The land used for the estate had previously been allotments for the poor, but with the new need for housing, this was no longer considered a productive use of space.

[3] In the 1890s, John Burns, the MP for Battersea, secured acts of parliament allowing for the construction of the estate on the former Latchmere Common.

Opening the estate, the Mayor declared that, "The dwellings were novel of their kind, containing as they did what had once been regarded as luxuries, such as baths, combined ranges and electric light.

"[5] The English Heritage Survey of London (2013) calls the estate "the most vivid extant reminder of the efforts undertaken in Battersea’s heyday as a progressive municipality to better the life of its working classes".

[3] According to Sean Creighton, "The Estate's street names Freedom, Reform Sts, Odger, Joubert, Matthews and Burns all have a special meaning, reflecting the particular liberal, radical and socialist politics of its controlling Progressive Alliance.