Becontree: The World's Largest Council Estate
Between 1921 and 1935, the London County Council built 25,769 homes on what had been Essex farmland. Over 100,000 people moved in, most of them from the overcrowded slums of East London. Becontree was, and for decades remained, the largest public housing estate in the world. The scale is difficult to grasp without walking it: streets of two-storey semi-detached houses stretching in every direction, each with a front and back garden, designed to give working families space, light, and air they had never had before.
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Between 1921 and 1935, the London County Council built 25,769 homes on what had been Essex farmland. Over 100,000 people moved in, most of them from the overcrowded slums of East London. Becontree was, and for decades remained, the largest public housing estate in the world. The scale is difficult to grasp without walking it: streets of two-storey semi-detached houses stretching in every direction, each with a front and back garden, designed to give working families space, light, and air they had never had before.
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