Story: Housing and government

Like the 1890–1912 Liberal government, the first Labour government (elected in 1935) wanted to use its state-housing scheme to raise the standard of housing. Houses would be built of quality materials and equipped with modern amenities. They would also be erected to a wide range of designs, so no house in the same part of a street was the same. More than 400 different designs were prepared by architects, including this one of a two-bedroom dwelling. All state houses were orientated so the living room received ample sun, and bedrooms featured new amenities such as built-in wardrobes.