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Council houses


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You'll possibly find that is cement board rather than steel. Around here they're called 'Utility houses' IIRC

Yes thats right, to all intents and purposes a two storey prefab. There is a couple of card kit makers who also produce prefab models, ideal if your era is early BR.

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Somewhere in my pile of GPO Engineering Instructions I have a file on how to mount and lead in the telephone lines into the various types of pre-fab and utility houses, a surprisingly interesting read, with excellent drawings!

 

How about some of those lovely ones with the concrete slatted exterior walls Russ? They seemed quite popular around our neck of the woods....

 

Andy G

Try getting a mortgage on one. There was an estate of these in Cranham were they had to remove the concrete and replace it with a brick 'skin'.

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Try getting a mortgage on one. There was an estate of these in Cranham were they had to remove the concrete and replace it with a brick 'skin'.

I was on a contract from 1985-86 in Biggleswade where the slatted sections were removed and the houses insulated and covered in re-inforcing and spray concrete.  The Tarran bungalows had a brick skin around the outside.

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There are some really dark concrete ones in Norwich and if they weren't ugly enough they have all got massive solar panels on now.

Most of them in the villages round here are brick, there are some at Cley next the sea which look over the river to blakeney church must have some of the nicest views round here. I reckon if they come up for sale they would be over £300k

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In Worcester, Waites built council properties using pre-cast concrete panels, held together with nuts and bolts. Inevitably the seals between panels failed and the damp got in and rotted the bolts. All replaced now with bricks and mortar.

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Is it just me that thinks its a shame that the rebuilds to the Airey Houses loose all the feel of the original, and just become another horrible bland box? With a bit of thought I'm sure the original concrete panels could be incorporated in the finshed rebuild...

 

Andy G

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There are some surprising survivors. This pair of 1950s prefabs are still there in one of London's expensive locations - East Dulwich. (STOP PRESS -Edit - 22.2.2017 - A friend who still lives locally says that this very week hoardings have gone up around these two - so the end is nigh, I guess)

post-14351-0-24456700-1487678800_thumb.jpg

One has been empty for some years - it was when we left the area in 2009. The other is occupied by someone who refuses to move out. I don't know what the ownership situation is, but the other house appears to have been bought by someone on the expectation of getting the double plot. Another pair a mile or so away were in a similar situation and the second one sold in the upper hundreds of thousands when it eventually came on the market  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34718659

London council housing has always varied tremendously, depending on the local authority and the amount of land they had to build on. Camberwell Borough Council built houses on land owned by Dulwich Estate which were very spacious. If you look at the floor plan of this one you can see the sizes of the rooms. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=43819862&sale=72634272&country=england

Bermondsey, to the north of the current Borough of Southwark, in the docklands had a completely different approach and had started their public housing much earlier, between the wars. This is one of their estates post-14351-0-35322900-1487679774_thumb.jpg

Edited by phil_sutters
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Having dug through some GPO Engineering Instructions I found these:

 

EDIT 26/01/2023:  These files were lost in a crash a year or so back, but don't despair, I've uploaded them again on Page 3 of this thread, so please go there! AG 

 

G3050 uni-serco.pdf

G3056 USA type.pdf

G3057 Phoenix.pdf

G3058 Miller.pdf

G3059 Tarran.pdf

G3060 Arcon.pdf

G3061 Spooner.pdf

G3062 Universal.pdf

G3063 Orlit.pdf

G3064 Airon.pdf

G3065 Airey type lead in.pdf

 

Hope they are of some interest...

 

Andy G

 

Edited by uax6
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Having dug through some GPO Engineering Instructions I found these:

 

attachicon.gifG3050 uni-serco.pdf

attachicon.gifG3056 USA type.pdf

attachicon.gifG3057 Phoenix.pdf

attachicon.gifG3058 Miller.pdf

attachicon.gifG3059 Tarran.pdf

attachicon.gifG3060 Arcon.pdf

attachicon.gifG3061 Spooner.pdf

attachicon.gifG3062 Universal.pdf

attachicon.gifG3063 Orlit.pdf

attachicon.gifG3064 Airon.pdf

attachicon.gifG3065 Airey type lead in.pdf

 

Hope they are of some interest...

 

Andy G

I didn't bother to try to open any after the first five, which all show a folder with NRM posters as its name, but with nothing inside. I trust they haven't got anything dodgy about them!

 

Edit

My mistake - I thought that they opened on clicking, but one has to download them and then open them.

Edited by phil_sutters
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I didn't bother to try to open any after the first five, which all show a folder with NRM posters as its name, but with nothing inside. I trust they haven't got anything dodgy about them!

 

They all open fine here with different building diagrams and the GPO instructions.

 

Good reference material. I spent ages measuring the prefab at Avoncroft museum some years ago but still not got round to using the info.

