In the 1930s, Nottingham began to address the problem of overcrowding. Many people in Sneinton at the time were living in the older, cramped, unfit-for-purpose damp Victorian housing. These homes were generally rented, so it was a trivial process use clearance orders to evict tenants. Unfit houses were demolished, and the land redeveloped under the "Carter Gate" redevelopment. Further development was put on hold due to World War II, during which Sneinton was heavily bombed. A map produced by the local Civil Defence Departments showed that many of the industrial units on Meadow Lane received direct hits.