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Housing in the UK

• Cover (left): An interpretation of Sir Karl Popper's clouds and clocks (p.491) by Philip Castle and (right) A portrait by Adrian George.

1 FOREWORD
2 INTRODUCTION
3 IDENTIFYING AN INFINITE REGRESS
4 • Municipal Housing in Liverpool in 1869
5 • The Victorian Terrace house
6 • TUDOR WALTERS REPORT
7 • Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (Addison Act)
8 • Manual on the Preparation of State-Aided Housing Schemes
9 • Interdepartmental Committee on House Construction (Burt Committee)
10 • DUDLEY REPORT
11 • Housing Manual
12 • TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
13 • PARKER MORRIS
14 • The Deeplish Study
15 • Space in the Home: Design Bulletin 6
16 INFINITE REGRESS ARGUMENT
17 CONCLUSION
18 Notes
19 APPENDIX - DATASET 1666-1968
20 References - Roderick Lawrence
21 Further reading
22 A note on Infinite Regress Arguments
- 22.1 Structure of Infinite Regress Arguments
- 22.2 Evaluating Infinite Regresses
- 22.3 Addressing Infinite Regresses
23 Related articles in Designing Buildings

[edit] FOREWORD

Housing in the UK has been selected for further investigation after reading 'Expediency' by Cedric Price.

• 'EXPEDIENCY' by Cedric Price. Source: AD 9/69, p.493

[edit] INTRODUCTION

In his introductory essay to the special issue of AD published in September 1969, Roy Landau wrote:—

"... starting with the premise that current theories and attitudes will remain only so long as they are relevant or satisfactory, or until such time as they can be improved upon, we examine some ways and means of thinking about architecture and planning as seen within the context of an ever changing present.
Architecture and planning are question-asking activities which are popularly classified as 'problem-solving'".
('Thinking about architecture and planning - A question of ways and means', AD 9/69, p.479)

The issue contained an outline taken from Cedric Price's then current housing study (late sixties), namely:—

'EXPEDIENCY'

Thus Cedric Price placed his outline in AD 9/69.

The purpose of this article is:—

to construct a working hypothesis. [1]

• Facsimile highlighting some initial questions. Source: Expediency

"Housing thus saturated with the implications of such questions is seen in a 'problem solving' context to be infinitely regressive.
Why should anyone assume that such a display of intellectually edible concepts will ever reduce, when challenged with the hunger for somewhere to LIVE?"
(ib.)

[edit] IDENTIFYING AN INFINITE REGRESS

In 1969, in 'Expediency', Cedric Price wrote:—

Housing in the UK has been selected for investigation since I consider it a critical element of the man-made environment which through prolonged misrepresentation and mis-applied design theory has become probably the least sensitive element of artificial human-conditioning.

The following documents are presented here for further consideration:—

1918 Tudor Walters Report
1919 Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (Addison Act)
1919 Manual on the Preparation of State-Aided Housing Schemes
1942 Interdepartmental Committee on House Construction (Burt Committee)
1944 Design of Dwellings (Dudley Report)
1944 Housing Manual
1944 Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944
1961 Parker Morris Report, Homes for Today and Tomorrow
1966 The Deeplish Study
1968 Space in the Home: Metric edition Design Bulletin 6

Notes

The publication of the Tudor Walters Report in 1918 was preceded by a serial of housing legislation, namely:—

According to Lucia Alonso, the 1851 Act is:—

"Considered by some as the first housing legislation."
(Housing Standardisation, 2023, 'DATASET: Housing Standards, Manuals and Acts in England')

[edit] • Municipal Housing in Liverpool in 1869

• St Martin’s Cottages municipal housing, Silvester Street, Liverpool | RIBA pix

Notes

"The first council to build housing as an integrated policy was Liverpool Corporation,[13] starting with St Martin's Cottage Cottages in Ashfield Street, Vauxhall, completed in 1869."
(Wikipedia, 2025, 'Council-built housing' in 'Public housing in the United Kingdom'

Further:—

The ‘cottages’ were tenements – 146 flats and maisonettes in two four-storey blocks, brick-built with open staircases and separate WCs placed on the half-landings. The result was so bleak that even the trade magazine The Builder concluded that those who built for the poor should ‘mix a little philanthropy with their percentage calculations’.
(Municipal Dreams, 2013)

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[edit] • The Victorian Terrace house

• OS map of Shaftesbury Park, Battersea.

• Typical plans. Source: Melanie Backe-Hansen

• A row of Victorian terraced houses in an East London street. Source: Mary Evans Picture Library

• Sweeping street scene of bye-law terraced houses. Source: Mary Evans Picture Library/MARGARET MONCK

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According to Wikipedians:—

The Tudor Walters Report in 1918 recommended that deep narrow-fronted byelaw terraced houses were to be avoided.

