Becontree housing estate, Dagenham, London

This image is one of many taken for the Architectural Review's 'Manplan 8: Housing' issue of September 1970 for which Ray-Jones was the guest photographer. This image appeared on pp. 138-139. The Becontree Estate was one of the largest interwar council estates built by the London County Council. In 1919 the government approved the plans for 29,000 new homes to house 145,000 residents. The finished estate, by 1939 comprised 26,000 homes and housed a population of 120,000.