Durham E-Theses Council house building in County Durham 1900-1939: the local implementation of national policy Ryder, Robert How to cite: Ryder, Robert (1979) Council house building in County Durham 1900-1939: the local implementation of national policy, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9740/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 R Ryder Council House Building in County Durham, I9OQ-I939: The Local Implementation of National Policy ABSTRACT There has been a fundamental transformation of the housing supply in England and Wales since the beginning of this century, when most families lived in private rented accommoda• tion, up to the present, when the majority either own their home or rent it from a public authority. This study looks at a vital stage of this development - the growth of the public sector in housing before the Second World War - and examines, in particular, the experience of an important area in North East England. This was the region which at the turn of the century had the most severe housing problems and where by 1939 local authorities had done much more than most to improve con• ditions. The study begins by considering briefly the philoso• phies held by housing reformers in the early twentieth century and the course actually taken by national housing policy up to 1939. The specific problems of County Durham at the turn of the century are then analysed and an account is given of the attempts made by local government before the First World War to deal with them. The bulk of the study is devoted to the experience of the inter-war years. An analysis is made of the physical achievements of local authority housebuilding within the county, the factors that constrained this action and the alternatives that were sometimes adopted in its place. Finally, the study examines in some depth the new responsibilities assumed by local government in the implementation of national housing policy. These duties involved local government in the twin roles of builder and landlord; and, by drawing on hitherto- unused council records of the inter-war period, the final two chapters of the study examine these roles particularly from the local authority viewpoint. i ii Council House Building in County Durham, I9OO-I939: The Local Implementation of National Policy Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy University of Durham 19?9 Robert Ryder, B A(Hons) (Dunelm) Department of Economic History NB: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should he published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. iii CONTENTS Page Number List of Maps, Figures and Tables iv List of Illustrations vi Acknowledgements viii INTRODUCTION 1 A. Housing and the State: A Twentieth-Century Revolution 2 B. Definitions 5 C. Sources 13 D. Abbreviations 17 1 NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY, c 1900-1939 19 A. The Debate on Housing Policy in the Early Twentieth Century 20 B. The Course of National Policy, c I9OO-I939 39 2 HOUSING IN COUNTY DURHAM, c 1900-1914- 72 A. The Development of Housing Conditions up to 1914 73 1. South Tyneside and Sunderland 78 2. Darlington, Stockton and the Hartlepools 87 3. The Durham Coalfield 90 ii-. The Rural Areas of South and West Durham 108 B. Private Housebuilding Activity, c 1900-1914- 111 C. Council Housing Before the First World War 121 3 COUNCIL HOUSING IN COUNTY DURHAM, I9I9-I939 136 A. Achievements 137 B. Constraints ' l6l C. Alternatives 171 4- THE COUNCIL AS BUILDER 181 A. Finance I83 B. Land 200 C. Building 209 D. Direct Labour 224- E. Planning and Design 23^ 5 THE COUNCIL AS LANDLORD 24-5 A. Tenants 24? B. Sub-Letting and Overcrowding 258 C. Rent 267 D. Arrears 279 CONCLUSION 290 Page Number APPENDIX Is A Summary of Major Housing Legislation, I89O-I938 297 APPENDIX 2: Sources and Notes for Maps, Figures and Tables 302 APPENDIX 3: Overcrowding in the North East, 1936 309 BIBLIOGRAPHY 312 LIST OF MAPS, FIGURES AND TABLES Map of Local Authority Areas in County Durham in the 1920s 11 Map of Local Authority Areas in County Durham in 1939 12 FIGURE 1-1 Loans to Local Authorities Sanctioned by the Local Government Board for the Erection of Houses Under Part III of the I89O Act kl FIGURE 1-2 Building Costs and Interest Rates in the Inter-War Period 52 TABLE 1-1 Number of Houses Completed in England and Wales Between 1 January 1919 and 31 March 19^0 56 FIGURE 1-3 Council Houses