• A selection of images indicating the victorian terrace typology

According to Jacoby, S. & Özer:—

...in 1848, public health acts and model bye-laws were introduced as the first regulations defining minimum standards for housing.
The Victorian bye-law terraced house was a smaller, more compact scaled-down version of previous terraced houses (Firley & Deupi, 2023), meant to control overcrowding and poor sanitation while providing housing for workers in the city.
(pp.3-5)

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[edit] • TUDOR WALTERS REPORT

According to Roderick J. Lawrence:—

"The first of three milestones in the explicit spatial control of houses for “the working classes” was the Report of the Tudor Walters Committee of 1918. This report became the theme of the Manual on the Preparation of State Aided Housing Schemes which was published the following year. The recommendations of the Tudor Walters Committee were presented as the first official document to have an explicit influence on the type of house; its room shape and sizes, and the allocation of particular spaces for specific domestic activities. Hence, the intentions of these recommendations express the first official, conscious attempt to design houses for “the working classes” and to suggest how these houses should be used."
(Lawrence, 1985, 'Design By Legislation: The Ideological Nature of House Planning in the United Kingdom, 1918-1961', pp.125-126)

On 26 July 1917, the Tudor Walters Committee was appointed by William Hayes Fisher, President of the Local Government Board.

The original terms of reference were:—

"to consider questions of building construction in connection with the provision of dwellings for the working classes in England and Wales, and report upon methods of securing economy and despatch in the provision of such dwellings."
(Tudor Walters Report, p.3)

They were amended on 20 April 1918:—

"... by the insertion of the words "and Scotland" after the word "Wales.""
(ib.)

Notes

Chairman:— William Hayes Fisher

Members:—

Sir John Tudor Walters, M.P.,
Sir Charles Allom,
* Mr. Frank Baines, M.V.O., [*]
Mr. James Boyton, M.P.,
Mr. William Fairley, M. INST. C.E..
Mr. G. Marlow Reed,
Mr. J. Walker Smith, M. INST. C.E.,
Mr. James Squires,
Mr. Raymond Unwin, F.R.I.B.A.,
Sir Aston Webb, K.C.V.O., C.B.,

Resigned September, 1918.

• Terms of reference and composition of the Tudor Walters Committee

The diagrams and plans illustrated in the report include the following house plans:—

• Type I (Illustration No. 18, p.28)

• Type IA (Illustration No. 38, p.43)

• Type II (Illustration No. 19, p.28)

• Type IIA (Illustration No. 39, p.44)

• Type III (Illustration No. 20, p.28)

• Type III (Illustration No. 36, p.42)

• Type III (Illustration No. 37, p.43)

• Type IIIA (Illustration No. 40, p.44)

• A selection of the key drawings illustrating the three generic house forms and their variants

The text indicates the long-term intentions of the committee. See, for example:—

Paragraph 27.3

"The erection under the auspices of the Boards of so large a number of houses as is now contemplated must profoundly influence the general standard of housing in the country which it is the desire of the Boards to see raised."

Paragraph 27.6

"In the face of an improving standard it is only wise economy to build dwellings which, so far as may be judged, will continue to be above the accepted minimum, at least for the whole period of the loan with the aid of which they are provided, say 60 years;..."

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[edit] • Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (Addison Act)

According to Lucia Alonso:—

"The Act was passed to allow the building of new houses after World War I. Provided subsidies to local authorities to help finance the construction of 500,000 houses within three years (only 213,800 homes were built). This legislation subsidised the cost of council housing from three sources: rents, local authority rates, and a grant from the state (previously there had been no subsidies)."

(Lucia Alonso, ib.)

Learn More

• Proposed subsidy house. Source: Cheshirero	• Runcorn Rural District Council - Type A House. Source: Cheshirero	• Runcorn Rural District Council - Type A House. Source: Cheshirero	• City of Chester, Lache Housing Estate - Proposed Non-parlour Houses. Source: Cheshirero
• City of Chester, Lache Housing Estate - Proposed Parlour Houses. Source: Cheshirero	• Runcorn Rural District Council - Proposed Layout of Land, Helsby. Source: Cheshirero	• Runcorn Rural District Council - Proposed Housing Scheme at Helsby for Thirty Four Houses. Source: Cheshirero	• Untitled image. Source: Cheshirero

• Typical council development - courtesy of Cheshire County Council.

According to Wikipedia:—

"The Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 35) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was also known as the Addison Act after Minister of Health, Christopher Addison, who was Minister for Housing. The Act was passed to allow the building of new houses after the First World War, and marked the start of a long 20th-century tradition of state-owned housing in planned council estates. A separate Act was passed for Scotland."