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I didn't bother to try to open any after the first five, which all show a folder with NRM posters as its name, but with nothing inside. I trust they haven't got anything dodgy about them!

all worked for me

 

I may have a new project

 

Nick

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With the interest this has generated I'm sure there is a market for a ready to plant or kit for these houses, especially as they are more or less standard nation wide

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This is, perhaps, the most unusual council house design, the curved roof Nissen-Petren design. Only a handful were ever built though a few still survive. I used to drive past the four pairs still standing in West Camel, Somerset, very distinctive looking.

 

 

post-6861-0-16846900-1488500056.jpg

 

Some more information here;

 

http://www.yeovilhistory.info/nissen-petren.htm

 

.

Edited by Arthur
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This variation of standard council house might be interesting, built by Nissen in 1925

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/AY2A4Y/pair-of-council-houses-of-radical-design-with-corrugated-iron-roof-AY2A4Y.jpg

It is the only example I have come across, just a row of 4 semi detached houses on the edge of West Canel, in Somerset, not far from Yeovilton. Given he naval airfield is not far away is probably how Nissen got involved.

Nissen huts were also used as temporary housing in London

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/galleries/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/galleries/Londons-East-End-then-and-now/Nissen_huts__Bridg_2295431a-large.jpg

 

Basic council house design seems to be very similar from 20s through to 50s. My own Easyform(concrete) ex council house was built in the 50s. Easyform was first used in the 20s. Some original features still exist. Doors were quite distinctive. Not sure about original windows as most were replaced many years ago, and then again replaced with double glazing. These don't help with the poor air circulation in the buildings.

 

There were some prefabs which were known as Sawdust City locally. There are certainly still some prefabs that are lived in locally.

 

Typical, someone was reading my mind and posed picture of Nissen house. Had not realised there were more. They seem to have similar problems to the house I live in.

 

The old photo is very useful, as it shows similar doors to what mine had, so maybe the windows are the same. Look like metal Crittall.

Edited by rue_d_etropal
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Now, those I like. The Nissen-Petren design shown in Arthur's post is very unusual, but the Dutch Barn, is to my mind, more elegant. Elegance was no doubt irrelevant when they were built. Affordability in cost of construction and practicality was no doubt paramount. For those that survive, elegance is perhaps more important and I think the Dutch Barn swings it. Very nice.

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"High Street Models"

 

KINGSWAY MODELS   do a range of card kits kit for the Cornish Unit type of house in OO  and several other types of house.

 

http://www.kingswaymodels.com/page35.htm

Their 1970's semi's look very typical of 'New Town' public housing as seen in Basildon, Harlow and Milton Keynes and many other housing developements throughout the country.

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IIRC there was at least one estate in Brentwood that belonged to East Ham - sometimes we forget the disruption caused by the Luftwaffe, with the subsequent builds outside London. Another at Harold Hill - my Aunt lived there for a short time after the war.

 

Best, Pete.

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IIRC there was at least one estate in Brentwood that belonged to East Ham - sometimes we forget the disruption caused by the Luftwaffe, with the subsequent builds outside London. Another at Harold Hill - my Aunt lived there for a short time after the war.

 

Best, Pete.

Harold Hill was built by the LCC just after the war, as was the vast Becontree estate and another in Wanstead/Southwark IIRC but they were all built between the wars but most to the same style. East Ham also had a small estate in Dagenham near the Crown pub that consisted of the steel framed houses mentioned above.

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On 03/03/2017 at 00:40, rue_d_etropal said:

This variation of standard council house might be interesting, built by Nissen in 1925

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/AY2A4Y/pair-of-council-houses-of-radical-design-with-corrugated-iron-roof-AY2A4Y.jpg

It is the only example I have come across, just a row of 4 semi detached houses on the edge of West Canel, in Somerset, not far from Yeovilton. Given he naval airfield is not far away is probably how Nissen got involved.

 

 

Not quite - the four at West Camel are the best known bacause they're easily seen from the 303, but there were (and are) some more in Goldcroft, Yeovil (these are listed, grade II - the listing reveals why no more were built: they came out rather pricey). The West Camel houses were an experiment which had nothing whatsoever to do with the Navy; the airfield wasn't even started until 1939. As the link Arthur gives in his post above: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/120128-council-houses/?p=2638261 explains the connection between one of the Petter family, known for oil engines and Nautilus grates, and Colonel Nissen. Those actually in Yeovil were built by the town corporation, the survivors at Queen Camel by Yeovil Rural District Council, the connection being the architects, Petter and Warren, based in Yeovil; hence they were and remain unique to the area. Pre-War council houses were very area-specific with the degree of uniformity being dependent upon who was commissioned to design them, the scale of development and how many builders were involved.

 

All were a response to the demands of the 1919 housing act which is what brought about the 'Council House' as we know it.

 

Adam

 

PS - there's quite a good blog about these: https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/nissen-petren-houses-not-obnoxious-and-the-people-would-be-delighted-to-pay-an-economic-rent/ (declaring an interest, I was one of the author's informants).

Edited by Adam
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