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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
Not all of the funding was ultimately made available, and only 213,000 homes were built under the 1919 Act scheme.[7] H[8]
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| 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 | |
| Repealed by | Housing (Consequential Provisions) Act 1985 |
Council housing
The end of the First World War in 1918 created a huge demand for working-class housing in towns throughout Britain. In 1919, Parliament passed the ambitious Housing Act which promised government subsidies to help finance the construction of 500,000 houses within three years. As the economy rapidly weakened in the early 1920s, however, funding had to be cut, and only 213,000 homes were completed under the Act's provisions.
Homes fit for heroes
The 1919 Act - often known as the ‘Addison Act' after its author, Dr Christopher Addison, the Minister of Health - was nevertheless a highly significant step forward in housing provision. It made housing a national responsibility, and local authorities were given the task of developing new housing and rented accommodation where it was needed by working people.
More council housing
Further Acts during the 1920s extended the duty of local councils to make housing available as a social service. The Housing Act of 1924 gave substantial grants to local authorities in response to the acute housing shortages of these years. A fresh Housing Act of 1930 obliged local councils to clear all remaining slum housing, and provided further subsidies to re-house inhabitants. This single Act led to the clearance of more slums than at any time previously, and the building of 700,000 new homes.
Under the provisions of the inter-war Housing Acts local councils built a total of 1.1 million homes.
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