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Roehampton
estate.
126
The Roehampton estate, acquired in October, 1919, for £120,000, payable in instalments of £20,000
a year, free of interest, comprises about 147 acres lying between the Upper Richmond-road and Putneyheath.
Nearly 100 acres on the northern part of the site are being developed for working-class houses.
On 3rd March, 1920, the Council accepted the tender of Messrs. Henry Woodham and Sons, for the
construction of roads and sewers over the whole estate. The contract price for the first portion of about
50 acres is £66,671, and the remainder will be priced pro rata with the prices quoted in the tender.
In considering the arrangements to be made for the erection of the houses, the Council
had regard to the difficulties involved in obtaining lump sum tenders under the conditions prevailing
and it was decided that in this instance contracts should be entered into on the basis of certain arrangements
agreed between the Minister of Health and the Joint Industrial Council of Building Trades
for agreed price contracts. The principal feature of this arrangement is that representatives of the local
authority and the local federated builders together with the housing commissioner (or the Minister of
Health in the case of the Council's work) confer and arrive, where possible, at an agreed price at which
houses shall be erected, and the number of houses to be built under the arrangement is then distributed
by the local association of the federation to builders in proportion to their resources. For the purpose
of arriving at an agreed price bills of quantities are supplied for each type of house and priced out by
representatives of the federated builders, and the price or lump sum is determined by agreement between
the three parties concerned. The number of houses of each type to be erected is then determined by
the local authority with the approval of the housing commissioner. In accordance with this arrangement
prices were obtained from the Building Trades Federation based on bills of quantities for four
representative types of houses on the Roehampton estate and these showed an average net cost per house
of £1,150. After allowing for certain variations at the suggestion of the Minister of Health a price of
£4,349 17s. 1d. was submitted for four typical houses.
On 12th May, 1920, the Council decided to arrange for contracts to be entered into with Mr.
F. G. Minter and with Leslie and Co., Ltd., for the erection, respectively, of 636 and 546 houses and
flats, or 1,182 in all, on the basis of the price quoted for the four typical houses. By the end of 1920,
progress had been made with the formation of 15 roads, and some 200 houses had been commenced.
Arrangements have been made with the London and South Western Railway Company for the
construction of an additional siding at Barnes station in connection with the transport of materials to
the estate at an estimated cost, to be borne by the Council, of £1,700.
The Brentford Gas Company has agreed to instal a gas supply, subject to the Council contributing
£10 in respect of each installation. An agreement has also been entered into with the Metropolitan Water
Board for the supply of water to the estate, the Council undertaking to pay to the Board an amount up
to 10 per cent, a year on the cost of the pipe-laying where the domestic water rentals received are less
than 10 per cent, of the cost of laying the pipes.
The Roehampton estate is the first of the new estates acquired since the war in which the scale of
rents has had to be determined. There are no working-class houses in Roehampton or in the immediate
neighbourhood properly comparable with those in course of erection on the estate, and in coming to a
decision, therefore, as to the rents which should be charged the Council has had regard to the net rents
approved for the new houses erected since the war on the Old Oak estate, Hammersmith. The houses
on the estate are larger than those provided on the Old Oak estate, and are of a much improved design,
intended to meet the post-war demand for a superior class of accommodation. For the purpose of
calculating the rents a sum corresponding to the further increase of 10 per cent, permitted in July, 1921,
in the case of houses governed by the provisions of the Increase of Rent, etc. (Restrictions) Act, 1920,
was added with amounts varying from 2s. to 3s. a week in respect of the larger rooms and 6d. to 1s. 1d.
for improved amenities, such as larger cupboard space, lavatory basin, lobbies, larder, etc. On 14th
December, 1920, the Council fixed initial weekly net rents on this basis for each type of house and flat
on the first section of the estate as follows :—
Type of house.
Accommodation.
| Xet rent.
Class A
Class B
Class D
Two room flat
Three room flat
Living room and two bedrooms, with scullery and bath
Living room and three bedrooms, with scullery and bath
Living room, parlour and three bedrooms, with scullery and bathroom
Living room and one bedroom, with scullery and bathroom
Living room and two bedrooms, with scullery and bathroom
s. d.
14 6
15 6
18 6
*9 -
*12 -
j Becontree
These rents are subject to reasonable variation in anv case by reason of position or other special
amenities.
The Council is acquiring under a compulsory order approved by the Minister of Health a large
estate, the main portion of which is in the parish of Dagenham, Essex. The total area of the land to
be purchased for development is 2,787 acres, but operations have so far been mainly confined to what is
known as the Ilford (No. 1) section comprising about 440 acres of which nearly 104 acres lie within the
rural district of Romford. The total number of houses proposed to be erected on this section is 2,876.
The estate, which has been named Becontree, is situated in two urban districts (Barking Town and
Ilford) and in one rural district (Romford), and the question of the local government of the area has
engaged the attention of the authorities concerned. After careful consideration of various alternatives
the Council decided to support an application by the Barking Town Urban District Council to the Essex
County Council for an Order which would have the effect of including the whole estate within the Barking
* The rents for the two and three roam flits were subsequently increased to 11s. and 12s. 6d. respectively.