Sta.—As one who for years after the war was compelled
to .live in lodgings, having the privilege of a bath only when my landlady thought fit, and then, a year ago, was fortunate enough to secure the tenancy of a factory-made concrete-slab bungalow, I can heartily endorse the remarks 'lade by that building crusader, Mr. Robert G. Tarran, in the Spectator o•f January 12th. From my bitter experience in "diggings" and my sub- sequent pleasant home-life when I managed to get a house of my own, I can assure those people who still frown on what Mr. Tartan calls a "new thought " in building that I have only one regret now that I live in a Permanent " pre-fab." And that regret is that I am only the tenant and rt.)t the owner of the house.
My house has every advantage that can be found in an expensive hf;ek-built house and several others all its own. The rooms are spacious, cool in summer and warm in winter. The concrete-slab units which form' the outer walls are completely weather-proof, and we have none of the condensation which seems to cause complaint in some quarters. The rent, a most important factor, is a very moderate one, since the cost of the house was far less than for a brick house of the same size.
When I hear of the despondent waiting-lists for houses all over the country I realise that the absurd opposition, stemming from ignorance, to progressive new techniques in housing is depriving tens of thousands of the homes they want and which they could have if only the powers-that- be would give builders the word to go. It has been said, with a great deal of truth, that Britain needs someone to do for housing what Henry Ford did for motoring. The "tin Lizzie" certainly solved the transport problem of the ordinary man in the street, just as the " new thought " houses called for by Mr. Tarran could solve our much more pressing housing problem easily within ten years.
Let us have a Napoleon of housing if that is the way the country will get the houses it needs. It would be well worth the price, even if he were a bit dictatorial. But, for all our sakes, don't let him be a politician !-
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