ABSTRACT
The 1920s have often been presented as a period in which slums were neglected, and there is some truth in this, particularly if action against the slum is equated with slum clearance. Nonetheless, in many ways this is an interesting period of policy formation and practice, and one vital for an understanding of later developments. The chapter concentrates on three aspects: the progress of slum clearance, the connected attempts by Chamberlain to establish reconditioning as an alternative policy, and finally the efforts by progressives to adapt their position to the changing circumstances of the late 1920s, as pressures mounted to push the focus of local authority action towards poorer social groups. Greenwood’s Housing Act (1930) is seen as a compromise closely connected with this process of adaptation.
