In 1939, housebuilding in Britain stopped, with materials and manpower diverted to the war effort.
Six years later, the demand for new homes was greater than ever, with bomb damage and the record marriages during the war years the most obvious reasons for the shortfall.
Supplying the homes quickly and cheaply took a bit of ingenuity, and the solution was found in pre-fabricated structures that could be mass produced in factories previously occupied by making the hardware needed to fight the war.
The Temporary Housing Programme, introduced before the war ended, made use of plants such as the Blackburn Aircraft Factory, in Dumbarton, which switchced from producing flying boats to houses made from aluminium and steel.
Weir Housing Corporation in Coatbridge, was another firm involved in constructing the homes from units with flat roofs all bolted together.
Almost 50 years on, Esta Nugent, seen here at her pre-fab home in Glasgow’s Queen’s Park, was one of the many people still living in such homes designed to last just a few years.
And she was one of the many pre-fab fans ready to fight city council plans to demolish them decades after they were expected to have disappeared.
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