Housing, Town Planning, etc. Act 1909

The Housing, Town Planning, etc. Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7. c. 44) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which prevented the building of "back-to-back" houses. The act also meant local authorities must introduce systems of town planning and meant homes had to be built to certain legal standards.

The act was the first piece of British legislation to use the term 'town planning'.

Background
Town planning as a concept had become more popular in Britain at the turn of the 20th century, drawing on the idea of the garden city and the extensions of existing towns occurring in Germany at the time. The need for legislation on the subject was prompted by a housing reform movement that had emerged from the debates around poverty and social conditions during the Boer War as well as a decline in house building from 1904.

Passage through Parliament
The bill had its first reading in March 1908. It was generally welcomed but remained in the committee stage for 23 days, until near the end of the parliamentary session. It ended up being withdrawn and resubmitted at the beginning of the next session and considered by a Committee of the Whole House to speed up procedures. The new bill's second reading was in April 1909 and when it got to its committee stage, over 360 amendments were proposed.

The bill moved to the House of Lords in September 1909 where it was notably attacked by Earl Cawdor while the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Birmingham supported it. It passed back to the House of Commons in November before being returned and passed by the Lords, a week before the Liberal government collapsed over the People's Budget.

Responses
Politicians of all parties were sympathetic to the idea of town planning, but curtailing private interests with municipal power was seen as too radical to many and meant the legislation was weaker than planning campaigners had hoped. In September 1909, The Builder called the legislation "a strong Bill drawn up by a strong man who wants something done".

Legacy
The act has generally been seen both as a pioneering first step and as a disappointment to its drafters and to contemporary campaigners. On one hand, it is noted as an important basis for later legislation. At the same time, the act is criticised as being "virtually inoperative" until the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 was passed.

In 1974, the 65th anniversary of the legislation was marked with a special issue of Planning, the journal of the Royal Town Planning Institute.