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[edit] • Manual on the Preparation of State-Aided Housing Schemes

According to Lawrence:—

The Manual adopted the recommendations of the Tudor Walters Committee which had evolved three generic house forms to meet the rising standards of “the working classes”.
(ib., p.127)

• Illustrations Nos 2-4, pp.12-13

• Illustrations Nos 5-8, pp.14-15

• Illustrations Nos 9A-10, pp.16-17

• Illustrations Nos 11-12C, pp.18-19

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[edit] • Interdepartmental Committee on House Construction (Burt Committee)

According to Hansard:—

The Burt Committee, officially known as the Interdepartmental Committee on House Construction, was established in September 1942 by the UK government to address post-war housing needs. [...] the committee's primary objective was to evaluate materials and construction methods suitable for building houses and flats, focusing on efficiency, economy, and speed of erection.
(Hansard, 'Building Materials And Construction Methods (Committee)', 19 November 1942)

THE BRIEF

According to Wikipedians:—

"The committee was briefed to consider which methods and materials would be most cost-effective and efficient for providing houses after war damage in The Blitz and slum clearance had left many homeless.
The committee favoured prefabricated housing as a solution to the problems, and their recommendations resulted in the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944, which itself resulted in the Emergency Factory Made programme."
(Wikipedia, 2022, 'Burt Committee')

Notes

Chairman—Sir George Burt

According to Wikipedians:—

The committee included representatives from various government departments and experts in architecture, engineering, and the building industry. Their collective expertise contributed to the development of innovative housing solutions, notably the promotion of prefabricated housing, which influenced post-war housing policies such as the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944.
(Wikipedia, 2023, 'Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944')

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[edit] • DUDLEY REPORT

According to Lawrence:—

In 1944, the Dudley Committee was appointed by the Ministry of Health to “make recommendations about the design, planning, layout standards of construction and equipment of dwellings for people throughout the country”. The Committee Report entitled Design of Dwellings was the second important milestone in the evolution of the official control of house planning and design. The report had an important influence on the built form and use of dwellings which were built from that time. The terms of reference which were established for the committee limited its investigation to houses built by local authorities. However, for the first time reference to .‘the working classes” was deleted. This was an important change. The houses were no longer built for a specific category of people, and the demarcation of interests was reduced.
(ib., p.132)

According to the report, the committee was actually a sub-committee of the Central Housing Advisory Committee (CHOC) appointed in 1942 - see below.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. We were appointed at the meeting of the Central Housing Advisory Committee on the 20th March, 1942, with the following terms of reference :

“To make recommendations as to the design, planning, layout, standards of construction and equipment of dwellings for the people throughout the country.”

2. Our terms of reference would justify an examination of the whole field of housing. We have decided, however, to confine our consideration to the types of permanent dwelling commonly built by local authorities, bearing in mind that their present powers under Part V of the Housing Act, 1936, are restricted to the provision of dwellings for the working classes. Nevertheless, the standards we recommend are equally applicable to all types of housing, and we feel that steps should be taken to ensure that development by private enterprise does not fall below them. We have not considered standards of temporary construction as we regard it as outside the scope of our inquiry and the subject has been considered by another Sub-Committee.

3. In considering one section of our terms of reference—namely layout—we have entered on a wider field. Here we suggest means for the erection of complete communities rather than the development of purely residential estates for a single social class. The creation of such communities depends for its success upon the collaboration of all types of enterprise, both public and private, working towards a common goal.

(p.8)

Notes

Chairman:— The Right Hon. the Earl of Dudley, M.C., T.D.

Members

* Miss J. F. Adburgham, L.R.I.B.A., A.M.T.P.
Sir Harold Bellman, M.B.E., J.P.
Sir George Burt, M.Inst.C.E.
* Mrs. C. Cook
Mr. R. Coprock, C.B.E.
Mr. L. de Soissons, O.B.E., A.R.A., F.R.I.B.A., M.T.P.I.
Mrs. M. M. Dollar, iP.
+ Mrs, E..Gooch, J.P., C.C.
* Miss M. E. Haworth
Mr. L. H. Keay, O.B.E., F.R.1.B.A.
{ Miss Megan Lloyd George, M.P.
Ald. Sir Miles Mitchell, J.P.
§ Mr. A. E. Monks, J.P.
Mr. J. W. Robertson Scott, J.P., C.C.
The Lady Sanderson, J.P.
Mr. John A. F. Watson, J.P., F.S.1.
Sir Seymour Williams, K.B.E., C.C.
Dr. J. Greenwood WiIson, M.D., F.R.C.P., D.P.H.

Secretary : Miss Judith G. Ledeboer, A.R.I.B.A.

Signifies added member to the Sub-Committee.

+ Mrs. Gooch was appointed on 15th January, 1943.

t Miss Megan Lloyd George was appointed on 13th July, 1942.

§ Mr. Monks was appointed on 16th October, 1942.

