Hampstead Garden Suburb

Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett, who, with her husband Samuel, had started the Whitechapel Art Gallery and Toynbee Hall. In 1906 Barnett set up the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust Ltd, which purchased 243 acres of land from Eton College for the scheme and appointed Raymond Unwin as its architect. Among the aims of the scheme were the following: • It should cater for all classes of people and all income groups. • There should be a low housing density. • Roads should be wide and tree-lined. • Houses should be separated by hedges, not walls. • Woods and public gardens should be free to all. • It should be quiet, with no church bells. This required a private bill before Parliament, since it was counter to local bylaws. The provisions of the new act, Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906, allowed less land to be taken up by roads and more by gardens and open spaces. Shops and other services are provided in the shopping parade of Market Place. Shopping areas adjacent to the suburb include Temple Fortune, Golders Green and East Finchley. Little Wood contains an open-air arena, which is used for summer performances by a local amateur theatre society. In 2015, the residents' association decided to implement a yellow and red card penalty system to discourage neighbours from using noisy lawnmowers and leafblowers. ==Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust==

Freehold houses, flats and commercial premises within the Suburb are subject to a scheme of management approved pursuant to the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 by an Order of the Chancery Division of the High Court, dated 17 January 1974, as amended by a further Order dated 17 February 1983. The HGS Trust maintains the character and amenity of the Suburb and is responsible for implementing the management scheme. It has offices in Finchley Road. Freeholders are required to obtain the approval of the trust before altering the external appearance of their properties. Consent is also required for significant changes to gardens, erection of garden sheds and felling or pruning of trees. The trust is also the freeholder of the majority of the remaining leasehold properties in the Suburb, which are mostly held on very long leases. ==Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906==

Urban town planning had been restricted by the bylaws established after the Public Health Act 1875, which had de facto called for a grid-iron street layout and a minimum housing density. This had prevented Cadbury building workers’ houses within a city and caused Rowntree to build his housing in rural parishes. For Unwin to design a street structure that followed the contours and build houses in cul-de-sacs an act of Parliament was needed. The Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust sponsored a private bill, which was passed as the '''''' (6 Edw. 7. c. cxcii). The three relevant sections of the act were ; Section 2 ; Section 3 ; Section 5 Section 2, defined a low building density, and wide streets with gardens or verges where trees could be planted. Section 5 distinguished between through-roads and accommodation roads, residential cul-de-sacs under . It recognised the difference between cul-de-sac roads of limited length and other roads, and allowed the suspension of the operation of certain local planning bye-laws ==Parks and nature reserves==

The Suburb has large areas of open space, including Central Square; Hampstead Heath Extension; Northway Gardens; Lyttelton Playing Fields; and Big Wood and Little Wood. The southern end is close to Golders Hill Park. ==Politics==

Hampstead Garden Suburb is represented by two Councillors on Barnet Council who represent the Garden Suburb ward. Hampstead Garden Suburb is in the parliamentary constituency of Finchley and Golders Green. As of 2024, it is represented by Sarah Sackman of the Labour Party. ==Geography==

• Victor Blank, businessman and philanthropist • Margaret Bondfield, Labour politician and first female cabinet minister • Constantine II of Greece, last King of Greece • Robert Donat, actor • Johnny Franz, record producer • Jean Henderson, barrister and Liberal Party politician • Myra Hess, pianist • Peter Mandelson, Labour politician • John Mills, businessman and politician • Frank Pick, often known as the 'father' of the modern London Underground • Donald Sinden, actor • Harold Wilson, politician who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prior to moving into Downing Street ==References==