Deal Street dates from the mid 1840s.
Located in Mile End New Town was the second estate of the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes.
Founded in 1842, the aim of the association was to provide model housing on a sound financial basis. The association was funded by philanthropic investors who were willing to accept a minimal return (usually around 4%-5%), permitting the maximum amount of money to be ploughed into construction. Locally, the site which the Association purchased in 1848 for £1300 was bounded on the north and west by two new roads: Underwood Road and Deal Street.
In summer 1848, a competition was held to provide a design comprising two buildings, one a block of family dwellings and the other a model lodging house for single men. The successful candidate was William Beck. A lodging house on the southern portion of the site was opened in December 1849 - the contractor was Samuel Grimsdell. The building, called ’The Artisan’s Home’, was given a considerable amount of attention by the architectural press as the first of its kind in the country.
Later along Deal Street, the Victoria and Albert Cottages were between 1857 and 1865 for the Association. Their architect was Henry Roberts who, from the 1840s onwards, pioneered the design of philanthropic housing in London. These cottages, which still exist, were parallel rows of houses, each separated by a narrow foot-path along which were small gardens serving one of the rows of dwellings. Both groups were partly derelict in the 1970s and threatened with demolition, but were repaired and are now owned by Tower Hamlets Council.
