amended and brought into line with modern conditions the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899, enabling local authorities to lend money so that occupiers may become owners.
Other Acts bearing on housing are the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act, 1919, and the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919. The former deals with the powers of county councils in connexion with the settlement of soldiers on the land and the provision of the necessary houses. The latter simplifies the machinery for the assessment of compensation for land taken compulsorily for housing. Of other Acts affecting housing the chief are the Public Health Acts; but one which has a powerful temporary influence was the Increase of Rent, etc., (Restrictions) Act, 1920, which restricted the rent to be charged by landlords for houses (built before April 2 1919) of the type of which there was a shortage, to that charged at the outbreak of war, plus percentage increases of, generally, 40%. People paying such rent and increases could not be evicted except in special circumstances. This Act would expire on June 24 1923.
The above summary of the Acts shows their broad effects in England and Wales. The legislation affecting Scotland and Ireland is almost identical, with, however, special provision for crofters in Scotland.
The position in England and Wales up to July 1921 was briefly as follows: There were roughly between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 residential houses. The average life of a house is not more than 100 years, and it was urged that from 70,000 to 80,000 new houses were needed on that head every year. Further, there is the growth of population, estimated by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages as calling for 140,000 new houses during the decade 1910-20. (Population growth had been checked during the war.) But the houses required had not been pro- vided during the war, and only a part was provided for some years previously. The result was a shortage variously estimated as being from 500,000 to 800,000. Of this number the State was helping local authorities to provide up to 176,000, at a cost to the State estimated at 10,000,000 per annum. (In addition the State was finding 5 ,000,000 in a lump sum as a subsidy to private builders.) This annual loss would vary in accordance with the cost of building and the rents which could be secured for the houses. On June i 1920 the average officially approved rent on the new houses was 125. 3d. per week, exclusive of rates: 1-5% were under 6s. and i 5 % over 205. The lower rents were charged in rural districts. Generally the rents payable cover from one- third to one-half of the cost of providing the houses.
Public financial assistance to housing schemes is not a new principle. Up to 1914 52,000 cottages had been built by Irish local authorities at a cost of 8,500,000, and there was an annual loss thereon. In Liverpool people displaced from slums had been re-housed by the local authority at less than an economic rent, and in several county villages the local authorities had provided cottages on which there was a loss.
On March i 1921 there were 108,168 men, of whom 54,479 were skilled, employed on the housing schemes of local authorities and public utility societies; but 10,686 additional skilled men were required for the work actually in hand, while a considerably larger number could have been employed on schemes for which official approval had been given.
The Government had made several attempts to increase the supply of labour, and steps had been taken to meet other dif- ficulties arising, particularly that of the heavy cost of building. Many new building materials had been tested.
CANADA. The progress of housing in Canada has not been rapid, in spite of the fact that the Federal Government in March 1919 voted a credit loan of 5,000,000 for general housing purposes. The money was to be distributed in proportion to population, a grant being made to the Government of each province for the municipali- ties on condition that they submitted suitable housing schemes. But the plan met with opposition from some local authorities, who re- fused to work under the Federal scheme. The impression, too, pre- vailed among the working population that the restrictions and guar- antees demanded by the Federal and provincial Governments made it impossible for workmen to acquire a loan. The grant allocated to the province of Ontario amounted to about 1,800,000, but it was expected that the provincial Government would be compelled to
finance housing to the extent of 3,000,000. Sixty-six of the muni- cipalities had by Sept. 1919 agreed to work under the scheme, 21 of which had already begun building, but the largest municipality, Toronto, had refused to cooperate, as it preferred to finance its own housing schemes. The city council of Halifax (Nova Scotia) re- jected the Federal scheme, objecting that it was impracticable and would impose too heavy a burden of debt on the city. The work of rebuilding the area of Halifax, which was destroyed in 1917, went forward steadily under the auspices of the Halifax Relief Commission. The municipal authorities of Winnipeg had agreed to accept the Federal grant, and it was estimated that they would have 200 houses completed by the spring of 1921. Much dissatisfaction prevailed in Winnipeg with regard to high rents, and a Tenants' Protective Association was formed as a means of redress. A building society was created in connexion with the association.
