Backlands at Clarksons' Court, 16 Kirk Street, Calton, photographed around 1910. Building of additional property in the areas between tenements, the backlands, brought severe overcrowding in slum conditions.
The backlands of Calton were swept away in the 1930s by the Calton Improvement Scheme. The Housing (Scotland) Act, 1930 offered increased government subsidies to encourage local authorities to speed up slum clearance and build replacement housing elsewhere. 1,365 houses were cleared in Calton, to be replaced by 330 houses in three-storey tenements built around open spaces.
Glasgow Corporation's re-housing schemes were not universally popular. Over 20 per cent of Calton residents refused to move and a further 10 per cent returned after moving out, despite the offer of larger accommodation at a lower rent than was charged for slum housing.
Reference: P-666
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
back stairs, backcourts, backlands, Calton Improvement Scheme, children, Clarksons' Court, flats, Glasgow Corporation, houses, Housing (Scotland) Act, 1930, slum clearance, slums, tenements, urban regeneration, washing poles, women