New Towns, New Scotland, New Ideology, 1937–57

In 1937, in its evidence to the Royal Commission on the Distribution of the Population, the Department of Health gave an open and detailed account of the state of Scottish housing and its likely development.1 The evidence is notable for three things in particular. First, the Department frankly admitted that a substantial housing need continued to exist, despite nearly 250,000 state-assisted houses being built since 1919. Overcrowding remained far worse in Scotland than in England, and slum clearance had only begun in earnest after the 1930 Housing Act. The Department expected the Government to build a further 250,000 houses. Second, it was unlikely that much of the estimated need would be met by private enterprise, as was the case in England. Although the number of houses built for the owner occupier had steadily increased since the 1920s, the Department expected little more than 50,000 to be provided in the period until 1950. Scotland, in contrast to England, had much higher unemployment and a much lower level of building-society activity. Third, local authority needs were so great and their finances so poor that it was unlikely that Scottish local authorities would develop or support 'garden cities', as London had done at Welwyn and Letchworth. The inter-war depression, the Department added, had hit Scotland hard and most local authorities remained 'anxious' to retain their industries, rather than see them moved to a new town. Few local authorities had thought much about using architectural design to improve the physical attractiveness of their locality, or to use new housing to help recruit skilled workers.