A collection of 6 black and white negatives showing the interior of an Airey House in Chingford, London. Airey Houses were a common form of postwar prefabricated housing and were developed by a Leeds based builder, Sir Edwin Airey. The Ministry of Works was the government department tasked with the organisation and efficiency of the push for postwar housing construction. The Temporary Housing Act of 1944/5 was intended to alleviate the acute housing shortages of the immediate postwar years. The exterior walls of the Airey house were made of precast concrete and were consequently easy to erect. Around 26,000 were constructed across the country during the late 1940s and early 1950s as part of attempts to alleviate the acute housing shortages of the immediate postwar years. By the 1980s many of the remaining Airey Houses were showing defects, ensuring that they were classified as defective and in need of repair by the 1984/5 Housing Defects Act. Gaining a mortgage on unmodified Airey Houses in the twenty-first century is consequently very difficult.
The original Ministry of Works storage envelope lists operator as “E”.
2 of the 6 images were catalogued and digitised as part of a 2020 project.
This is part of the Sub Series: PSA01/04/H Housing; within the Series: PSA01/04 Negatives; within the Collection: PSA01 Property Services Agency
Source: Historic England Archive
Architect: Airey, Edwin
Concrete, Mid 20th Century Prefabricated House, Domestic Interior
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