The interwar period witnessed an outstanding period of housing development – about 1.4 million houses were completed of which 865,000 or 62% were new dwellings in rural England and Wales. Amongst a wide range of factors supporting this boom, favourable housing policy, political climate prioritising housebuilding, supportive macroeconomic environment and the rise of building societies are a few which I have discussed in my previous articles. This article delves into the geography of housing expansion: why was the housing boom concentrated in some regions relative to other areas? What were some of the causal factors behind this phenomenon?
Recent research has explored timing, magnitudes and potential determinants of housing booms. In a NBER paper, authors Ferreira and Gyourko (2011) discussed this across American neighbourhoods and metropolitan areas from 1993-2009. The authors have shown that housing markets are ‘local’ (i.e. metro area phenomena) that are largely driven by income as the main fundamental on the demand side. On the supply side, their research points to regulatory and physical/geographical constraints as crucial factors. Insights from their research seems to explain historical episodes of housing boom in other areas as well. Before delving into the housing boom during the interwar period, it is important to shed light on the economic conditions that preceded it.
Background
During the nineteenth century, the north was the manufacturing hub concentrating on textile, coal and steel industries and the south was a trading hub with London as its financial centre. With the beginning of the Great War, Britain lost its global competitiveness in the aforementioned traditional manufacturing industries. The long slow decline of manufacturing industries in the north continued till the 1930s and resulted in significant unemployment. British industrial revival began with diversifying in chemical manufacturing and consumer goods industries which were located predominantly in the south. This became one of the important reasons why the interwar period oversaw a growing divide between the north and south of England. More importantly, the north having older industries, agriculture and low incomes resulted in the housing boom being concentrated particularly towards London and southeast England.
This phenomenon is also supported by Holmans’ (2005) comprehensive analysis of the UK housing market from the late 19th century to the 1970s. Marked expansion in housing was seen in the southeast of England. The only other region where housebuilding saw such a significant expansion was the Midlands region. Besides interregional shifts in population, there were also shifts within the region, notably expansion of counties nearest London. Holmans’ research (2005) shows that almost 18.1% of the completed dwellings were in southeast England whereas 33.7% of the completed dwellings were situated in London and the Home Counties1. Besides the south offering greater economic opportunities, what other factors resulted in the interwar housing boom concentrated particularly in these regions? There are several reasons associated with this phenomenon.
Industrial growth
To delve slightly deeper into the factor mentioned above, since 1910 new industries were initiated in the Midlands and southeast England. These regions oversaw the emergence of a new consumer-durable complex. Auto and electrical goods became mass production industries for the first time. These regions providing greater economic buoyancy resulted in a migration of workers amongst various industries such as Scottish miners moving to Nottinghamshire pits as well as migration of Welsh workers to new industrial centres in the Thames Valley especially Dagenham, Hounslow and Slough. This is also evidenced by the fact that the Welsh collieries which employed 272,000 people at the beginning of 1920 were left with 126,000 workers by 1934. With greater numbers of the population moving towards these areas, there was a demand for more housing in these areas.
The role of housing legislation
Housing legislation during the interwar period such as the Greenwood Housing Act of 1930 gave local authorities powers and subsidies to clear crowded and substandard housing. It is estimated that during 1931-39 local authorities cleared 250,000 slums and built over 700,000 new properties. Local authorities were aided by other factors such as cheap labour, low costs of building materials and low interest rates. Much of this housing development was in the new suburbs around London, along the Northern Line from Golders Green to Edgware.
Advancements in transportation
Improved transportation also played a key role in the development of interwar suburbs around London. Three crucial phases of transport development have been identified: the development of the overground steam railways, the actions of the Metropolitan Railway and thirdly, the evolution of the Underground Electric Railways of London (UERL) into the London Transport Passenger Board in 1933. Transportation in London became cheaper and services more frequent in the London suburbs due to technological advancement in transportation such as line electrification.
Rural suburbanisation
To provide land for this massive housing development during the interwar period, conversion of agricultural land for housing development sharply accelerated recording yearly acreages of 12,000 hectares between 1918-40 which doubled to 24,000 hectares between just three years from 1936-9. Interestingly, this extent of rural suburbanisation happening between 1936-9 has never been surpassed. Much of this development was attributed to the availability of cheap land, a virtual absence of rural planning controls and speculation. Absence of planning controls also led to piecemeal development in vacant plots inside villages or alongside roads that led towards a sizeable urban development or a railway station.
The interwar period is an interesting time to study the housing market from various angles. The economic conditions of cheap interest rates, reduced building costs and easy availability of credit are hard to replicate today. This article has analysed the housing boom from a geographical perspective and explored some of the potential factors that led the boom to be concentrated in certain regions of the country.
Amongst other factors identified above in precipitating a housing boom, research has also pointed to the city’s cultural capital, the role of media, urban pull factors and professional intermediaries in channelling the information on which the market depends. It is also important to take into account the role of qualitative factors such as the beliefs, behaviours and motivations of homebuyers and their advisors in triggering and sustaining a boom.
1. London, Middlesex, Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex
