Houses and Wages
BY B. SEEBionst ROWNTREE.
ALMOST everyone agrees that, with 2,750,000 unemployed, it is desirable that we should under- take works of national development. The trouble is that so few of these pay a commercial return on the capital, and in view of the present state of the national finances the Government continues to relieve unem- ployment by giving men the "dole." Until recently, houses for the unskilled labouring -class could only be provided with heavy subsidies from the Exchequer and the rates. But the low rate at which money can now be borrowed has completely changed the situation, and to-day it is possible to provide houses almost without subsidy, and to let them at 9s. or 10s. a week inclusive of rates. I would urge that the Government should forthwith initiate a carefully planned programme of building houses of this class on an extensive scale. They would be promptly taken by the better paid unskilled workers—they are urgently needed, and their erection would relieve the serious unemployment in the building trade, where over a quarter of a million men are out of work, involving a cost of about £200,000 a week in unemployment pay.
Two questions arise : 1. What kind of houses should we build ?
2. Can they be let at rents within the means of the unskilled labourer ?
While keeping the need for economy in mind, we should never forget that houses last for three genera- tions, and it is supremely important that they should he the very best which can be built for the sum available. Now, we can build cheaply in two ways. We can reduce the cost by skill and efficiency, or we can build poor shoddy houses. I have no hesitation in saying that if full use had been made of the best modern know- ledge, both as regards the planning of individual houses, and the plotting of houses on the sites, we could during the last decade have saved many millions of pounds and yet have had much better houses than we have to-day. Houses should be well-planned, convenient to work, with the maximum of light and sunshine, adequate ventilation, and tasteful in appearance—which need not mean added cost, but only skilful design.
The number of not more than twelve houses to the acre should be preserved, for, as Sir Raymond Unwin has shown, the extra cost as betWeen that and of twenty houses to the acre only means twopence a week to the tenant with land at £400 an acre, or less than halfpenny a week with land at £200 an acre ; while on the extra land provided a man can raise produce of at least an average value of Is. a week with great advan- tage to his health and physique. But the provision of substantial gardens at practically no extra cost is only possible if the planning is done along certain definite lines. The wide main roads suitable for heavy traffic and with deep sewers must be few. Branching off. from these at right angles narrow short roads . should be provided, each of them ending in a square large enough to allow a vehicle to be _easily turned. These roads need not be costly, because they will only serve the houses erected along them and around the squares in which they end. They can be constructed in the same way as carriage drives. Similarly, the drains running into the main arterial sewers can be comparatively small and cheap, and in this way the cost of roads and sewers per house is reduced to a surprising degree.
The provision of gardens large enough to grow vege- tables of a definite economic value is a matter of supreme importance. Life to-day is charged for the worker with grave risks of either short time or complete lack of work. The perils of these can be minimized by unem. ployment insurance ; but we have nothing to. lose and all to gain by restoring, in some measure, the coin. parative security enjoyed by a more primitive agricul. tural community, and giving every household the oppor. tunity of growing its own vegetables. If they can also keep rabbits, hens, perhaps even pigs and goats as in Belgium, so much the better. There is another stand. point from which this matter should be considered. Hours of work are bound to be gradually shortened by the introduction of labour-saving machinery, and within, say, twenty years (between one-third and one-quarter of the lifetime of a house), the working week will very possibly be only thirty-four or thirty-eight hours. What are men to do with their leisure ? Our method of solving that problem will profoundly affect the physique and character of the British people. But how invaluable an asset is a garden, in which a man can employ his spare time usefully, and bring up his children in health and vigour with some .first-hand acquaintance with Mother Earth! Save in cases where it is really impracticable it would, in my view, be false economy to build houses except under such conditions as I have here laid down, and a mistake for the State to give support to housing schemes in which such considerations were disregarded..
Houses such as I am considering can be built on the outskirts of most towns and let at 9s. to 10s. a week, including rates, if the following conditions are observed :-- The money must be lent at 4 per cent. including / pet cent. for sinking fund on a sixty years' basis. The cost of managing the building estates, including rent collection, and any losses due to empties or bad debts must be paid out of public funds, and the State must provide the expert guidance necessary to ensure the most economical " lay-ouf! of building estates, and the good planning of the houses. The total cost of these services, which would probably be divided between the central and local authorities, would be extremely small. Meanwhile, the cost of providing for unemployed builders would be reduced proportionately to .the development of housing schemes. • Now we come to the important question—can unskilled labourers, whose wages may be a few shillings above or below 45s. a week, pay 9s. or 10s. for a house ? On two occasions I have made a detailed study of the cost of living, The first investigation was made in 1899, when I tried to .ascertain the.yery lowest sum necessary to keep a family. of, man, wife and three children in, physical health. The dietary. was selected with the,utroost ram, and based upon scientific authority as to the nutritive value> of different foodstuffs.. It comprised no butcher's meat and was more economical than that provided for prisoners and paupers, and considerably more economical than dietaries actually chosen by the workers. I was seeking to arrive at the bare cost of providing for physical efficiency. Nothing was allowed for a newspaper or postage stamp, for, travelling to and from work, or for beer or tobacco. At to-day's prices the cost of providing this very meagre standard of living is 31s. 6d. per week, including is. 7d. for compulsory health and unemployment insurance contributions, but excluding the amount expended on rent and rates. The second inquiry was carried out in 1918, when the object was to discover what sum _Would enable a man to marry, to occupy a decent house, 'and to bring up a family of normal size in a state of physical efficiency, with a small margin for contingencies and recreation. The cost of maintaining this standard to-day for a man, wife and three children, I put at 43s. 8d. per week, plus rent and rates—and it appears to be true still that about 50 per cent. of families include three children.
In the face of these facts, it is clear that all unskilled labourers could not afford 9s. or 10s. for rent, even allow- ing for the economic value of a garden. But the better paid ones, and those with lower pay who had children earning, could and would afford such a rent, and there can be no doubt that the widespread provision of houses such as I have described would meet an urgent national need. Moreover, it would bring back hope to thousands of unemployed workers in the building trade, and their regular employment would directly quicken other trades throughout the country.
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