Facts about Houses
In the two-days' debate on housing last week Mr. Willink and Mr. Duncan Sandys disclosed facts which at least make the position a good deal clearer than it was. The former has given figures as to the number of permanent and temporary houses which it is expected will be built or building during the first two years after the war, in addition to repairs to bombed dwellings ; and the latter has stated what the labour force available for the work will be at various periods, as men are gradually released from the Forces. It is admitted that the maximum construction in those two years will be, and must be, much less than the need, even when the utmost has been done ; it is conditioned simply by the number of men available. Mr. Sandys refused to promise more than he can perform, and he very wisely said that it was better to be dis- appointed by the promises now than by the achievement later. The labour force at this moment is down to 337,000, or about one- third of its peace-time man-power. The gradual release of men during the first year, though it will bring the total to 800,000 at the end, will only average 500,000, and of these, when 350,000 have
been allotted to repair and maintenance and 50,000 to certain essential new building, only too,000 will be left for constructing new dwellings. In the light of these figures, and though the force will rapidly increase in the second year, it is intelligible that, in addition to the setting up of various types of prefabricated houses, the number of permanent houses, "built or building," cannot -be more than 300,000 at the end of the two-year period. Assuming that the number of builders is thus fixed, the only possibilities of expansion in production depend on reduction of the amount of• work to be done on the site by increased prefabrication—this applies, of course, mainly to the temporary houses. It seems that there is only one conceivable means of considerably expanding the total production, and that is by releasing men more quickly from the Forces and giving builders a higher priority in that process. Houses can be built if there is sufficient determination to build them.
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