REDECORATION PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 142, 11 March 1919, Page 2

REDECORATION PROBLEMS

Among the after-the-war problems which the Ministry of Reconstruction has set itself to solve (says tho "Daily Mail") is that of painting and papering and refitting, the shabby and war-weary homes of England. Countless houses have seen neither painter nor naperhangor for four years. Broken window fastenings and window panes, leaky gutters, decayed paint, rotten woodwork, faulty cisterns, defective piping are all' contributing to the ruin of property and destruction of health. There will be a gieat demand for theso house repairs after the war. Twelve months ago the Ministry of Reconstruction appointed a Building Materials Committee, whose report will be issued shortly. The committee has taken a census of materials and work to bo done, obtaining its information from architects,) builders, property-owners, and local authorities. It proposes to continue the control of the chief materials, such as brick and timber,-so as to ensure that a conservatory is not built when a cottage is wanted. "Cottages and workmen's houses will be the first concern of tho Government after the war. Speculative builders of middleclass properly will be ruled out bythe high co.-t of' materials," said an official at the Ministry. "Plans for small houses which will combine beauty and utility have been approved, and if is probable that those who build to these designs will get priority of materials. Substitutes for wood are being found and every effort is being made to bring the cost'down;, but it is generally accepted that the first houses cannot bo built without assistance from local authorities, who will thus be able to control design, material, and frontage." The minimum of houses required at once is 500,000, with another half-million within tho next four years.