Building Costs
The third report of the Girdwood Committee shows that the ordinary three-bedroom council house completed in October, 1951, cost £1,690 in all—that is 075 more than in 1949. Rising costs of materials account for the larger part of this increase, which would have been greater still had it not been for economies in design and specification. The rate of increase seems at last to have slowed down, and the smaller "people's house" (which carries to the limit economies in licor-space) will cost, it is reckoned, about £150 less than eater designs, although this saving is bound to be partially ollset by transport and wage-increases. While we are thankful fo small mercies, and acknowledge the Government's determination to get more dwelling-houses built and at more reasonable cost, we can hardly rest content with the situation as the Girdwood Committee sees it. In 1951 productivity was no higher than in 1949—twenty per cent. below the pre-war leiel—and no progress at all has been made with incentive schemes. Five men are needed for the work done by four before the war, and bonuses will not tempt the five to work a little harder. It is a sorry state of affairs. If the employees ale in part to blame by expecting, demanding and receiving nnre money for less work, so are those employers who have slown stubborn reluctance to modernise their building nethods and introduce the mechanical aids which in other countries have greatly increased productivity. Fortunately some firms have shown a greater willingness to get rid of antiquated practices, but they cannot put their good intentions into full effect until they get the co-operation of the building vorkers.
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