• Terms of reference and composition of the Dudley Committee

• Arrangement of Ground Flooor in Three-Bedroomed House - Alternative 1

• Arrangement of Ground Flooor in Three-Bedroomed House - Alternative 2

• Arrangement of Ground Flooor in Three-Bedroomed House - Alternative 3

• Storage Fittings

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[edit] • Housing Manual

According to Lucia Alonso:—

"The Dudley Report's recommendations were used to write the Housing Manual. Housing based on new employment centres. Redefined density from the number of dwellings per acre to the 'number of persons for whom accommodation is to be provided' (assumed 2b house for 4 people)."

(Lucia Alonso, ib.)

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• Selected pages from 1944 Housing Manual. Source: HMSO

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[edit] • TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION

In the Preface to 'PREFABS: A History of the UK Temporary Housing Programme', Brenda Vale wrote:—

"After the Second World War a new type of state-subsidized house appeared in Britain. The two-bedroom temporary bungalow was produced ostensibly to provide much needed housing in the immediate post-war period and some 156,623 houses were supplied between 1945-1949 as part of the scheme. The bungalows differed from pre-war state-subsidized housing in a number of ways including their method of construction.For the first time in Britain one of the ideals of the Modern Movement was realized: a house was manufactured on a production line in a factory.
The hypothesis that underlies this particular investigation into the history of the prefab is that, as a housing form, it was in essence a public success."
(1995, p.viii)

• 1944 Arcon

• Plan — Source: Ministry of Health/Ministry of Works via Brenda Vale, p.3

• 1945 Howard

• Ground floor plan - Source: Scrapbook

• 1945 Phoenix

• Floor plan

• 1946 BISF

• Prototype floor plans

BISF House Architectural Building Plans

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• Selected images of prefabricated steel houses. Source: Archiblog

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According to Wikipedians:—

"The Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944 (7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed in order to provide solutions to the housing crisis which occurred at the end of World War II.
The Act was the responsibility of the Ministry of Reconstruction, and came in response to the recommendations of the Burt Committee, which had been established in 1942.
The government aimed to provide enough homes for each family who required an individual dwelling, which it perceived had been the situation in 1939 prior to the outbreak of war. However, the Blitz had rendered some 450,000 homes either completely destroyed or uninhabitable. A secondary intention of the act was the completion of the pre-war slum clearance project."
(Wikipedia, 2023, ' Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944 ')

According to Brenda Vale:—

"Ultimately, the most sophisticated arrangement of the standard two bed-room accommodation was probably that of the Arcon Mark V bungalow. The two-bedroom Arcon had all rooms, apart from the kitchen, leading off a hall which contained the WC and a built-in meter and coat cupboard. The airing cupboard, which was part of the prefabricated bathroom/kitchen unit, also gave into the hall. Partitions between the living room and bedroom 1 and bedroom 2 and the hall were partly composed of cupboard units. The kitchen, apart from its cooker, sink etc, which were combined with the bathroom plumbing and wiring, also contained a larder with ventilation direct to the outside, and a folding table. A separate shed was to be provided in the garden space for the storage of bicycles and tools. All the bungalows were variations of similar accommodation."
(ib., p.2)

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[edit] • PARKER MORRIS

According to Lawrence:—

The Committee’s Report, 'Homes for Today and Tomorrow' is the third and final milestone in this serial of English Housing legislation. The Parker Morris Committee reviewed previous legislation and noted the importance of the Housing Manuals which had been published since 1944. They suggested that the introduction of the Housing Manuals in 1952 and 1953 had stifled alternative plan arrangements, induced standardisation, and that this had been evident in “the internal designs of local authority houses of the late ‘fifties”‘.
(ib., p.138)

Preface

Terms of Reference

We were appointed by the Central Housing Advisory Committee “to consider the standards of design and equipment applicable to family dwellings . . . whether provided by public or private enterprise, and to make recommendations”.
We have understood our terms to mean that our primary task was to consider standards of internal design.
('Homes for today & tomorrow', 1961, p.iv)

Notes

Chairman:— Sir Parker Morris, LL.B

Members:—

Miss Helen Alford, B.A., F.R.I.C.S.
Mr. C. Douglas Galverley, F.I.O.B.
Mr. Peter Chamberlin, F.R.I.B.A.
Ald. Sir Harold Clowes, O.B.E., J.P. *
Mr. E.V. Collins, A.R.I.B.A. *
Mrs. Evelyn Denington
Mr. G. L. A. Downing, O.B.E., M.I.C.E., A.M.I.Mech.E., M.I.Mun.E. *
Miss Judith Ledeboer, F.R.I.B.A., M.A.(Cantab.), F.I.L.A. *
Ald. A. R. Nobes, O.B.E., J.P.
Mrs. Ivy Powell *
Miss Margaret Reade, O.B.E., J.P.
Viscount Ridley, C.B.E.T.D., J.P. •
Professor Andrew B. Semple, V.R.D., M.D., D.P.H.
Mrs. Muriel Smith
Mrs. Anne Unmack *
Mr. Norman E. Wates, F.I.O.B.
Mr. J. L. Womersley, F.R.I.B.A., M.T.P.I.
Mr. A. A. Bellamy, A.R.I.B.A., A.M.T.P.I. (Assessor)

Secretary: S. W. Gilbert

Technical Secretary: P. G. Negus, A.R.I.B.A.

