Becontree Estate. This block of houses was the first to be erected on this estate and was completed on 7th November 1921

The Housing Act 1919 permitted the London County Council to build housing outside the County of London and Becontree was constructed between 1921 and 1935 to cottage estate principles in the parishes of Barking, Dagenham and Ilford, then in Essex. This commemorative plaque on the first house built was installed by the LCC at some point after WWII and before the councils abolition in 1965. As the location was not part of London at the time of its installation, the plaque was never intended to form part of the then-LCC administered official London Plaque scheme. Although boundary changes which occurred at the time of the formation of the Greater London Council in 1965 placed the estate in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, neither the GLC nor English Heritage have chosen to include the plaque in the official list. The plaque design, superficially reminiscent of the small number of other rectangular plaques erected by the LCC in the 1950s, is uniquely formed of two panels.