GIMCRACK HOUSES
SIR,—Is there not a danger that in the planning of housing schemes to come into being after the war in town and country the necessity of planning the actual house may be overlooked? We have heard so much about the " labour-saving house " that most of us imagine per- fection has been reached ; but a tour of inspection by our town- planners would reveal to them and to the public that, so fat from being labour-saving, thousands of these houses are the reverse.
A house may be advertised as labour-saving, and possess, as a so-called hot-water system, only a small boiler behind a sitting-room fire, a mere eighteen-inch square storage tank; no cupboards or dresser in the " kitchenette "; a shallow sink; a larder in a corner ventilated by a pierced brick; no means of drying clothes; and the whole house planned, one would think, on the principle that to cause as much inconvenience to the housewife as possible was the aim of the builder and architect.
It seems to me that, as many planning committees will certainly be created, a golden opportunity is presented for informed women to get on to them, and so make their voices heard on this subject, which affects the comfort of the housewife all over the country.
Ferncroft, Broad Oak, Heathfield, Sussex. ISABEL BASNETT.
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