Design by legislation: The ideological nature of house planning in the United Kingdom, 1918–1961

The official recommendations standards and legislation which have been related to the provision of houses in England have made explicit references to the spatial form and use of domestic facilities. For example, the serial of health and housing legislation during the last two centuries has had an influence upon the designs of houses built during that time, and particularly since the publication of the Tudor Walters Report in 1918. This paper studies the intentions of the series of recommendations and legislation from 1918 until the publication of the Parker Morris Report in 1961. The paper shows how the designs of houses in these official documents express specific ideas upheld by members of the architectural profession and civil servants which can be contrasted with public values about the meaning and use of domestic space.