Access to Housing on Merseyside, 1919-39

This paper examines the interaction of different tenure types and the characteristics of households living on Merseyside in the inter-war period. Although changes in the housing market on Merseyside broadly reflected national trends, the particular economic situation encountered in Liverpool led to severe problems of housing provision and need. Municipal housing was of much greater importance than in many other cities, but much of this housing was only available to those on good and regular incomes. Similar groups of the population were also catered for by the expanding owner-occupied sector, and it was in some cases both cheaper and easier to obtain a mortgage than to gain access to a suburban council house. Low income families mostly remained trapped in low-quality privately-rented housing. Although economic recession was particularly painful for those who had been used to a regular income, and had committed themselves to a high outlay in rent or mortgage repayments, in the longer term households in the suburbs were better off, as both Building Societies and the corporation tolerated limited rent arrears. The distinctive nature of housing sub-markets on inter-war Merseyside led to great variations in housing quality for different households.