prevent the demolition of dwelling houses; to enable local author-
ities to issue housing bonds; to facilitate the acquisition of land
for the purpose of garden cities or town-planning schemes.
The subsidy was at first 160 for the largest type of house permitted and 140 for the smallest, but the heavy increase in the cost of house building soon resulted in the increase of the subsidy by 100 per house. The subsidy, originally offered for 12 months only, was subsequently extended by the Housing Act, 1921, but withdrawn in July 1921. The results to May i 1921 were announced in the House of Commons on May 12 1921:
Houses under approved tenders 176,000
Houses under signed contracts 160,000
Houses commenced 102,000
Houses practically completed 45.OOO
(The latter two items include " subsidy " houses.)
Average loss to the State on each house built by local authorities 60 per annum
Tenders for average-sized house :
July 1919 650
Aug. 1920 950
May 1921 855
Early in 1921 the Government reviewed its housing programme, and on July 14 the following statement was made in Parliament by the Minister of Health:
"The number of houses built, building and contained in approved tenders under the housing scheme for local authorities and public utility societies is now about 176,000. Under the scheme of subsidy to private builders the number of houses built or to be built i3 esti- mated at about 23,000. The annual cost to the State under the local authorities and public utility societies' schemes is about 10,000,000 per annum, and the amount required for the payment of subsidies to private builders is about 5,000,000.
In view of the immense difficulties confronting the nation during and after the war the Government think that they have no reason to be dissatisfied with the scale of their contribution to the housing problem a contribution, notwithstanding the grave embarrass- ments of the war, without precedent in our history. The Govern- ment is, under its housing scheme, performing, at great cost, a work of supreme national importance which private enterprise could not carry out. At the present time the houses which are being built or are to be built under the Government Housing Scheme will utilize all available labour for at least twelve months, including a considerable number of ex-service men to be absorbed in the in- dustry. By the end of twelve months conditions may have changed very greatly, prices may be stabilized, and the considerations upon which Government action should be based may be fundamentally altered. Reconsideration is, moreover, imperative when regard is paid to the present financial condition of the country.
" The Government have accordingly decided that, for the time being at any rate, the following limitation must be placed on housing expenditure. The number of houses to be constructed by local au- thorities and public utility societies with Government assistance under the present scheme will be limited to 176,000, that being the number built, building, or for which tenders have been approved, and assistance will not be given under the scheme in respect of any houses in excess of that number. It would appear that on a final examination of the present approved tenders some adjustments will be possible to meet cases of hardship without exceeding this total.
"All expenditure in connexion with the housing schemes which has already been incurred by local authorities with the approval of the Ministry of Health will rank for financial assistance under the present scheme, which limits the liability of local authorities to the produce of a penny rate, and where work undertaken by local authorities with the approval of the Ministry of Health cannot for reasons out- side the control of the authorities be completed by July 1922, the time for completion will be extended as may be necessary.
"As regards the scheme of subsidy to private builders, the powers taken under the recent Act will be exercised to the extent of making payment in full for houses completed within the four months after the expiration of the previous Act, i.e. by April 23 last, and additional houses will be subsidized only if begun before July I, under a certificate or the promise by a local authority of a certificate. There will be cases in which commitments have been entered into, although construction has not actually been begun, in anticipation of tne continuance of the subsidy. In order to meet these cases I shall, in the exercise of my discretion, pay subsidy where commitments have been entered into, if work is started within six weeks.
" The Government recognize the urgent necessity of making what improvements are possible under present financial circumstances in slum areas. To this end they are prepared to provide an annual contribution not exceeding 200,000 towards the deficiency on local authorities' accounts for the improvement of slum areas. This annual contribution will continue for the whole term of such loans as may have to be raised by local authorities.
" It is the intention of the Government to keep the housing problem closely under review. They fully recognize the importance of that
problem from the point of view of the health and social conditions of the people, but it is impossible to incur greater commitments than our finances will allow."
On the same date the figures for Scotland were given as follows: houses built, building or contained in approved tenders, by local authorities and public utility societies, 21,749; private builders' subsidy houses, 2,220; Government assistance to be limited to a total of 24,500 houses; annual charge for local authorities' houses, 1,087,450; total cost of private builders' subsidy, 550,000. The figures for Ireland were not given.
Town planning, though dealt with in the Acts above men- tioned, is not exclusively a housing subject. Its object is to put a check on indiscriminate development. The policy of planning ahead enables a local authority to check the crowding of houses together, and to avoid the repetition of the haphazard develop- ment of the past, with its bequest of road widenings and other improvements rendered exorbitant in cost through the demolition of misplaced property. In the preparation of town-planning schemes attention can also profitably be given to the claims of industry. The schemes in existence in 1921, in so far as they prescribed restrictions as to the character of buildings, were chiefly concerned to preserve the amenities and healthful con- ditions of residential districts. But town planning should be of at least as great a value to industry. In America the art of " zoning " is practised as much with a view to the suitability of sites and convenience of transport for industrial undertakings as for the protection of house property.
The following table shows the number of town-planning schemes in contemplation, in course of preparation, or in actual operation, on March i 1921 :
Position of scheme
No. of schemes
No. of L. As. submitting schemes
Acreage covered by schemes
i. Schemes finally approved
(incl. one amending
scheme) ....
7
5
10,329
2. Schemes submitted and
not yet approved
9
8
23,216
3. Schemes authorized un-
der Act of 1909 to be pre-
pared but not yet sub-
mitted .... 4. Resolutions under Act of
155
101
275,051
1919 deciding to prepare
schemes
(I.) Not requiring ap-
proval .
42
39
151,283
(II.) Approved .
18
15
(approx.) 77,232
5. Resolutions awaiting ap-
(approx.)
proval ....
7
7
46,153
(approx.)
Totals ....
238
154 (net)
583,264
Thus 154 local authorities were engaged in preparing 238 town-planning schemes covering over 583,000 acres.
On the subject of the advantages which might be anticipated from town-planning schemes and improved transport facilities, the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages had a significant paragraph in his report for 1918. He gives two tables of the county boroughs arranged in order of low infant mortality rate, and says that, as might be expected, the highest places in both tables are occupied for the most part by residential towns, " but the position of East Ham (a working-class area in the east of London), seventh for the mortality of the first twelve months and thirteenth for that of the first four weeks, out of the whole 82 county boroughs, shows what results may be attained in a working-class community. The conditions here of course differ materially from those of the more common case where the areas of industry and residence coincide; and the habitually low rates returned by this and neighbouring residential working-class suburbs of London are of good omen for the success which may be achieved elsewhere by improvements in town planning and transport."
Another part of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919,
