RURAL HOUSING
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] . .
SIR,—Unsatisfactory housing conditions in rural areas have received considerable attention in the Press recently. Such conditions have indeed frequently been quoted as a contributory cause in the drift of agricultural workers to the towns. At the same time it is often difficult to convey through the written word or even through photographs why young married couples will not tolerate living in cottages which appear both attractive and ideally situated to the townsman. For this reason the Housing Centre has arranged for a rural slum to be re-erected at the Building Exhibition which is to be opened at Olympia on September t6th. The cottage in question has been con- demned under the Housing Acts and it is of interest that the former tenants will have been moved to a new house only a few days prior to the opening of the exhibition.
A new cottage, the design of which can be taken as an example of reasonably minimum standards considering financial limita- tions, is to be erected in contrast to the slum. In this case great care has been taken to incorporate features which are frequently overlooked in contemporary housing schemes such as the provision of suitable out-houses • for tools, bicycles, fuel, and so on.
A great opportunity now exists to carry out. an extensive rural housing programme. New and increased subsidies are available under the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1938, and many new schemes are already in hand.
The cottages should be used to bring renewed life to the vil-. lages. Except where required for stockmen or others on the farms, the new cottages should be planned to form a natural extension of the existing village. They should not be placed in outlying fields away from the community, but close to it, so that the tenants are served by local transport services and can share in such buildings as schools, shops, cinemas and libraries. These points are also illustrated by the use of models and plans at the Exhibition referred to above.—Yours faithfully,
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