How the severe housing crisis of the 1920s hit St Helens families

Perhaps three or four bodies at the top and a similar number stacked at the bottom?

A century ago that was the reality for some households within the St Helens district as the post-war housing crisis hit hard.

The lack of accommodation meant many families had no choice but to cram into one or two rooms within someone else's home.

Such overcrowded sleeping arrangements often came to light when applications for evictions were considered in court.

In one such case in July 1924 it was revealed that Patrick O’Neill, his wife and six children, all slept in one bed in a house in Stone Street, Prescot.

The judge in the case pointed out that such an appalling state of affairs was far from unusual within the St Helens area despite the best efforts of the authorities to remedy matters.

Prior to the First World War there had been no such thing as council houses but once there was peace St Helens Council made plans to build their first estate.

High levels of inflation and austerity were a great hindrance. But after many delays, hundreds of homes were constructed at Windlehurst after Sir David Gamble agreed to sell his land to the Corporation.

But far more houses were badly needed as demand massively outstripped supply. Some employers – such as Pilkington's and the Sutton Manor Colliery Company – built homes for their own workers but such initiatives, although welcome, only scratched the surface of what was required.

A large part of the problem was that house builders complained that inflation meant it was barely worth their while to construct houses at the price the council was prepared to pay.

And so in the summer of 1924 plans were drawn up to get round the difficulty by building the first large estate in St Helens in which householders could buy their own homes.

This picture postcard from the 1920s lampoons the overcrowded homes which even extended to boarding houses (Image: Stephen Wainwright)

Few people in St Helens then owned where they lived. But St Helens Council developed a partnership with a charitable society called the Dawson Trust to create a pioneering house-buying scheme in Sutton.

It resulted in the creation of Dawson Avenue, off New Street, in which "rent" would be paid at no more than 12 shillings 6d per week, plus rates. That was similar to what the tenants at Windlehurst were paying as rent for their new homes.

But after twenty years the Sutton householders would own their properties. And so in reality it was a mortgage scheme, although that term was not used.

Compared to the vast majority of working class homes in St Helens those in Dawson Avenue were going to be really special.

Each would have its own garden and three bedrooms, as well as electric light and a bathroom with hot running water. Paradise!

The houses would also have the benefit of a £100 government subsidy and St Helens Corporation grant and so mirror to some extent our modern-day help-to-buy schemes.

That was particularly so as the subsidy would act as a deposit and so the prospective homeowners only needed to find a small sum for their legal expenses.

Today, building some ninety-plus dwellings between New Street and Gerards Lane on beautiful open country would be controversial.

St Helens Reporter, October 24, 1924 (Image: Stephen Wainwright) But getting people out of badly overcrowded homes into decent living accommodation was then considered far more important.

It would take time for matters to improve but schemes such as the Dawson initiative helped to ease the housing crisis and also promoted the concept that working folk could own their own homes.

Stephen Wainwright's latest book The Hidden History Of St Helens Vol 4 is available from the St Helens Book Stop in Bridge Street and online from eBay and Amazon with free delivery. Price £12. Vols 1 to 3 are also still available.