Co-opted members.

• Viscount Ridley resigned from the Sub-Committee on 25th February, 1960.

• Terms of reference and composition of the Parker Morris Committee

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[edit] • The Deeplish Study

'The Deeplish Study: Improvement Possibilities in a District of Rochdale' was commissioned by the UK Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

The study examined the Deeplish area of Rochdale, a working-class neighbourhood characterized by ageing housing stock, to explore alternatives to widespread demolition. This study is notable for its interdisciplinary approach, combining physical, social, and policy analyses to inform urban renewal strategies.

The study also revealed that many homes in Deeplish were structurally sound but lacked basic amenities such as bathrooms and indoor toilets. These deficiencies were particularly challenging for elderly residents.

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Acknowledgement

"This study could not have been carried out without the help of the members and officers of the Rochdale Borough Council, including the police, Corporation transport staff and school teachers; the British Railways staff at Rochdale station; the factory managers in Deeplish and —above all— the residents and landlords in Deeplish. This help was given unstintedly and was much appreciated."
(MOHLG, p.vi)

• Selected pages from the report indicating improvement possibilities

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[edit] • Space in the Home: Design Bulletin 6

• Food Preparation (p.10)	• Eating (p.11)	• Leisure (p.12)	• Leisure (p.13)
• Sleeping (p.14)	• Personal Care (p.15)	• Circulating (p.16)	• Entering and Leaving (p.17)
• Furniture and Equipment (p.18)	• Furniture and Equipment (p.19)	• Furniture and Equipment (p.20)	• Furniture and Equipment (p.21)

• Selected pages from Space in the Home. Source: HMSO

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This article has identified and referenced the official recommendations and legislation from the publication of the Tudor Walters Report in 1918 until the publication of Space in the Home in 1968.

Thus there is sufficient evidence to support the following proposition:—

... that housing in the UK from 1918 to 1968 was 'infinitely regressive'.

However, this article assumes:—

... that Cedric Price anticipated that, going forward in time, housing in the UK would be seen in a 'problem-solving' context to be infinitely regressive.

See, for example, the articles by Nicholas Negroponte [2] and by Stanford Anderson [3] in the same September issue.

[edit] INFINITE REGRESS ARGUMENT

According to Wikipedians:—

"An infinite regress is an infinite series of entities governed by a recursive principle that determines how each entity in the series depends on or is produced by its predecessor."
(Wikipedia, 2025, 'Infinite regress')

Further:—

"An infinite regress is a series of appropriately related elements with a first member but no last member, where each element leads to or generates the next in some sense. An infinite regress argument is an argument that makes appeal to an infinite regress. Usually such arguments take the form of objections to a theory, with the fact that the theory implies an infinite regress being taken to be objectionable."
(Ross Cameron, 2022, 'Infinite Regress Arguments')

The evidence presented in the chronology listed above supports the hypothesis:

... that the series of recommendations and legislation starting with the Tudor Walters Report in 1918 was governed by a recursive principle which determined how each instance in the series depended on or was produced by its predecessor.

The chronology also indicates:—.

... that there is no last member in the series of recommendations and legislation which started with the Tudor Walters Report in 1918.

According to Ross Cameron:—

"There are two ways in which a theory’s resulting in an infinite regress can form an objection to that theory. The regress might reveal a bad feature of the theory—a feature that is not the regress itself, that we have independent reason to think is a reason to reject the theory. Or the fact that the theory results in the infinite regress might itself be taken to be a reason to reject the theory."
(ib.)

This article assumes, after Ross Cameron:—

... that the infinite regress itself may be seen as a reason to reject the design theory in use.

• Conceptual diagram outlining an example of infinite regress arguments with path of THP indicated in red. Source: Norman Fellows

Premises in the conceptual diagram diagram above:—

Premise 1:—

... that there are Domains (Ds) within which there are objects.

Premise 2:—

... that there is always something (an object) that stands in relation (R) to it (another object).

Premise 3:—

... that there are no infinite descending R chains.

Conclusion:—

... that at some point there is a first R outside D

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Premises in the particular infinite regress argument in this article:—

Premise 1:—

... that there was a Domain (D) within which there were official recommendations, standards and legislation.