Built in England and Wales, 1919-39, by Individual Housing Acts 63 TABLE 2-1 Urban Rents in England and Wales, 1905 and 1912 80 TABLE 2-2 Occupation of Houses and Flats in County Durham, 1911 82 TABLE 2-3 Miners, Free Houses and Rent Allowance, 1903 and 1912 93 TABLE Z-k Rent and Related Factors in the Durham Coalfield, c 1903 100 TABLE 2-5 Rent, Overcrowding and Population Increase in the Durham Coalfield, 1903 101 FIGURE 2-1 Rent, Overcrowding and Population Increase in the Durham Coalfield, 1903 104 TABLE 2-6 Population, Housing Stock and Overcrowding in County Durham Before the First World War 112-3 FIGURE 2-2 Housebuilding Activity in the North East, 1900-1914 115 TABLE 2-? Colliery Housing and Housebuilding in County Durham, Years Ending December 1903 and I913 119 V Page Number TABLE 3-1 Rates of Council Housebuilding in County Durham and Rest of England and Wales, 1919-39 14-1 FIGURE 3-1 Annual Rates of Housebuilding in County Durham and England and Wales, 1919-1938 14-3 TABLE 3-2 Level of Council and Private Housebuilding Activity in County Durham, 1919-1938 14-5 FIGURE 3-2 Number of Houses Built Each Year in Different Areas of County Durham, 1926-1938 14-7-9 FIGURE 3-3 & TABLE 3-3 Annual Rate of Local Authority and Private Housebuilding in County Durham, 1919-1938 151 TABLE 3-4- Population Movements (1921-39), Overcrowding (1921-31) and Shortfall of New Housing (192I-3D in County Durham 153 FIGURE 4-1 Financial Contributions made by Central and Local Government towards Inter-War Council Housing Schemes 191 TABLE 4-1 Population and Rateable Value in the Tyneside Area, 1939 193 FIGURE 4-2 Rates in the Pound Levied by Local Authorities for Housing Purposes 195 FIGURE 4-3 Local Rates Levied in County Durham 196 FIGURE 4-4 Annual Expenditure on Council Housing in South Shields and West Hartlepool 199 FIGURE 4-5 Cost of Building a Three-Bedroom 'Non-Parlour * Council House by Private Contract, I919-I926 219 FIGURE 4-6 Cost of Building a Three-Bedroom 'Non-Parlour' Council House by Direct Labour and Private Contract 227 FIGURE 4-7 Examples of Council Housing Layout in Durham and Felling 238 FIGURE 5-1 Overcrowding in Council Houses and Other Working-Class Dwellings in County Durham, 1936 264- FIGURE 5-2 Rent Arrears in South Shields, Seaham Harbour and Chester-le-Street RD, 1923-1938 280 vi LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS Following page number 1- 1*1 'Signs of Spring Cleaning' 47 2- 1+ Barge Inn Yard, Hillgate, c 1933 78 2-2+ Davidson's Buildings, Hillgate, c 1933 2-3 "1" Pipewellgate, seen from the High Level Bridge, n 1925 2-4 + Bankwell Stairs, Pipewellgate, in the 1920s „ 2-5 Eldon Street, Gateshead, 1956 80 2-6 1" Back of Elizabeth Street, Gateshead, I956 „ 2-7 Tyneside flats in South Shields, I976 „ 2-8 Rear view of flats in South Shields, 1976 2-9 * Back of Thornton Street, South Shields, I936 83 2-10* Thames Street, South Shields, 1931 2-11* Back of Pleasant Place, South Shields, 1934 „ 2-12"*" Quarry Field Road, Gateshead, in the 1930s 85 2-13* Cornwallis Square, South Shields, 1935 2-14 Single-storey housing in the Millfield district of Sunderland, 1976 „ 2-15' Chapel Row, Marley Hill, c 1907 95 2-16^ Ground floor interior, Chapel Row, c 1907 „ 2-170 First floor interior, Chapel Row, c 1907 2-18 West Cross Street, Langley Park, 1976 98 2-19 East Cross Street, Langley Park, 1976 „ 2-20 Victoria Street, Shotton Colliery, 1976 2-21 Wynyard Street, Dawdon, 1976 „ 2-22 Harrison Buildings, Silver Street, Sunderland, I976 124 2-23 Aged Miners' Homes, Esh Winning, 1976 „ 2-24 Fawcett Terrace, Ryhope, I976 „ 2-25 House Terrace, Usworth, 1976 133 2-26 North Side Terrace, Trimdon Grange, 1976 „ . 2-27 Edison Street, Murton, 1976 „ 2- 28 Bede Terrace, Chester-le-Street, I976 „ 3- 1 The Oval, Shildon, 1976 154 3-2 The Oval, Shildon, I976 3- 3 Southland Gardens, Shildon, 1976 „ 4- 1 Addison Square, Coundon, 1976 209 4-2 Station Road, Ushaw Moor, 1976 vii Following page number 4-3 Pringle Place, New Brancepeth, 1976 212 1976 4-4- Dorlonco Villas, Meadowfield, » 4-5f 'Gateshead Socialists will re-start "Direct Labour"' 232 4-6 Second Avenue, Chester-le-Street, I976 24-2 Third Avenue, Chester-le-Street, 1976 4-7 11 4-8 The Crescent, Chester-le-Street, 1976 n I976 4—9 Whitehill Crescent, Pelton Fell, n t Friars Dene Road, Gateshead, in the 1920s 24-8 Broadway, Gateshead, c 1924- 11 t Gardens at rear of Park Road, Gateshead, in the 1920s