The 1930s privately-built housing estates were often built with back alleys wide enough to take a motor and a garage at the bottom of the garden, or with a garage on the side of the house as a single-storey addition. But they were pretty tight even back then, and, as others above have noted, motors are a lot fatter these days. Walking along one of these alleys the other week in the 1930s Tudor estate in Ham, I noticed that the alley showed little sign of use, with much grass, brambles and nettles along the sides, and most of the garages seemed disused. A couple of garages that were in use were modern, wider ones, clearly replacements for the original ones. Many of the houses have had their front gardens turned into parking bays, whilst some residents are content to park their motors in the road, which doesn't make things easy for bus drivers (I was on a 371 bus one afternoon, and the driver was forced by inconsiderate parking in Tudor Drive to go the wrong side of a traffic island in order to proceed up the road). Most of the garages on the side of the houses have been incorporated into two-storey extensions, and the garage doors replaced by a window.