Prefabs: 'Palaces of the People' - a photo on Flickriver

            Meet Joy Hughes (with her knitting) and her son Berwyn, celebrating his 19th birthday, in their garden at 36 Hillside Close, Banstead, Surrey on 25th June 1955. In the background is their prefab home, a familiar sight in many parts of Banstead and the rest of the UK in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Prefabs (prefabricated houses) were a major part of Britain’s plan to address the post-Second World War housing shortage, caused by years of extensive bomb damage and hundreds of thousands of soldiers returning from overseas. The planned lifespan of these bungalows was 10 years but today, some 80 years on, a handful are dotted around the country, still in use – a fine testament to the durability of their design and method of construction (precast reinforced concrete, but many also made from asbestos). 

All in all, one and a half million of these quick-build family homes were constructed. Known as ‘palaces of the people’ because they had open fires, indoor bathrooms and heated running water, I knew prefabs very well, because in the 1950s several of my school friends lived in them. Indoors, I particularly remember them being cosy and very warm, and I loved visiting them.

Taken in: UK / England / Reigate and Banstead District / Banstead (show map)

Taken on: June 25, 1955

Tags:

prefab

social housing

surrey

hillside close

joy hughes

berwyn hughes

vintage

1950s

b&w

monochrome

black and white

social history

quick-build

1955

england

palaces of the people « less

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