AUSTRALIA. The large cities of Australia suffer from a very pro- nounced shortage of houses, and one of the causes is said to be the growing tendency of the country inhabitants to drift towards the towns. One writer states that the population of several leading rural centres in Victoria is distinctly on the down-grade, whilst figures published in Sydney show that the number of persons engaged in rural pursuits in New South Wales steadily diminished from 154,000 in 1912 to 142,000 in 1917. The war is said to be only partially responsible for this alarming wastage of country population. The housing of returned soldiers and of their dependents in Australia is carried out by the Repatriation Department, which drew up a housing scheme based on the War Service Homes Act of Dec. 1918. The Government made a grant of 20,000,000, and out of this fund the housing commissioner was empowered to acquire private or crown lands, upon which dwellings to the value of 700 each were to be erected. The applicants eligible under the Act are enabled to acquire houses on easy terms, one condition being that they do not own a house elsewher.e, either in the Commonwealth or outside it. The Federal Housing Commissioner has invested in land on behalf of the Repatriation Department, but the building of houses has been retarded by the great scarcity of building materials.
The question of housing the civilian population of Australia is left to the Governments of the different states. New South Wales has been the most active, probably because the shortage there is more acute than in the other states. A housing department was created and a minister appointed. The sum of 500,000 was allocated from state funds for building purposes, and the minister promoted schemes for the extension of suburbs outside Sydney and New- castle, where housing conditions were especially bad. There is no indication of a like activity on the part of the other state Govern- ments in dealing with housing, except in Queensland. In spite of the house famine prevailing in Melbourne the question of housing had not advanced much by 1921 in the state of Victoria.
NEW ZEALAND. Housing conditions in the larger towns of New Zealand, particularly in Wellington and Christchurch, are in an unsatisfactory state. It is said that Wellington had been suffering for years from failure of private building enterprise, and had reached the stage in 1921 when State or municipal intervention was impera- tive on account of the shortage and overcrowding which prevail. The position was not much better at Christchurch, where about 1,000 new houses were needed.
The efforts of the New Zealand Government in the direction of practical housing were confined to authorizing the Labour Depart- ment to build 200 dwellings in Wellington. Certain clauses of the Public Health Amendment Act of Dec. 1918 were aimed at the prevention of overcrowding and the demolition of unhealthy build- ings, but they could hardly produce much effect as long as the short- age of accommodation continued.
The Parliamentary Committee on Industry presented its report in Aug. 1919, and the following were some of its recommendations: That a national Housing Department be set up, which should for- mulate a comprehensive scheme of house construction ; that 2,000,000 be allocated towards the scheme; that the houses be available, by preference, for men with incomes below 300 a year, with an addi- tional allowance of 25 per child in cases where there are more than three children; and that local authorities be empowered to engage in housing schemes.
SOUTH AFRICA. The cost of living, together with the high rents and the prevailing shortage of houses, has caused much discontent in South Africa. The Government was urged to take steps to deal with the control of rents, to finance building undertakings, and to take steps to clear slum areas, as it was felt that the question had assumed national proportions requiring the intervention of the State. Not much had been accomplished by the Government up to 1921 towards solving the question. Some legislation had been passed, notably the South African Health Act, by which the duty of supervising housing conditions in urban areas and of enforcing the observance of proper building standards by local authorities is vested in the Department of Public Health. Another measure was passed in June 1919 to enable the town council of Durban to borrow money for housing purposes and to build and erect its own houses. A housing commissioner was appointed in Sept. 1919 to investigate conditions in several municipal areas and to report whether it would be advisable to give financial or other assistance to local au- thorities for providing nouses for people of limited means. Matters