Premise 2:—

... that for any instance of official recommendations, standards or legislation (R) there was another which stands in relation to it—i.e. the Tudor Walters Report, the Dudley Report and the Parker Morris chain.*

Premise 3:—

... that there was no infinite descending chain.

Conclusion:—

... that at some point there was a first R outside D, namely:— housing legislation which related to the Victorian terraced house.

NOTE: This chain also contained the related Acts and Design Manuals.

• Table comparing premises in the conceptual diagram with premises in the particular infinite regress argument in this article.

[edit] CONCLUSION

This article concludes:—

... that housing in the UK had been misrepresented since before the publication of the Tudor Walters Report in 1918; and
... that misrepresentation and the mis-application of design theory continued until, but not ending with, the publication of 'Space in the Home' in 1968.

In other words, this article evidences the fact:—

... that so-called "permanent" housing built in the UK from 1918 to 1968 was infinitely regressive.

Thus this article also concludes:—

... further ongoing research is required in order to bring the investigation into housing in the UK up to date.

[edit] Notes

[1] "A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further ongoing research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails. Like all hypotheses, a working hypothesis is constructed as a statement of expectations, which can be linked to deductive, exploratory research in empirical investigation and is often used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research." Wikipedia

[2] Nicholas Negroponte (1969) 'Architecture Machine', AD 9/69, p.510

[3] Stanford Anderson (1969) 'Commentary', AD 9/69, p.514

[edit] APPENDIX - DATASET 1666-1968

Year

Type

Title

Published by

Notes

1666	• Rebuilding of London Act 1666. Source: Wikipedia	Rebuilding of London Act 1666	Parliament of England	"The Act proposed that all new buildings had to be constructed of brick or stone for fire safety. It also imposed a maximum number of storeys per house for a fixed number of abodes to eliminate overcrowding." (Lucia Alonso, 2023) Learn More
1774	• Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774. Source: Wikipedia	Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774	Parliament of Great Britain	"Categorised urban houses into different rates defined by the value of the property and its total floor area. It standardised the quality and construction of buildings and made the exterior of a building as fire-proof as possible, by restricting any superfluous exterior timber ornamentation except for door frames and shop fronts. Appointment of District Surveyors to supervise the Building Laws." (Lucia Alonso, 2023) Learn More
1844	• The Metropolitan Buildings Act 1844. Source: Internet Archive	The Metropolitan Buildings Act 1844
1851	• Common Lodging Houses Act 1851. Source: Wikipedia	Common Lodging Houses Act 1851	UK Parliament	"Considered by some as the first housing legislation. It gave boroughs and vestries the power to raise funds via local rates or Public Works Loan Commissioners to build lodging houses for unmarried working people." (Lucia Alonso, 2023) Learn More
1885	• Housing of the Working Classes Act 1885. Source: Wikipedia	Housing of the Working Classes Act 1885	UK Parliament	"Consolidated and amended Shaftesbury, Torrens, and Cross Acts. Lodging houses were redefined to include separate dwellings for labouring classes. The interests for Public Works Loan Board lowered." (Lucia Alonso, 2023) Learn More
1890	• Act. Source: Internet Archive	The Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890	UK Parliament	"It enabled local authorities to build on cleared land. The Act did not allow authorities to build their own housing on land remaining vacant prior to 1890, but it allowed them the swap land so that a cleared site could be sold commercially if there was another site close by that could be used." (Lucia Alonso, 2023) Learn More
1890	• Act. Source: Wellcome Collection	The Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890	UK Parliament	"The housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, annotated, with appendices containing the Incorporated Statutory Provisions, the Working Classes Dwellings Act, 1890, the Standing Orders of Parliament related to Provisional Orders, and the Circulars, Memoranda and ...". (Charles Allen, 1890) Learn More
1894	• London Building Act, 1894. Source: Internet Archive	London Building Act, 1894	London County Council (LCC) / Banister Fletcher
1909	• Act. Source: Internet Archive	The Housing & Town Planning, etc. Act 1909 Learn More	UK Parliament	"Considered UK's first town planning Act. It prohibited the ‘back-to-back’ housing. It was less on town planning, and more about the sanitary and aesthetic improvement of housing and focused on the prevention of future slums in new peripheral suburban developments." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1918	• Report. Source: HathiTrust	Report of the committee appointed ... to consider questions of building construction in connection with the provision of dwellings for the working classes in England and Wales, and Scotland, and report upon methods of securing economy and despatch in the provision of such dwellings ... (Tudor Walters Report)	Tudor Walters Committee	"The report published five model plans. These designs were specifically to set minimum expected building standards and facilities (such as bath in every house) and provide house designs that would have good living quality and efficient building materials. Authorities could design their own houses... (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1919	• Act. Source: Gov.UK	Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (Addison Act)	UK Parliament	"The Act was passed to allow the building of new houses after World War I. Provided subsidies to local authorities to help finance the construction of 500,000 houses within three years [...] . This legislation subsidised the cost of council housing from three sources: rents, local authority rates, and a grant from the state (previously there had not been no subsidies)." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1919	• Manual. Source: Internet Archive	Manual on the Preparation of State-Aided Housing Schemes	Local Government Board	"The manual was intended as a guide to local authorities on the preparation, design and construction of housing schemes with the recommendations from the Tudor Walters Report." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1944	• Manual. Source: HathiTrust	Housing Manual	Ministry of Health / Ministry of Works	"The Dudley Report's recommendations were used to write the Housing Manual. Housing based on new employment centres. Redefined density from the number of dwellings per acre to the 'number of persons for whom accommodation is to be provided' (assumed 2b house for 4 people)." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1944	• Report. Source: Internet Archive	Design of Dwellings (Dudley Report)	Central Housing Advisory Committee	"The Dudley Report was produced by a committee set up by the Ministry of Health’s Central Housing Committee to report upon the design of pre-war council house dwellings. The Report reviewed guidance on housing standards post Tudor Walter and concluded that the design of council houses was lacking in variety and offered insufficient living space." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1944	• Act. Source: Hansard	Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944	UK Parliament / Ministry of Reconstruction (Wikipedia)	"The Government aimed to provide enough homes for each family who required an individual dwelling, which it perceived had been the situation in 1939 prior to the outbreak of war. It also intended for the completion of the pre-war slum clearance project." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1961	• Report. Source: Internet Archive	Parker Morris Report, Homes for Today and Tomorrow	Parker Morris Committee / Central Housing Advisory Committee	"The report made recommendations for the total area of the dwelling as minimum standards. It was not just about square meters but about usability. It proposed better housing for both public and private sector and for-sale and for-let. Dwellings would include storage and heating (household goods were a commonplace)." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More
1968	• Design Bulletin	Space in the Home: Metric edition Design Bulletin 6	Ministry of Housing and Local Government	"The bulletin was designed to follow-up the publication of 'Homes for Today and Tomorrow'. It illustrated the main activities in a home and suggested furniture and space requirements." (Lucia Alonso, ib.) Learn More

