At the same time as the huge increase in the population of the rural counties there was an even greater shift in population from the impoverished land to the large towns and to cities. Society was restructuring, with the labouring classes dividing into artisans and labourers. In the cities, labourers were housed in overcrowded tenement blocks, rookeries and lodging houses, and philanthropic societies aimed to improve conditions. The rural Labourers' Friend Society expanded in 1844 and was reconstituted as the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes. In their 1850 publication "The Dwellings of the Labouring Classes", written by Henry Roberts, the society laid out plans for model 'semi-detached' cottages for workers in towns and the city. However, the first properties they built were tenements and lodging houses.