OWNERSHIP
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Theoretically it is 'a simple and easy thing for a working man to become the owner of his home. All he need do is to find out the price, request the building society to estimate its value and advance a mortgage. But how few consider the house they occupy worth buying at any price ! And to build a house is a formidable enterprise for a working man, shy of business and reluctant to mortgage his future. He knows absolutelY nothing about it at all. He selects a plot of land and discovers it is a certain . price per yard. He has no idea whether it is a good bargain or a bad one. If it is freehold he is more corrfOrtable, but if teasehold, hg is uneasy. And What about draining. rind paving ?, He is iOarnect to find out his commitment in these ,matters, and is still further unsettled.
Then he finds the architect must be consulted between 0 a.m. and 4 p.m., likewise the solicitor. -This means breaking time from work—if permitted to do so. Even then he would probably have many- fruitless journeys when architect or solicitor was not available. Above all, the working man suspects (rightly) that architect, bricklayer, joiner, plasterer, &c., are out to do the best for themselves and he feels it to be an unequal match. So he (wisely) leaves it alone.
These practical difficulties must- be faced and overcome if " ownership " is to be the rule rather than the exception. Perhaps a bureau in each town, where prospective builders could find reliable advice and assistance, might help tO
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