20 SEPTEMBER 1940, Page 3

Accommodation for the Homeless

The problem of finding sufficient and comfortable enough shelters for the people in bombed areas is not the only problem arising out of the Nazis' indiscriminate attacks upon the civilians of the London area. There is also the question of alternative accommodation for those whose homes are wrecked and the provision of temporary rest-centres to meet the immediate needs of the dispossessed. For those who must remain near the place of their work any houses empty in the neighbourhood ought to be made available. Those to whom it is sufficient to be living in the same city should be given accommodation in more distant houses or in the blocks of flats so many of which are now untenanted. There are still large numbers of families and individuals living in the vulnerable areas for whom evacuation would be no hardship. The problem is one which must be handled energetically without delay. To the suffering which comes from the experience of bombardment, especially in the poorer quarters of the East End, is added unnecessary suffering arising from lack of quick assistance, and from it might easily arise a natural and dangerous resentment. A central organisation ought to be created which would give its whole attention to providing for the needs of those rendered homeless.