British Home Design (1935)

[EdM021]

15:30 An out-of-use English verb-participle: 'situate'. From: '...the Sidcup Road Estate. Situate on the Main Sidcup Road only twenty minutes from Charing Cross...'

[amarone1956]

How many of these poor buggers would be dead by 1945.

[amarone1956]

Why does it all look so much better than is the case today?

[Isisbridge]

@amarone1956

Nobody cares what estates look like any more. Present-day owners have spoiled the appearance of their houses with exterior wall painting and plastic windows, plus the streets are littered with parked cars, yellow lines and road signs.

[gentil79]

The health & Safety warden would have puppies if they saw these guys working. However, thjis proves how Good craftsmanship was in that time. all those houses are still up nowadays, while many modern construction are riddled with problems after justa a few years.

[haz939]

My grandma lived in that style of house, there's whole streets of them where I live.

[scooterdaz1]

Fantastic social history

[beardyman]

thankyou sooo much for posting this!!! this is incredible stuff. . i and most people i know live on davis estates. . . crazy.

[arthurreturn]

That's how England used to be. Now it's full of Third World Criminals!! This Commie Nu-liebour has a lot to answer for!!

[tom1984uk]

Yes it used to be homophobic and ruled by religion, just like the fascist BNP.

[arthurreturn]

tom1984UK# There is no such word as Homophobic, it's a made up word by the Commies to shut people up if they speak out against the "Pervert Queers" who commit an unnatural and disgusting act! As for religious people in this world, the world would have been destroyed long ago if it was not for these people!! Also the real Fascist are the "Scum Commies and Marxist" not the BNP! So stop making stupid remarks and go and learn who the real Fascist are!!

[gentil79]

look at the way they build the houses: no stupid Health & safety laws! funny to see the builder at 6:00 stepping up the ladder with a load of bricks!

[Isisbridge]

Nice to see how pleasant England used to be. I bet most of these houses have been spoiled now, with naff replacement windows and exterior wall painting.

[Butchuk2007]

polskich:

"great for the upper crust"

These wern't designed for the upper crust. They were priced for the ordinary worker who now had the chance to get out of cramped city, usually rented, dwellings. Of course the house builders made money out of them too, and whole areas of countryside disappeared as a result. That's why there is now a modern green belt policy started in the 1930s to preserve whole areas from developments like this.

[polskich]

great for the upper crust but everyone else lived in slums

[vinylseat]

These houses at around £550-850 were well within the range of the average working man who purchased many. The mortgage was often less than the rent they were paying for sub standard flats and houses. The deposit was around £50 and could be saved in a couple of years if unnecessary items and good housekeeping were observed. Excellent houses built by excellent 'real' men who would have discarded safety equipment if provided. Davis appear to have been good employers. Brilliant film!

[polskich]

what was the average wage for a working man in 1935 i think you will find that it was very low and £50 was a fortune even in the 50s working people did not aspire to owning their own homes they rented rooms

[vinylseat]

The average working man earned around £4.50 a week. but was paying £1.50 a week in wasted rent for rubbish accomodation. That was the reason many working class people strived to, and did suceed to own these houses. I was born in 1948 and many of my so called working class friends parents had done just that including my own. Sure it was hard and certainly harder in the north of England but sacrifices were made to improve your conditions. These days people expect someone else to do it for them.

[polskich]

@vinylseat so why did so many working class people live in grinding poverty in london slums? hitler done them a favour in slum clearance

[vinylseat]

Agreed. Many Londoners certainly did live in slums. The inter war house building programme allowed the working classes who wanted to improve their lot to move out into the suburbs releasing some better quality if utility based flats to the poorer working classes. Not everybody wished to move from the slum areas and often remained where their friends and family were based. Don't believe all your told at trendy colleges. Born into austerity, I think I know a little about these times.

[polskich]

if your parents owned their own home you were not born into austerity

[vinylseat]

My parents were hard working. Dad was bus driver, my mother waitress. Had a terrible war. Bombed out of their home and we lived in two rooms till their home was rebuilt in 1947. No heating, no holidays, rationing and no home comforts for my mother. Dad died 1963 when I was 15. You know nothing about austerity! I expect you are kept on the state and are engulfed in envy when you see anyone improve themselves. Typical jealous lefty!

[polskich]

i was never kept on the state i know real grinding poverty that you would not understand

[sambo2566]

bollocks

[EduarquiRJ]

Thank you very much for sharing with us this splendid source of information for researches of urban and regional planning, both in Great Britain and abroad.

[TheDepotCat]

And so the country side started to disappear under new house and resulted in the Green Belt Act of 1938.

Still it's nice to see an old bit of film like this. I've always wondered if Wimpey took any photos when they built the estate that I live on back in 1931...Perhaps they languish in an attic somewhere waiting to be re-discovered.

On another note it would be interesting to see a Then & Now video using the old footage on show here.

[washingliquid]

perhaps mr Cholmondley-Warner could tell one where one could purchase one of their splendidly built residences in pleasant southgate.

[crago62]

fascinating film., what ever happened to the Davis Estates company. We sorely need this atitude to building homes now, maybe houses wouldnt be so expensive..Ps there is a Davis Est in Chatham Kent and its not the sort of place to go for your health and wealth....