The Slum Problem III. Cheltenham J OHN EDMONDS is a carpenter
with a wife and five children, working in Cheltenham. For Several years he and his family have been living in half a house, consisting of a tiny kitchen with one bedroom. The wife was brought up on a farm, and both she and her husband are good gardeners. They are to be among the first tenants. of the Homecroft Settlement, which is to be opened by Lord Beauchamp on November 19th.
The. Spectator has already taken a practical interest in this experiment,. and our late Editor gave it a send off by offering in the issue dated July 11th, 1925, prizes to . the first crofters. For . various reasons it has been difficult for the pioneers to raise the necessary capital and to build, but the first ten houses are now almost ready for occupation.
I visited the settlement on. the road leading to Tewkes- bury this. 'summer, and was much impressed by the good workmanship of the detached cottages, and by the many evidences of thought and care given to all the details of this scheme which will enable ten men to live on the -land. and produce food for- their -families, and at- the same time draw wages from- their usual occupations in Cheltenham. • Let me now take the case. of John Edmonds, an actual individual, whose real name for obvious reasons is not given. He and his wife have been longing for a bit of land on which to work, but the rent of the new houses is fixed at 16s. 3d., a heavy liability except for those in regular employment. As John is in a good permanent job, he can afford to sign the lease by which he, becomes " a horneerofter. His family will shortly occupy a detached cottage, built of concrete slabs, and roofed with tiles. The price was about £405 for each house. He will have downstairs a sitting-room fifteen feet by ten feet, a large kitchen with a cooking-stove, a white porcelain sink with drainer, shelves, and wash-boiler. On the same level there is a bathroom, a larder, and a covered way leading outside to the earth-closet and the coal-store. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and a large cupboard. The house seemed to me to be shrewdly planned by the architect, Mr. Heathcote, and very cheerful, as in each room .there are two windows. In the garden there is an outhouse -that provides accommodation for six pairs of rabbits, two stall-fed goats, a dozen hens, and a spare space to be used as a tool shed. The garden, two-fifths of an • acre in size, will be stocked with fruit tn.:es and bushes. It is hoped that John and Mrs. Edmonds will be able to produce here plenty of food for their own needs, working in their leisure time. For those who have not his practical experience of farming and gardening, there will be a "key man" on the estate who will help the tenants to make the best use of their gardens.
Edmonds will pay a net weekly rent of 12s. 6d., but he will pay in addition a further 3s. 9d., or 16s. 3d. in all, in order to enable him to buy his croft. Under the agreement in twenty-five years' time this substantial five-roomed house, with the outhouses and freehold land, so long as he has kept his covenants, and no matter how much the land may have risen in values will become his own property.
. From the point of view of Cheltenham's slums, the scheme, although . still in its early stages, will assist ten families. Cheltenham suffers from the_ existence of a number of houses unfit for habitation, some two hundred- of which have already been condemned by the Town Council. Whole families arc living in one room in Cheltenham, and paying from 12s. 6d. to 17s. 6d. a week. The Town Council arc doing what they can,. and old houses have been pulled down in one bad street, and good ones erected, in their place.
The Cheltenham Homecroft Settlement helps those who are most deserving, for the tenants have all to be men who are receiving a permanent wage of about £3 a week. They have to consider whether they can- face the 16s. 3d. a week rent, plus rates, in the expectation that they can produce part of their family food from their crofts. I am told that the first ten families have been selected with great care from a large number of applicants, and that it is hoped to extend the settlement, as experience is . gained and the necessary capital is forthcoming. Among those who have invested money in the Association, which is a Public Utility Society with limited dividends, arc Mr. Lloyd George and Sir James Agg Gardner, M.P. It is admittedly an experi- ment, and Cheltenham's pioneer effort will be watched with interest to see if the human element—the crofters7-: make it a success to be imitated elsewhere.
B. S. TOWN1t0E.
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