Wimpey no-fines house

[1] A rapid increase in the birth rate compounded by the loss of city centre housing during the Blitz meant demand for accommodation in post-World War II Britain was particularly intense.

Local government around the country commissioned large building projects to meet the demand, and innovative designs like the no-fines house gave private contractors like George Wimpey, and later the Corolite Construction Company, a compelling proposition to give the state.

By today's standards the houses are set in large plots of land intended to allow the occupants to engage in domestic vegetable production.

In more recent years (particularly since many were sold into private hands following the Housing Act 1980) no-fines estates have taken on a more varied look with most examples being painted (often in light pastel colours) and modified with porches or extensions.

By the 1980s, political opinion had swung against social housing, and those living in it seemed to experience a relatively low quality of life and poor health.

Subsequent improvements to windows and heating facilities have brought the houses broadly up to modern living standards and the design is now seen as largely vindicated.