Postwar Housing Boom

1945-1970

After the war, Waterlooville experienced explosive growth. New housing estates were built across what had been farmland, and the population surged. Council housing estates at Wecock Farm and elsewhere provided homes for families from the overcrowded inner areas of Portsmouth. Private developers built thousands of semi-detached and detached houses along new roads and cul-de-sacs. Schools, shops, doctors' surgeries and community facilities were built to serve the growing population. By the 1960s, Waterlooville had transformed from a village into a suburban town. The character of the area changed fundamentally during this period, from rural to suburban, and the open fields that had surrounded the original hamlet disappeared under bricks and tarmac.