ABOLISHING SLUMS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 109, 1 February 1935, Page 11

ABOLISHING SLUMS

Great British Effort Yielding Results

OVERCROWDING PROBLEM (British Official Wireless.i . - Rugby, January 30. Ju moving the second reading of the Housing Bill in the House of Commons the Health Minister, Sir Hilton Young, said that'it marked an’urgently-needed step forward in a great social reform. The Government's programme for dealing with the evils of slums ami overcrowding had developed in two stages. The campaign against shims had been successfully launched The organisation period was over, and they were now seeing the first results of the work based upon it. In the last year, for which he had a full record, the number for whom rehousing arrangements were undertaken amounted to 300,000 persons. During January 5000 n_pw houses for rehousing slum dwellers had been erected, and within five years the rehousing of 1,250.000 people would be completed. . The second stage was a direct attack on the evil of overcrowding, a great but not unmanageable problem. The first essential was that of arriving at a national standard of what overcrowding was. This had been agreed upon and a survey would be made giving for the first time accurate knowledge of the extent of the evil. The next would be a presentation of schemes by local authorities for the provision of necessary accommodation in houses and in flats of three or four stories.

The Bill would give power to pull down, reconstruct, or recondition property. hut rehousing schemes must be carried out in close relation to the proposed schemes for town planning as a whole. 'Che Bill would make it a legally punishable offence after an appointed day to overcrowd a bouse in excess of the fixed standard. General subsidies were not intended but would be given in cases where housing authorities represented that they could not without such assistance provide small houses at inclusive rents of about 10/- weekly in towns, and from 3/- to 5/- in rural areas. He emphasised the value of the work expected of public utility societies whose efforts would he encouraged to the utmost. He looked for great assistance particularly from the Central Housing Advisory Committee in the work of standardisation and simplification of parts and in the grouping of orders for materials.