112 Semi-detached Dwellings,. Lacy Street, Stretford

One of the first examples of Local authority semi-detached housing schemes in the country. Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities of Tomorrow, published in 1898 had generated a certain interest in the planning of new homes for artisans and Stretford Borough Council had been quick to react.  Mr. T. Robinson, chairman of the Sanitary Committee, proposed that semi-detached dwellings for the increasing working-class population be provided and the idea was adopted by John Bowden. Whether the development truly constituted part of a “Garden City,” as subsequently claimed, is open to debate. While the houses were an improvement on the tenements previously provided by Stretford UDC, having gardens at the front and rear and internal bathrooms, they were still laid out on a strict grid-iron of roads. When compared with Letchworth Garden City, founded in 1903.the scheme lacked many of the features generally associated with the Garden City Movement. Construction to the designs of John Bowden and Company (qv). began in 1906, after the death of John Bowden himself. The extent of his involvement in the detailed design is thus unclear. Note that Lacy Street and Crossfield Street had already been laid out by John Bowden in 1894

In the year 1900 an inquiry instituted by the Stretford District Council showed that there were thirty back-to-back houses and seventy-seven houses which were overcrowded in the Stretford and Longford wards, and the Medical Officer of Health called attention to the need of the provision of houses for the working classes. The Council then decided to approach Sir Humphrey de Trafford, who offered a plot of land abutting on the Bridgewater Canal bank between Lacey Street and Brunswick Street at 1½d. per square yard, the condition of having the land at such a price being that the scheme must be carried through. In due course the scheme was prepared by Mr. John Bowden, C.E., and submitted to the Local Government Board. It provides for the erection of 112 semi-detached artisans' dwellings, with six yards frontage to each. There are only one or two such schemes in England in which the houses are semi-detached, the Council being enabled to give this advantage owing to the low price of the land. The cost of the land is £3,750, and the total amount proposed to be borrowed is £24,000. If the Council succeed in getting sixty years in which to repay the capital, they will be able to let the houses at 4s. 6d. a week, and there will be no charge on the rates. The scheme has now been approved by the Local Government Board, and will be carried out as soon as possible. [British Architect 21 August 1903 Page 131]

The land for the scheme covered 23,600 square yads, and had been provisionally acquired by the Council in perpetuity from Sir Humphrey De Trafford on very favourable terms. … The houses would adjoin those erected under the scheme of 1893. The houses would be 112 in number and would each contain two rooms and a scullery on the ground floor and three bedrooms. They were to be semi-detached and surrounded by gardens. The estimated cost was originally £24,015, but owing to certain in the scheme. made at the request of the Council, another £1,000 would now be required. [Manchester Guardian 16 September 1903 page 3]

The Local Government Board have given their sanction to a loan of £25,000 for the housing scheme of the Stretford District Council. The scheme provides for the erection. of 112 houses in the village, on land bounded by Lacy Street, Crossford-street, and the canal. The houses will be semi-detached, the Council having been enabled to adopt this system owing the low price which they have secured the land from Sir Humphrey De Trafford. [Manchester Guardian 20 July 1904 page 9]

Reference    British Architect 21 August 1903 Page 131
Reference    Manchester Guardian 19 August 1903 page 6 – Stretford Housing Scheme
Reference    Manchester Guardian 16 September 1903 page 3
Reference    Manchester Guardian 20 July 1904 page 9