Abstract ：
Public housing policy introduced in Britain after the First World War, in the form of state-subsidised housing provision, underwent a significant change in the 1930s. This article uses contemporary sources to trace the ways in which public authorities and various bodies and individuals concerned with the questions of popular housing provision contributed to this process of policy reorientation. It will suggest that there was a growing interest in flats in the field of public housing. Enthusiasm was fired in the first instance by a shift in government’s housing policy which appeared to emphasise the necessity for ‘building upwards’ in its policy for the central redevelopment of towns. Continental housing, because of its long association with flats, offered a potential model for some local authorities contemplating large slum clearance schemes. Some took to research to find out the economic and technical possibilities of flats. At the same time, the results of several social surveys were pointing to the shortcomings of the conventional form of housing development. All this was in striking contrast to the situation in the 1920s, when the building of low-density suburban cottage estates had been taken for granted.

Keywords: housing policy; public housing; flats; housing estates; slum clearance; England