Hidden House History

3. Twentieth Century Housing

Step 1 – 1910 Valuation Office Survey

One of the best resources available to trace the history of your house is the 1910 Valuation Office Survey. This was an assessment of the rateable value of all land and property in England, Wales and Scotland conducted by the Inland Revenue, and generated a series of documents that you can use to trace the owner and occupier of your house c.1912, when the survey was actually carried out.

The records are now stored at The National Archives, Kew and combine maps – with each property marked on it, with its own unique ‘assessment number’ – and hand-written ‘field books’, in which you can look up your house under its assessment number and find out details about who owned it, who lived there, what it looked liked and how much it was worth, plus the dates of former sales. t districts on it for reference. Your local studies centre should hold reading material that allows you to get this information.

Step 2 – Electoral Lists

To work out who lived in your house before you, it’s possible to use electoral lists to trace the names of every eligible voter from the present day backwards. Voter or electoral lists are usually stored at your nearest main branch library, local study centre, county archive or British Library (London) and can be used in sequence to work back, year after year, to compile a list of all previous occupants who were qualified to vote.

You need to know which Parliamentary constituency and ward your house falls in, bearing in mind these will have altered over time. Modern lists are usually arranged by street name, and then by house name or number; earlier lists don’t provide as much information but with a bit of luck and perseverance you should be in a position to get back to at least the Second World War period. Before this date, the records are harder to use, but there are other sources around to help you.

For further information about finding twentieth inhabitants of your house, go to step 3

Don’t forget, you can always see what used to stand on your land by checking out the valuation office records in Step 1.

Step 3 – Trade and Street Directories

Annual publications listing principal tradesmen in towns and cities were produced from the late eighteenth century onwards, which often included principal citizens, farmers and gentry. By the nineteenth century, more and more houses were included in the records, until residential street directories started to appear, particularly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century onwards.

The early directories are often listed alphabetically, but they are increasingly arranged by street name and house number; this makes it easier to find your property in the lists. As with other sequential sources, such as electoral lists, it is often easier to work back in time, so start with the most recent records. These can usually be found at the nearest main library, local studies centre or county archive.

Don’t forget, you can always see what used to stand on your land by checking out the valuation office records in Step 1.

Step 4 – Land Registry

If you can’t find any historic records about your house on modern maps, or in electoral lists and street directories, you should apply online to the Land Registry to see if you can get the registered title plan and associated abstract of title. This will show the extent of the property in question, and list the former owners or occupiers. The cost is minimal - £4 per plan, plus £4 for the abstract of title. Failing this, you can try to get hold of your title deeds from your mortgage supplier, but the chances are that access will be refused, or granted for a fee.

Don’t forget, you can always see what used to stand on your land by checking out the valuation office records in Step 1.