Although the building trade gets its fifteen years of safety,
we cannot see that there is anything to prevent the local authorities from withdrawing whenever they please. Some of the details of the scheme are extremely confused. It is reported that the trade insists that all the material used must be produced at home ; the local authorities, on the other hand, insist (as is natural enough, since they have their eye on the rates and on the protests of ratepayers) that materials shall be bought in the cheapest market. It is an ominous sign that during the past three weeks the cost of building has risen rapidly. According to figures given in the Morning Post of Monday, the average cost of a working- class house, such as the Ministry of Health approves, was in January £386, in February £389, in March /416 and in April £425, but this month tenders have been received of over £500, and in some cases nearly £600.
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