Housing conditions

The consequences of this rapid growth of the towns and cities were to be long-lasting. Factories were built in high concentration with workers living in very close proximity. A complete lack of planning regulations resulted in the building of very poor quality and very crowded housing.

There was very limited access to clean water, sanitation and the air was heavily polluted with smoke from the homes and factories. A serious lack of waste disposal services and access to safe and reliable food supplies resulted in very poor living conditions and a high mortality rate. Serious outbreaks of cholera and typhoid plagued many urban areas.

The housing in its worst cases consisted of crowded tenement blocks with numerous large families sharing limited outside toilets and taps.

Other houses built were terraced, including some back-to-back housing, where each house shared a back wall. This prevented any through flow of air through the houses, exacerbating living conditions. Conditions in these houses were also very poor with many people living in cramped, dirty conditions, without proper sanitation.

The twentieth century

Housing provision and conditions in the 20th century were more influenced by central and local government housing policy. From the beginning of the 20th Century to its end, house ownership increased from 10% to 67% and renting from private landlords had declined from 90% to less than 10%.