To meet the severe post war housing shortage in the borough caused by war damage, these relatively low density developments filled an immediate need and were successful forerunners of the later high density, high rise local authority housing estates which proved so difficult to manage and so unpopular with their tenants.

The Thorlands Estate, lying on the west side of Denmark Road stretching to Carew Street, has blocks bearing Danish names like Elsinore, Mercia, Norse, Dane and Viking; and is divided into two sections by New Zealand House, a tall single block of flats. The entire estate was renovated and given an expensive face lift between 2000 and 2002.

The photograph below (and detail, right) was taken during construction of the estate.