Evaluate the legacy of the two world wars on the provision of 'decent Essay

Evaluate the legacy of the two world wars on the provision of 'decent housing' during the twentieth century - Essay Example This paper explores the Legacy of World War I and II on the provision of decent housing during the 20th century. Prior to the First World War, Britain’s construction and provision of housing was largely a responsibility of the private sector (Burnett 1986). It was not until the termination of the First World War that the central government and local authorities assumed more active role in house construction and utilization of land. The development of council houses diminished the role played by market forces of demand and supply on locations of houses construction. According to Taylor (1998), Birmingham city took the lead as other cities followed in the same footsteps. The provision of inexpensive housing constructed by local authorities under subsidies of the central government heightened the involvement of the public in determining how land was to be used. Market forces of demand and supply no longer influenced the utilization, misuse and non-use of land. The central government and local authority in housing provision was aimed at eradicating poverty, boosting public health and reducing social isolation. The famous â€Å"home fit for Heroes,† emerged after the First World War when honoring fighters in the war became the central political focus. Local councils built council houses to ease overcrowding and to provide quality houses for low-income tenants (Daunton 2008). The programme was initiated in nineteenth century and peaked during the mid-twentieth century, at the point when the programme included extensive suburban estates as well as urban developments characterized with tower blocks. Clapp (1994) argued that there was smaller extent of property destruction during the First World War leading to lack of urgent reconstruction programmes. However, the initial sustained thrust to build and develop cheap and subsidized houses by local authorities began in 1919 under