The Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act of 1909 was Britain's first statute to use the term 'town planning' and to grant local authorities powers to prepare planning schemes regulating the layout and development of new suburban land. It allowed councils to control street lines, density and the character of new housing on land in the course of development. It also strengthened earlier housing and public-health powers and prohibited new back-to-back houses. Its scope was limited to land not yet built up.
The Act marks the birth of statutory town planning as a recognised function of British government. By giving authorities legal tools to shape the form of suburban growth, it began the transition from sanitary regulation to proactive planning of the urban edge.