If you were to visit a typical moderately prosperous suburban estate, built perhaps within the 1930's 50 years ago the probabilities are it would have changed little when it was first constructed. Maybe there would be a few garages, where they weren't part of the original, often a ramshackle collection of buildings often made from concrete panels or corrugated sheet materials. There would however be relatively few extensions even as we think of them today. Advance fifty years and most will have been altered significantly. Doors and windows will often have been changed (on many occasions several times as various materials and styles come and go). Moreover the majority will have some sort of extension and many in the earlier more basic garages may have been replaced by more elaborate matching structures. Admittedly half a century having passed one could expect a certain amount of change but even considering estates of twenty or thirty years old today there'd still be a lot of alterations. Why are we increasingly keener to alter our homes? - Macarthur Builders
The generation who initially bought those new properties in the 1930's had often result from crowded inner city accommodation so getting the own bathroom, kitchen and perhaps even a bedroom each seemed some sort of away form whatever they had previously known. By in regards to the 1960's quite a few could have changed hands and even for those that had not, people were gradually acquiring more goods. In the kitchen area a fridge and washing machine were becoming common so it was beginning to feel a bit cramped. The box room will no longer seemed quite so roomy with childrens' seemingly endless way to obtain toys. It was the time when increasing numbers purchased their first car, although they had not reached the build quality when given the choice you could possibly actually leave it outside, unless you wanted to watch it rust before up your eyes and not be able to start on a winter morning.
The 1960's therefore marked the start to any significant extent of extending homes. Extensions out of this era were often more overtly additions to the building with flat roofs being extremely common and windows would often stick to the popular style during the time rather than necessarily match the main building. Prefabricated extensions also became very popular with walls often of concrete panels or timber and roofs of either corrugated plastic or perhaps a felt flat roof and frequently built as a 'sun lounge'.
As the 1970's and 80's managed to move on there became an ever-increasing trend towards home extensions matching the current building. There are several possible causes of this:-
· Town Planning departments increasing affect on even fairly minor schemes.
· The prefabricated sort of extension, particularly when used as a habitable room (instead of a conservatory or similar) became more complicated to justify under building regulations with increasing requirements of insulation etc. and possibly a more robust interpretation ones by some councils. Any savings in cost began to diminish.
· Finally as well as perhaps most importantly there was a realisation by householders that it was generally better to make the extension look an even more integral part of the original building. This was partly driven from the increasing value of houses which occasionally has become a national obsession. The large scale sale of council houses also increased the volume of owner occupiers who were often keen to individualise them, no doubt in part to show which they now owned the property. - Macarthur Builders