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The First World War brought all civilian building work to a halt. It also provided a pause for thought. Raymond Unwin was appointed as the government's Chief Town Planning Inspector, and a member of the Tudor Walters Committee, to plan Lloyd George's 'homes fit for heroes'. The result was the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919, which established low-density, 'garden suburb' type housing as the norm and gave local authorities financial incentives to provide it. Liverpool - with its enormous problem of slum housing and overcrowding - was one of the first cities in the country to take advantage of its provisions: the Edge Lane Drive estate, just to the north of the Garden Suburb, being an early example. In addition, rent controls were introduced, which - combined with the effects of building cost inflation - made the co-partnership system increasingly uneconomic.
When construction ceased at the end of 1914, 360 houses had been built out of the 1,800 originally planned. Liverpool Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd began to sell off its houses to individual owner-occupiers in the 1930s; and in 1938 the company was finally wound up, its land and remaining houses having been transferred to the (private) Conway Property Company. The undeveloped land had been sold to speculative housebuilders, who proceeded to build standard-pattern semis such as those to be seen on the south side of Thingwall Road.
The tennis courts, bowling greens and the Institute were all threatened with closure, but were rescued by the Marquess of Salisbury who transferred them to a charitable Trust. Today, the Institute still functions as a social centre; though 'Saturday evening meetings of the Discussion Society' have given way to Bingo! Meanwhile, only a handful of the houses are still rented (from a private landlord), the remainder being owner-occupied.
Wavertree Garden Suburb was made a Conservation Area in 1971, and it is the aim of Liverpool City Council to retain its character as far as possible. In 1974, the City Planning Officer described the area as "a community in a garden ... an important example of good civic design and town planning". The fact that the Garden Suburb remains today a popular and attractive place to live is a clear indication of the far-sightedness of its founders.
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