• Edited extract from 'DATASET: Housing Standards, Manuals and Acts in England' compiled by Lucia Alonso. Source: Housing Standardisation

[edit] References - Roderick Lawrence

Roderick Lawrence (1985) 'Design by legislation: The ideological nature of house planning in the United Kingdom, 1918–1961' at ResearchGate. Also in Habitat International, Volume 9, Issue 2, 1985, Pages 123-140 https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-3975(85)90014-1

Bowley. M. (1945) ‘Housing and the State 1919-1944‘, University Press, Cambridge.
E. Gauldie (1974) ‘Cruel Habitations: a History of Working Class Housing, 1700–1918‘, New York : Barnes & Noble.
E. Chadwick (1965) ‘Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population‘, Edited, with an introduction by M.W. Finn; pp. 219-254. University Press. Edinburgh.
M. Swenarton (1981) ‘Homes Fit for Heroes — The Politics and Architecture of Early State Housing in Britain‘, Heinemann, London.
Local Government Board (1918) ‘Report of the Committee … to Consider Questions of Building Construction in Connection with the Provision of Dwellings for the Working Classes in England and Wales and Scotland‘, cd. 9191. The Tudor Walters Report. H.M.S.O., London.
E. Howard (1902) ‘Garden Cities of Tomorrow‘, see revised edition with introduction by F. Osborn (1944). Architectural Press, London.
Local Government Board (1919) ‘Manual on the Preparation of State Aided Housing Schemes‘, H.M.S.O., London.
Ministry of Reconstruction (1919) ‘Report on The Women’s Housing Subcommittee Appointed by The Minister of Reconstruction To Consider The Plans Of Houses From The Point Of View Of Convenience For The Housewife’, cd. 9166. H.M.S.O., London.
B. Parker (1919) ‘The Joseph Rowntree Village Trust’, in Housing pp. 254-255. 29th March 1920, H.M.S.O., London.
E. Layton (1961) ‘Building by Local Authorities‘, George Allen and Unwin, London.

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Ministry of Health (1944) ‘Design of Dwellings‘, the report of the Dudley Committee. p. 8. H.M.S.O., London.
Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1944) ‘Housing Manual‘, H.M.S.O., London.
Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1952) ‘Housing Manual 1952’, H.M.S.O., London.
Department of the Environment (1961) ‘Homes for Today and Tomorrow‘, the report of the Parker Morris Committee. H.M.S.O., London.
Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1967) ‘Housing Standards Costs and Subsidies’, M.O. H. L.G. Circular X/37. H.M.S.O., London.

