HOUSING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 203, 22 May 1920, Page 8

HOUSING PROBLEM

CITY ENGINEER ABROAD

WHAT ENGLAND IS DOING TO HELP

THE HOMELESS

During his visit to England last year tho City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Afovton) seems to have paid particular attention to tta housing problem. In his report to the City Council, Mr. Morton says:— "Ti'o question of housing in Great Britain was a subject receiving- more consideration by tho Government than any oiher matter prominently before tho public at the. time of my visit. During tho war building operations had been almost entirely suspended, owing, of course, to' tho necessity of providing lnnii for military service and for necessarj services in connection with tho supply of munitions.-

H.alf-a-Million Houses Short. "It was estimated in. August last that the 'shortage of houses in England and Scotland amounted to half , a million, and'"extraordinary steps were being taken .by the Ministry of. Health in connection with tho - housing problem. Municipalities' were called upon to provide houses in proportion to the estimated requirements in their ' districts, and in viev of the great increase in the cost of erection of snch houses-and the impossibility of obtaining economical rents the Government had limited the annual liability of the local authorities to' the amount, which would bo derived by 'a ' rate of Id. on the annual value of each house. The remaining portion of the loss incurred was t; be borne by the nation. The Act regulating this procedure _ was limited in its duration to a period of Sevan years, by which time it was considered conditions would bo likely to have returned to normal.

■ "There was nothing very clear as to wlut was likely to bo done, or what provisions were to be made, regarding anv loss which might eventuate after that period had expired. The Ministry, of Health was apparently very energetic and the greater number of tho municipalities were falling into line with the requirements of the Government. Great numbers of _ schemes being prepared and submitted and contracts being entered into for the erectioi of houses. The houses were generally arranged in blocks of four, sometimes six. Tor the gnida'nco, .of architects and municipal _ authorities manuals were prepared showing the suggested arrangements of rooms by. the :Sta+e officials and standard specifications were drawn 'up in order that dno economy might be observed nud unneces,sary expenditure avoided. It was questioiiable. however, whether the control exorcised ,by tho Governmnt would lead to the best results; it seemed as though too much uniformity in the designs would ensue. . The greater question, however, was the erection of Hie houses, and there could be no. mistaking .the enerjjv which was being displayed by all concerned in endeavouring to meet the. situation. , ■ '

A Govornnierit Undertaking, "When at Eosyth I inspected a great number s of dwellings which had been ! erected by a company subsidised by the Government to provide for the housing of the employees of the Rosyth dockyard?. Eosyth' is referred to as a garden • suburb and is a portion of tho borough of Dumfermline. Tho erection of the houses in this settlement was commenced by a private company, but in order to meet the demand for housing for workmen at tho dockyards and owing to the urgent necessity of proceeding Tapidly' with the buildings, the Government advanced the company a 'considerable sum of money so that work might be accelerated. The boveminent contribution was about nine-, tenths of the total amount expended, but owing to the unprecedented rise in tho cost of material and; labour the company is at present in a' somewhat precarious'.position. It-lias set out-to secure, and is, I believe, limited to, tho pavment of five per cent, on the. subscribed capital of the shareholders. It now finds this impossible of attainment. The Government charges 3.V per cent interest and | per cent, sinking .fund, or' 4 per cent, in all. ' The designs; locations, etc., were required to bo submitted to the Government for approval, so that from every point of view, tlw settlement at Eosyth might be looked upon as a Government undertaking. Prior to the war, and when 'the.first buildings were erected by the company, each house cost about .-£3 80. Those erected recently have had from £W to £M each expended -upon them. The houses are of brick, and bricks purchased before the war cost 355. per thousand, as against the present rate of 70s. The frontage for each house facing south is 17 to 18 feet, while thoso facing north-have frontages-of about 21 feet, tun latter dwellings being onlj one 'room in depth in order that the whole house may secure tho sunlight. The average weekly rental is 7s. 11(1., rale? Is. 7}d., electric light 9Jd., total 10s. 4d. . A Rent Strike. "At the time of my _ visit' a rent strike- was proceeding, arising apparently froi'i the reduction of wages through loss of overtime at the dock-yards after the termination of tho war. The tenants had notices in their windows for the information of inquirers that the rent strike was on. and that they were not Teircving. The result was that all work on the settlement was suspended, but extension schemes were being prepared. There had been an increase of •id. in the .pound in the rates, but this had not been passed on to tho occupiers of the dwellings.,-The bouses erected numbered IGOO, and the total cost was about jE9")0,000. In view of the strike one could not help wondering what would be the ultimate position regarding the payment of Tents, and how, with such a large number of people concerned as occupiers of rented houses, such a strike could be satisfactorily terminated. The difficulties of enforcing pavment were easily discernible. In view of these circumstances it appears that the City Council of Wellington adopted tho correct principle when it decided that the houses now being erected to' meet the existing shortage should be offered for sale.

Brick Construction Favoured. "Ii connection with the proposals in Great Britain, many arguments were being advanced in favour of a departure from brick construction to wood construction. The latest figures, on tho subject that I could get showed tho saving to bo effected at about 33 per cent. That is to say, a brick houso cos'ting £M could bo erected with the same accommodation hi wood for about cCCOfI. The opponents of wood construction in England were, however, numerous, and it seems unlikely that, even with tho greater expenditure necessitated, the use of bricks will be departed from. "Proposals wer'o also made for building wooden houses in Canada ready for putting together and erection in Great Britain. I have not heard that any final conclusion was come to on ■ this proposal. A number of concrete blockmaking machines have recently como into use, and in somo cases buildings of such blocks with hollow walls have been erected. Preference is, however, generally given to brick construction."