City of Leeds Official Handbook c1937 : Housing Developments 6
Like most other towns and cities Leeds issued regular editions of an 'official guide' or handbook, usually full of information regarding civil services, amentities and industry aimed at both residents and potential investors. This c1937 Leeds edition is entitled "Leeds, the industrial capital of the North" - there's no mention of what say Manchester may have thought of that claim!
This section of the handbook looks primarily at the work of the City's municipal housing department rather than any of the speculative building being undertaken in the city by private developers. Line many British cities in the 1930s Leeds was grappling issues of appalling slum housing in the industrial inner city that had rapidly developed in the Victorian era of expansion. Indeed housing was a hughe issue in municipal politics, so much so that it had finally seen a swing to Labour control from Conservative in the 1930s. In 1933 a Housing Department was split from the City Engineer's Department and they, under the Housing Director R A H Livett ARIBA set to work with a will as can be seen here. As well as inner city clearance and redevelopment at lower densities, the city was to expand outwards to new planned suburban estates such as those already under way at Middleton and Gipton. Livett was to serve the city for many years and was highly respected officer.
As can be imagined, the outbreak of war in 1939 played havoc with such schemes and led to an even worse post-war backlog and many of the schemes seen here were not finally undertaken until the 1950s and '60s when Leeds also began to follow 'fashion' with tower blocks. One of the issues about these new outer suburbs was that of affordable transport for workers whose jobs often stayed in the central area, especially when added to the additonal costs of increased rents for the new properties. In Leeds, following on from the example of the reserved tramway lines to Middleton, similar schemes were planned for east Leeds as the maps show. Sadly, in the post-war era despite Leeds being a strongly pro-tram city until the early 1950s these were not to be constructed and public transport became wholly bus orientated as the existing tram network was closed down by 1959.
This page finishes the Housing section discussing the issues of rents for the schemes. The city's health is mentioned here discussing the hugely important work of the Public Health Department before many functions were taken over at national level.
City of Leeds Official Handbook c1937 : Housing Developments 6
Like most other towns and cities Leeds issued regular editions of an 'official guide' or handbook, usually full of information regarding civil services, amentities and industry aimed at both residents and potential investors. This c1937 Leeds edition is entitled "Leeds, the industrial capital of the North" - there's no mention of what say Manchester may have thought of that claim!
This section of the handbook looks primarily at the work of the City's municipal housing department rather than any of the speculative building being undertaken in the city by private developers. Line many British cities in the 1930s Leeds was grappling issues of appalling slum housing in the industrial inner city that had rapidly developed in the Victorian era of expansion. Indeed housing was a hughe issue in municipal politics, so much so that it had finally seen a swing to Labour control from Conservative in the 1930s. In 1933 a Housing Department was split from the City Engineer's Department and they, under the Housing Director R A H Livett ARIBA set to work with a will as can be seen here. As well as inner city clearance and redevelopment at lower densities, the city was to expand outwards to new planned suburban estates such as those already under way at Middleton and Gipton. Livett was to serve the city for many years and was highly respected officer.
As can be imagined, the outbreak of war in 1939 played havoc with such schemes and led to an even worse post-war backlog and many of the schemes seen here were not finally undertaken until the 1950s and '60s when Leeds also began to follow 'fashion' with tower blocks. One of the issues about these new outer suburbs was that of affordable transport for workers whose jobs often stayed in the central area, especially when added to the additonal costs of increased rents for the new properties. In Leeds, following on from the example of the reserved tramway lines to Middleton, similar schemes were planned for east Leeds as the maps show. Sadly, in the post-war era despite Leeds being a strongly pro-tram city until the early 1950s these were not to be constructed and public transport became wholly bus orientated as the existing tram network was closed down by 1959.
This page finishes the Housing section discussing the issues of rents for the schemes. The city's health is mentioned here discussing the hugely important work of the Public Health Department before many functions were taken over at national level.