A Housing Policy
When the Government achieved its unremarkable majority tof seventeen for the second reading of the Housing Repairs and Rents Bill, its .supporters cheered with relief—not because the majority had ever been in doubt but because what was Potentially the most controversial measure in the Queen's Speech had been sent on its way without the Opposition ever getting its teeth into the controversy. Mr. Bevan complained that Mr. Marples, moving the reading, evaded a general state- ment of policy and took refuge in details fit only for the Com- mittee stage. But before Mr. Bevan had been on his feet many minutes, the House was plunged straight into Mr. Bevan's favourite detail,' the fact .that there are 1,769,000 families sharing water closets. So far as principles went, Mr. Bevan had only one: landlords are a wicked lot. They will either repair their houses and make money, or they will be unable to make money and will not bother to repair their houses. Therefore, the six million houses in need of repairs, at present owned by private landlords, must be turned over to the local authorities (at a cost, Sir David Eccles. reckoned, of 0.000 million in public funds). Mr. Morrison was not even interested in this point of principle, and the official Labour Party view goes no further than the claim that "eventually" " the local authorities must assume responsibility. What is to happen in the meantime is left to he imagination—and to the Conservatives. There are, of course, snags in the Government's Policy, It is perfectly true that the permitted increase in rents will in some cases not be a sufficient incentive to the landlord to undertake repairs. This will be the next stage of the prob- lem for Mr. Macmillan. It is also true that any total increase In the supply of habitable houses will depend on the ability .01* the building industry to expand in response to an expanding demand. But the chances of its doing so will not be improved by denying it, as .Mr. Bevan would deny it, all the incentives of private enterprise.
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