Subsidy to Builders in England.

Progress, Volume XV, Issue 8, 1 April 1920, Page 765

Subsidy to Builders in England.

The great building foreshadowed by the English Government by’ which 100,000 houses were to be built by the end of last year ’has not materialized. The English Government is much perturbed, and a special meeting of Cabinet was held in December to deal with the matter, which appointed a Cabinet Committee to devise new measures for dealing with the most urgent domestic problems.

Dr. Addison is chairman of the Committee, which includes Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Sir L. Worthing-ton-Evans, Mr. Munro, and Sir Tudor Walters. The Cabinet clearly regard the situation which the Committee has to face as a serious one. When Ministers

took the matter . into their own hands they were gravely disturbed, at finding that only 180 ‘of the 600,000 houses to be built, under the national programme were actually occupied. The - number of houses in course of erection is 10,000, which, according to the estimate of the Ministry of Health, will have been increased to 100,000 by next May or June.' The Cabinet have at last recognized that in this matter time is not on their 'side. They are now confronted not only with the original problem, but with two new factors of a serious character. .The'first' is that, with every week that passes, the deficiency in housing accommodation becomes 'more acute. The position, in fact, -is much worse to-day than it was 12 months ago. In the second place, building is a seasonal tirade, and, with winter setting in : earlier

than usual, progress' would in any case have been slow in the next few months. As 30 per cent: .of the trade is engaged in the building or extension of industrial and commercial premises, only 10 per. cent, is left for .the provision of new houses. This balance must be redressed before any real progress can be made. ■ The third head under which the Cabinet Committee is pursuing its inquiry is the paramount question of finance. The only local authorities who have got to work on housing schemes are those which have been able to raise the necessary money. A subsidy of £l5O per house has been proposed to builders. New methods of house construction, involving, the extensive use of concrete and timber, have been approved by the Ministry of Health. A number of firms have submitted proposals for the provision of houses largely constructed of concrete. The houses are in each case to consist of a living-room, scullery, bath-room, and three bedrooms, and the Ministry’s plans for north and- south aspects are complied with, and the proposed period of loan in each case is 60 yealrs. > Proposals, have also been approved for timberframed bungalows, each to be built according to the Ministry of Health plan, providing for a living-room.' scullery, bat'h-room, and three bedrooms. The period of loan in each case is 40 years. It is now possible to order a standardized wooden house by post, have it delivered on the site in sections, and erected ready for occupation in a month.