The second, enlarged edition of this important work on working-class residences and architecture. A presentation copy to Colonel Worthington, signed by Sydney Cranfield, Christmas 1923: ‘To Colonel Worthington with All Good Wishes for Xmas and the New Year from Sydney W. Cranfield. N.12 West St. W.C. 20-12-23.’ 

 S.W. Cranfield and H.I. Porter were associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects. ‘Houses for the Working Classes’ opens with a frontispiece illustrating the arrangement of terraces houses with back gardens, in what is now regarded as the typical Victorian fashion. The preface explains the rationale of the work: ‘The difficulties of housing the poor at rents they can afford, and at the same time to secure a fair interest on the capital outlay, have lately been aggravated by the (1) Increase in the cost of building, (2) Adoption of more stringent Building Regulations by Local Authorities. (3) Increase in Local Taxation’. The greatest expense was taken by labour, and machinery was sporadically used. A second preface discusses the disposition of small houses within estates, with a preference for the terraced structure, and some remarks on planning describe sensible ways of designing interiors, such as not making staircases ‘dark and steep’ or ‘the scullery is essential for washing purposes, and the floor should therefore be paved’. Sizes of all the rooms are also provided. The 25 plates show one-story cottages, and double and three-tenement cottages. An appendix provides most interesting ‘extracts from the local government model, and London County Council Byelaws’ detailed regulations for city building, which, the authors complained, differed from authority to authority, thus making the architect’s work difficult.