The Housing Bill, read a second time in the House
of Commons on Monday, was described by Mr. Hayes Fisher as only an instal- ment of the Government housing programme which he unfolded in May, during the discussion on Local Government Board Estimates. The present Bill will enable County Councils to build for their own workers, on the same terms as Local Authorities, and with loans running for eighty instead of thirty years. Obviously, if County Councils, railway companies, and other great corporations were to house all their servants in country districts, the dearth of accommo- dation for farm labourers would become less acute ; for many land workers have been dispossessed by Local Government and oor- poration employees. It is equally obvious that this Bill hardly touches urban housing deficiency as it exists in Glasgow, where at present premiums ranging from £3 to £10 are offered, as Mr. Jowett stated, merely for information about available houses of from three to five rooms. But this Bill may be welcomed for what it is—a small instalment of a large and urgent housing measure which will have to provide safeguards against extravagant expenditure on the part of Local Authorities drawing upon Treasury subventions.
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