THE HOUSING OUTLOOK FOR 1926
WE are on the eve of the building season. Will last year's record of housing progress be surpassed ? Certainly
the present indications are of a " boom " year, for local authorities in all parts of Great Britain, anticipating that in the near future the amount of the present State subsidies will be varied, if they are not abandoned, are urging forward the completion of housing schemes. The speculative builder also is as busy as ever he was in pre-War days supplying villas of varying artistic design to purchasers.
In order to see the outlook clearly for the future, it is neces- sary to consider exactly what has been done in the past. The total number of houses that were completed in England and Wales since the Armistice up to January 1st of this year in connexion with schemes of State assistance under the Housing Acts is 363,613. In addition to these, it is estimated that some 222,500 houses have been built, without any form of State assistance, by private enterprise up to September 30th last. There are, in addition, over 210,000 houses in respect of which authorizations have been given by the Ministry of Health, but which have not yet been completed. We are therefore nearing the million mark of houses built since the Armistice in Great Britain.
These are official figures given by Mr. Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons in February, 1926. They are significant from several points of view, but notably because they prove that unassisted private enterprise has already come back. Precise particulars that can be obtained by analysing the returns given by the Inland Revenue, and an examination of houses entered upon rate books of local authorities, make it also clear that far and away the greater number of the houses that have been built without financial assistance from public funds are small houses of up to £26 a year rateable value. For example, in the three years ending September 30th, 1925, of 192,516 houses built by private enterprise 140,420 were up to £26 rateable value, 46,148 from £26 to £52, and 6,048 from £52 to £67. These smaller houses are certainly helping to meet the need, but at the same time it must be emphasized that they are mainly occupied by persons who can afford to buy, and that the problem of the " under-dog," who has no savings put by available for house-purchase, and therefore has to rent, is still serious. Any chairman of a Housing Committee in an industrial district can bear witness to the overcrowding that leads to the degradation, physical and moral, of many of those who are unfortunate enough to have to live under such conditions. Because we see new houses by the thousands, and are told of record numbers being built, we must not underrate the magnitude of the problem that is still before us.
Mr. Neville Chamberlain, who has already done so much to place our national housing policy on a wiser and steadier foundation, fully recognizes that the urgency of the housing problem may necessitate further legislation. It is, indeed, a threefold problem, for even if good progress is made in urban housing, the nation still has to deal with rural housing and slum clearances. The Special Committee of the Cabinet is now at work considering whether further legislation ought to be introduced this year.
Mr. Neville Chamberlain, fortified by his practical experience at Birmingham, is known to favour a new policy, whereby local authorities shall be empowered to recondition houses in slum areas, and so shall not be forced to undertake extremely heavy expenditure for demolition and rebuilding. It is expected, therefore, that any new legislation introduced will contain a provision giving local authorities power to modernize and to repair existing slum houses. Already this year the more far-sighted councils are at work surveying their districts with a view to conducting experiments in this direction. Thus, we may expect that side by side with the building of new houses a process of repair of old ones will be encouraged.
In considering the outlook for 1926 it is necessary to pay some attention to recent developments of new methods and materials. Although it is generally admitted that baked clay bricks, the traditional material since the days of the Pharaohs, are in most districts the best, nevertheless the decline of the number of bricklayers and plasterers, as shown by official figures, has naturally stimulated enterprise in the direction of finding alternatives to brick. Accordingly, thousands of houses built either of concrete blocks or of poured concrete have been erected recently, and where the material has been properly mixed, and used under skilled supervision, the houses have proved to be fairly satisfactory. There have, indeed, been over one thousand new methods and materials submitted to the Ministry of Health in the past few months, including not only concrete, but timber, slate, cork, steel and castiron.
The possibilities of the further use of concrete are dealt with elsewhere in this supplement by Major Douglas Wood, F.R.I.B.A., who was a Housing Commissioner for some years at the Ministry.
It is therefore unnecessary to consider in any detail the advent of novel methods. Whether they will establish them- selves as permanent modes of building houses is uncertain, but as a temporary expedient they are undoubtedly playing their part in helping to keep prices steady, and as an auxiliary means of house construction. There are, indeed, many who believe that the application of mass production will be the ultimate solution of our present housing difficulties, but the necessary uniformity of any standardized design, the natural variations of the land on which houses have to be erected, and different local conditions may prove to be obstacles that cannot be overcome except at abnormal times of shortage like the present.
Nevertheless, new methods as well as the old traditional methods like the use of cob, chalk, and Rise de terre deserve every possible encouragement at the present time in view of the acute divisions existing in the building industry both among employers and operatives and their apparent incapacity to meet adequately national needs. Largely owing to these considerations the Government has embarked upon the some- what hazardous experiment of building 2,000 steel houses in Scotland, where progress has lagged seriously behind that of England.
The extent of the progress made in Great Britain during 1926 will be largely governed by costs. These have indeed fluctuated in a surprising manner since the pre-War days when a cottage could be built for approximately £150. A similar cottage with three bedrooms and without a parlour cost on the average £643 in June, 1919, 1860 in June, 1920, £693 in June, 1921, £386 in June, 1922 and £341 in 1928. When Mr. Wheatley, the Labour Minister of Health, proposed an in- creased subsidy, the price rose to £421 in June, 1924, and was a little higher at £441 in June, 1925. During recent weeks the cost of housing, chiefly owing to the fact that the demand Is again greater than the supply, has unfortunately been stiffening.
This fact will no doubt influence the Cabinet Committee in their present deliberations. They have to look forward to the time next autumn when the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland will review the existing sub- sidies offered for new houses built by local authorities, public utility societies or private persons under the Chamberlain or Wheatley Acts. There are many who hope for a check on the present drain on the taxpayer, which up to the present has amounted on account of housing grants alone to over £42,000,000. If so, possibly part of the money saved will be diverted to assisting housing in country districts and the improvement of slum property. In any event 1926 will be a critical year in housing policy, for we have reached a new stage, and it is therefore fortunate for the nation that the men at the helm are gifted with practical experience and business
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