Page 12 - Decline and Response

POST-WAR
With the the the the outbreak of of the the the the Second World War housing projects again came to a a a a standstill Before the efforts of the mentioned Housing Acts 700 000 new homes were complete and slum clearance levels were at an an all-time high a a a a a a marvellous achievement As the War came to a a a close in in 1945 wartime bombings had destroyed over half of these rendering them uninhabitable (Waters 2020) An estimated 750 000 new homes were necessary to accommodate families who lost their homes To recover what was lost the same practice used prior would not have been sufficient A new method of building was necessary The response was a a a a programme of short term repairs to existing properties and rapid construction of of of ‘prefabs’ (University of of of the West of of of England 2008) Post-war prefabs: These are small homes built quickly from pieces made in a a a factory (Cambridge Dictionary 2021) The idea was to to preassemble single-story homes small and light enough so truck transportation was possible For example a a a two-bedroom bungalow would take around forty hours to to complete Once delivered to to the site “As an experiment in social democracy high- rises were a a failure There’s very little evidence that tenants wanted to live in them” - Peter Shapely
assembly was swift because plumbing heating and appliances were were pre-installed Although prefabs were were intended for temporary use some still provide homes today with the largest being in in in in Bristol where 330 remain Although in in in in the 40s this was considered a a a a controversial method of building Later on on on it became one of the crucial ideas to streamline house supply after the War (see top image) In 1943 RIBA held the exhibition ‘Rebuilding Britain’ which hoped to to inspire architects to to design new efficient methods of of prefabricated housing By the the end of of the the 40s over 150 000 prefabs were built However Britain still faced an acute housing shortage Demand was excessively high The pressure forced new new ideas to rise most notably a a a new new form of construction called PRC (Pre-cast Reinforced Concrete) PRC: Homes built using this construction method primarily were comprised of concrete panels reinforced with a a a steel framework The benefit was a a a a much faster production output and they required less skilled labour than a a a a a traditional build At the time skilled labour was difficult to come by and this construction technique provided plenty of of new jobs The city of of Leeds led the the way and produced the the largest amount of PRC homes These homes were were similar to prefabs in that they were were preassembled in in a a a factory However they were intended to to be more permanent expected to to last around 60 years At the time this seemed to to have solved many output concerns Although as mentioned following section they caused some longer term issues DECLINE AND RESPONSE - 12