The First World War precipitated a housing crisis in London, which affected all classes of the populace and had a profound effect on the capital. The end of World War I was the beginning of the age of private home ownership. While at the time as much as 80% of the population rented their homes from private landlords, it was a strong focus of then-prime minister David Lloyd George to turn Britain into a "land fit for heroes". In 1919 the government passed the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919 (The Addison Act), providing subsidies for local authorities to build council houses.
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