Falling prices meant that by the mid 1930s the cost of the cheapest properties had dropped by nearly half, to approximately £400. This was still a lot of money at the time so the Government not only aided the construction industry but provided building societies with tax concessions to enable them to offer mortgages on more competitive terms. Thus, by the 1930s, down payments of as little as £5 could secure you a home, and weekly repayments from around 10 shillings (50p) encouraged the shift from a population that mainly rented to one of largely owner occupiers by the late 1980s.

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