Model dwellings were buildings or estates constructed, mostly during the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

era, along

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

lines to provide decent living accommodation for the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

. They were typically erected by private

model dwellings companies Model dwellings companies (MDCs) were a group of private companies in Queen Victoria, Victorian United Kingdom, Britain that sought to improve the housing conditions of the working classes by building new homes for them, at the same time receiving ...

and usually with the aim of making a return on investment, hence the description of the movement as "five per cent philanthropy." As such they were forerunners of modern-day

municipal housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a combination thereo ...

. This is a list of still-standing model dwellings, organised by builder. Most of these companies are now defunct; a few, such as the

Peabody Trust The Peabody Trust was founded in 1862 as the Peabody Donation Fund and now brands itself simply as Peabody.

are still operating and building new accommodation, and others have been subsumed by larger firms. This list covers urban development on the principle of "five per cent philanthropy"; for communities built to house workers for a particular trade or employer, see

model village A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages ...

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company

The Artizans' Company (ALGDC) was established in 1867 by William Austin, becoming one of the largest of the model dwellings companies in the late Victorian era. It was best known for its large, low-rise,

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

estates in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It was later subsumed into

Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financial Inc. is a Canadian financial services company. It is primarily known as a life insurance company. Sun Life has a presence in investment management with over CAD$1.3 trillion in assets under management operating in a number ...

Chester Cottage Improvement Company

The Chester Cottage Improvement Company was founded in 1892, and was a particular concern of the

Duke of Westminster Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ...

East End Dwellings Company

The EEDC was founded by Samuel Barnett and others in 1882 in order to provide particularly for the area that is now the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

Edinburgh Co-Operative Building Company

The Edinburgh Co-Operative Building Company (ECBC) was founded by a group of stonemasons in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1861. By 1872 they had built nearly 1,000 houses in six parts of Edinburgh and

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, commonly known as

colony houses The colony houses of Edinburgh were built between 1850 and 1910 as homes for artisans and skilled working-class families by philanthropic model dwellings companies. The first development was the Pilrig Model Buildings, near Leith Walk. Later dev ...

Four Per Cent Industrial Dwellings Company

Improved Industrial Dwellings Company

The Improved Industrial Dwellings Company (IIDC) was founded by the stationer (and later

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

) Sir Sydney Waterlow in 1863.

Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes

The MAIDIC was the first company to be formed for the specific purpose of providing model homes, in 1844. It built mainly within London.

Newcastle upon Tyne Improved Industrial Dwellings Company

The Newcastle upon Tyne Improved Industrial Dwellings Company (NUTIIDC) was founded by James Hall in 1859.

Peabody Trust

The Peabody Trust was set up following a huge gift for the poor of London from the banker

George Peabody George Peabody (; February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an American financier and philanthropist. He is often considered the father of modern philanthropy. Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry goods ...

in 1862. It became one of the largest providers of model housing for the working classes.

Pilrig Model Dwellings Company

This company was founded in

in 1849 and built the earliest model dwellings (see

) in Edinburgh. The work of the PMDC was an inspiration to Henry Roberts, who went on to become one of the most prolific architects of model housing.Roberts, H. (1861) Examples of Efforts in Scotland to Provide Improved Dwellings for the Working Classes. ''Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science'' – p779ff

Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes

The SICLC was one of the earliest model dwellings companies. It grew out of the

Labourer's Friend Society The Labourer's Friend Society was a society founded by Lord Shaftesbury in the United Kingdom in 1830 for the improvement of working class conditions. This included the promotion of allotment of land to labourers for "cottage husbandry" that late ...

into a housing provider in 1844 and built a number of properties in London, most of which no longer exist.

Others

A number of other schemes were built by private individuals or other concerns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modeldwellingslist Housing in London * Company housing