Back-to-back housing
Back-to-back housing is a form of terraced housing in which two houses share a rear wall. With the rapid expansion of the population in Victorian Britain’s factory towns during the Industrial Revolution, many thousands of back-to-back houses were built.
They were typically occupied by working class people and were generally of low quality and high density. The houses were usually either ‘two-up-two-down’ (i.e. two rooms on both floors), or one room on each of three floors.
Because three of the four walls were shared with other buildings, this type of housing suffered from poor illumination and ventilation. However, they did have some benefits, such as being cheap to build and inexpensive to rent, as well as delivering high-density while giving people their own home as opposed to a flat.
Back-to-back housing was eventually judged to be unsatisfactory and the Housing Act of 1909 outlawed further construction. However, some local authorities continued to sanction their construction until the late-1930s.
Back-to-back housing was particularly common in the inner city areas of Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool, Salford and Nottingham. Only small areas of the housing still exists, most notably in Birmingham where they have been preserved as a museum by the National Trust.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Introducing or next Guest Editor Arun Baybars
Practising architect and design panel review member.
Quick summary by size, shape, test, material, use or bonding.
Types of rapidly renewable content
From forestry to agricultural crops and their by-products.
Terraced houses and the public realm
The discernible difference between the public realm of detached housing and of terraced housing.
Put digitalisation and sustainability at the core of curricula
Project management educators are urged.
Looking back at the influence of climate events
From a designer and writer: 'There are limits to growth but no limits to development'.
Terms, histories, theories and practice.
Biophilic design and natural light
Letting in the light and natural elements into spaces.
APM Programme Management Conference 2024
Strategies for Success.
Residential takes the reins as contract awards even out
Contracts down, but remain above the last quarter of 2023.
Celebrating Eid and the largest mud-brick building.
Barry Kingscote claims prestigious CIOB CMYA Award.
The British Mosque: an architectural and social history
The story of some 1,500 mosques or more in Britain.
Heat pump refrigerants, efficiencies and impacts
R12 to R1270 what are the differences?
Global heat pump market in 2023
Challenging times with positive but modest outlook.
Beyond the infrastructure pipeline
Opportunities and chokepoints.