Housing Societies O VER 250 Voluntary Housin g Societies are now oper-
ating in this country. They provide a valuable means of helping on the work of reconditioning poor property, and also of providing new accommodation at low rents. As it is proposed this winter to extend still further these societies, it may be useful to give some examples of work already done, and to suggest certain lessons that can be learned from mistakes made which may serve as a guide for the future. Most of the societies have had considerable difficulty in obtaining capital, and therefore have had to work on a small scale. It is all the more creditable that they have done so much in spite of so many difficulties. The Neston and Park Gate Housing Society, for example, near Liverpool, has erected forty cottages, each containing a living-room, kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. They are let at 8s. 6d. per week. The total cost, inclusive of land and road making, was about £14,200. Of this, 110,800 has been obtained on mortgage, and shares are being issued for the remainder. In the new cottages are housed two hundred and forty-three people, all transferred from unsatisfactory accommodation. The Leamington Slum Clearance Society, with a capital of /8,350, has built eighteen new houses, rented at 10s. a week. In this case, as in many others, the society has worked closely with the Corporation and has obtained a loan of £.8,850 from public funds. Experience is showing that it is not always wise to move a family direct from property that has been dirty and insanitary into a new house. An intermediate stage, during which the tenants can learn, probably under the persuasive influence of a tactful woman manager, how to keep their rooms clean and in order, is sometimes desirable. At Leamington, for example, suitable families have been found to occupy the new houses, and the persons removed from condemned property have been transferred into the rooms thus vacated. In converted property at Bath, some of the new tenants had never had the use of a sink, and at first the plumber's bill, paid by the society, was absurdly high. Now the same tenants have learned the proper use of a sink, and keep their flats in such good order that the rents are being reduced. The above examples are taken from societies which have accomplished very valuable work, mainly following the advice given by the Garden Cities and Town Planning Association. Unfortunately, all have not been so successful, and, indeed, about a score have now been wound up. After examining the records of a number of societies, I venture to suggest that, as a fundamental rule, a society should from the outset try and not quarrel with the Housing Committee set up by law by the local authority for the district. The Ministry of Health has to work through the local authority, and if by misfortune housing reformers belonging to a voluntary society become hostile critics of local councils, who may be faced with difficulties not realized by the outside public, time and energy are expended on fruitless quarrels. There are cases where local authorities may appear to be unduly lethargic, or are unnecessarily sensitive to criticism, or there may even be suspicions that vested interests. are preventing the clearing of slums. In spite of all, voluntary societies should make a special effort to remain on friendly terms with the housing authorities of their district. This cordial co-operation is one secret of the notable success of the Cambridge Housing Society, where at the start there was a great deal of apathy: But the Mayor, his council and officials, recognized that a voluntary movement would be of great value in dealing with their local housing problem, and now, after raisinff some £6,000 and with the help of a loan from the Corporation, forty-five houses have been built, and are let at rents varying from 5s. to 7s. a week. One final word of caution on the finance of housing societies may be permitted. There are many risks attached to bricks and mortar. Nobody should be pressed to take up shares unless in a position not to suffer too acutely if the dividend is passed. There have been cases of ladies with small incomes selling out family securities in order to help a housing society by investing in three per cent. loan stock. All went well for the first two or three years,and then some other unforeseen act of providence so damaged the houses that heavy repairs were necessary, and the dividends had to be passed. There have also been difficulties when one man has invested the greater part of his capital in some housing scciety. On his death, the widow may find herself in the embarrassing position of having to pay out cash to his heirs, and meet at the same time heavy death duties. She may then have to decide whether she will be content with a comparatively small income for the rest of her life, giving up some of her former comforts, or whether she shall sell out her interest in the weekly rented property to private owners, who may exploit it to the uttermost and reduce it again to slum conditions. Those societies are fortunate which raise so much money in donations or in stock on which no interest has to be paid, that they have a reserve in hand. In that case the dividends on the remainder of the capital are more certain to be met These warnings may not be popular, but, after discussing the matter with members of committees of various societies, I am sure that it is advisable that those i establhing new organizations should bear them in mind. We are probably only at the beginning of the re-housing that can be carried out by voluntary means, and as the thousands of cottages erected during the industrial revolution continue to wear out, opportunities of service will be greatly extended. Fortunately these societies, which are doing such an invaluable work in their own districts, have now organized themselves on a national basis, and at a Conference held at the Mansion House early this autumn it was decided to send a Memorandum to the Minister of Health sug- gesting certain alterations in the present law. The chief recommendations are that the Government in their forthcoming legislation should insert provisions whereby loans at a low rate of interest, as in Holland, France, and Belgium, spread over forty years for repay- ment, should be advanced to societies for approved schemes. Furthermore, in order that societies which are already engaged on the reconditioning of poor property may extend their operations, Mr. Greenwood is asked to consider that sanctioned schemes carried out under the auspices of a registered society should be eligible for similar financial assistance as that which may be given to local authorities. Voluntary societies have, according to careful estimates, already in the last ten years provided new homes for over 100,000 persons and reconditioned the homes now occupied by over 200,000 persons. The improved housing of over a quarter of a million of our fellow-countrymen by volun- tary effort is surely an achievement the continuance of which deserves to be encouraged. B. Sr TOWNROE.
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