Source:— Norman Fellows (2025) '‘Design by legislation: The ideological nature of house planning in the United Kingdom, 1918–1961’ by Roderick Lawrence'', extremelyprovocative on WordPress

[edit] Further reading

Stanford Anderson (1966) 'Problem-Solving and Problem-Worrying', Architectural Association
Nicholad Negroponte (1969) 'Toward a Theory of Architecture Machines', Journal of Architectural Education, Volume 23
Zachary Trattner (2014), 'A Critical Analysis of “Toward a Theory of Architecture Machines” by Nicholas Negroponte', Institute of advanced architecture of Catalonia
Wikipedians (2025) 'Design methods', Wikipedia
Ross Cameron (2022) 'Infinite Regress Arguments', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Cheshireo (2019) 'Homes fit for Heroes', blogspot website
Jacoby, S. & Özer, S. (Eds.). (2024) 'Housing Norms and Standards: The Design of Everyday Life', [special issue], Urban Planning 9
mperezromero (2018) '“…AD is thinking about architecture and planning”' Guest editor: Royston Landau. Architectural Design, 9 September 1969.
George Bentley and Samuel Pointin (1911) 'Housing, town planning, etc., act, 1909; a practical guide in the preparation of town planning schemes. With appendices containing the text of the act, the procedure regulations, extracts from the Hampstead Garden suburb act, 1906, extract from the Liverpool corporation (streets and buildings) act, 1908, etc., etc., also specimen forms of notices and advertisements and a model set of coloured plans prepared in accordance with the requirements of the regulations', London : G. Philip & Son, Ltd.; [etc., etc.]
Tudor Walters Committee (1918) 'Report of the committee appointed by the President of the Local Government Board and the Secretary of Scotland to consider questions of building construction in connection with the provision of dwellings for the working classes in England and Wales, and Scotland, and report upon methods of securing economy and despatch in the provision of such dwellings', HMSO, at HathiTrust
Wikipedians (2024) 'Tudor Walters Report', Wikipedia
Wikipedians (2024) 'Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919', aka the Addison Act, Wikipedia
Ministry of Health (1944) 'Design of dwellings : Report of the Design of dwellings subcommittee of the Central housing advisory committee appointed by the minister of health and Report of a study group of the Ministry of town and country planning on site planning and layout in relation to housing', aka Dudley Report, HMSO
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Works (1944) 'Housing Manual 1944', HMSO
Ministry of Reconstruction (1944) 'Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act', HMSO
Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1961) 'Homes for today & tomorrow', HMSO aka Parker Morris
Cedric Price (1969) 'Expediency', Architectural Design, September
Julia Park (2017) 'One Hundred Years of Housing Space Standards: What Now?', Levitt Bernstein
Lucia Alonso (2023) 'DATASET: Housing Standards, Manuals and Acts in England', Housing Standardisation
House of Commons (2013) 'The History of Parliamentary Franchise', researchbriefings,files.parliament.uk

[edit] A note on Infinite Regress Arguments

Daniel Bonevac's lecture on infinite regress arguments, as transcribed on the Extremely Provocative blog, offers a structured framework for understanding and analyzing such arguments in philosophy. See '‘Infinite Regress Arguments’ by Daniel Bonevac – with Transcript'.

[edit] Structure of Infinite Regress Arguments

Bonevac identifies two fundamental components in these arguments:

Domain (D): A set of entities under consideration, such as beliefs, actions, or objects.
Relation (R): A binary relation that connects elements within the domain.

The argument is built upon three key premises:

Non-emptiness Premise: Asserts that the domain contains at least one element.
Seriality Premise: Every element in the domain is related to another element via relation R.
No-Termination Premise: There is no initial or foundational element that terminates the regress.

When these premises are accepted, they lead to an infinite regress, where each element depends on a preceding one ad infinitum.

[edit] Evaluating Infinite Regresses

Bonevac emphasizes that not all infinite regresses are problematic. The critical issue is whether the regress is vicious, meaning it undermines the explanation or leads to contradictions. For instance, in epistemology, an infinite regress of justifications may prevent any belief from being adequately justified, posing a significant problem. Conversely, some infinite structures, like the sequence of natural numbers, are considered benign and do not pose such issues.

[edit] Addressing Infinite Regresses

To resolve or avoid vicious infinite regresses, philosophers have proposed several strategies:

Foundationalism: Posits the existence of basic, self-justified beliefs or elements that do not require further justification.
Coherentism: Suggests that beliefs are justified by their coherence within a system, rather than by linear justification chains.
Skepticism: Rejects the possibility of certain knowledge, thereby denying the initial premises that lead to the regress.

Bonevac's framework aids in pinpointing which premise to challenge when confronted with an infinite regress, facilitating a clearer analysis of complex philosophical arguments.